After having witnessed what has befallen their country, the United States began to take terrorism more seriously that it had ever before. Here was an enemy without face that directly challenged the might of the country responsible for turning the two world wars in the favor of a free world. The American Heritage Dictionary defines terrorism as “the unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons”. Everybody now knew what the word truly meant especially what the term ‘force’ implied.
The United States spared no time in hunting down the members of the al-Qaeda. It began in Afghanistan where the Taliban regime proudly sponsored the extremists. Why you ask? According to …, “one man’s terrorist may be another man’s freedom fighter”. The country then proceeded with dismantling the Saddam Hussein regime whose reports indicate to be a major violator of human rights. (Combs, 2007. Gunaratna, 2003).
The Iraqi struggle has been the focal point of criticism of the Bush administration. The war waged not on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan alone. It was also being fought in the mind and hearts of every American (Pillar, 2004. North O., Horn S, Horn S.A., 2004). After 6 years of the event, the U.S. is now split between those who considers it best that the country changes its mode from search-and-destroy to build-and-move on and those who deem it proper that the fight must carry on. They voice out their concerns in position papers, placards and editorials.