Power, Morality, and Terror Essay -- Terrorism Terrorist September 11

Power, Morality, and TerrorIn the wake of events stemming from the bombing of the humanity Trade Center, citizens of the get together States have slowly been coming to grips with many changes- sore threats, new fears, and a new vision of the world and our place in spite of appearance it. As we re-adjust the lens through which we see our geopolitical landscape and get going to formulate a national security policy which can efficaciously respond to the terrorist threat, we must acquire a firm understanding of what motivates terrorist operatives. It leave alone not suffice to merely throw out simplistic explanations of terrorist motives such as, theyre evil. . .they hate us. . .theyre irrational. . .they hate freedom. Rather, we must take a systematic look at what motivates terrorism on the theoretical level. In some ways, terrorism is just a new variation on an old theme. For as long as men have lived in societies, there have been the haves and the have-nots, the superior clas ses and the oppressed groups, the weak and the strong. Whereas the tactics of terrorists whitethorn be more technologically advanced and, arguably, more cruel than those utilize by insurgents of the past, their primary goal of altering either the regional or global polarity is as old as mankind itself. For their part, those dominant nations against whom the subjugate campaign tend to engage in a bulls eye of rhetoric which portrays the opposition as morally depraved. While this may or may not be the case, two important questions follow which be asked all too rarely. The first question is how valid are the claims of the repressed that the dominant state itself is morally culpable? In the current case, the United States is responsible for committing a number of evils against Muslims. This is esp... ...orism is the last resort of a expansive people. Perhaps its best cure is to confront and rectify the grievances of those who suffer so greatly at our hands (often because of our na rrow oil-interests in the Persian Gulf). notwithstanding a minimal increase in the standard of living in such countries, even a small acknowledgment of our role in maintaining and exacerbating this suffering- would instill in potential insurgents the one thing that halt terrorism dead in its tracks- hope. SourcesBetts, Richard K. ed. Conflict After the Cold fight Arguments on Causes of War and Peace. Carr, Edward Hallett. Realism and Idealism. Second Edition. Longman Press New York. 2002. Coates, AJ. The moral philosophy of War. Manchester University Press. New York 1997.Liang, Qiao and Wang Xiangsui. Unrestricted Warfare. Beijing PLA Literature and Arts Publishing House. 1999.