Introduction
On September 11, 2001, Americans mourned and grieved for their beloved. This was the day that terrorists attacked the twin towers of the World Trade Center (Gillham). On this fateful day, two aircrafts slammed into the skyscrapers resulting into the deaths of many people and the destruction of property. About eleven years later, the world rejoiced because of the capture and subsequent assassination of Al-Qaeda’s leader, Osama bin Laden. Osama bin Laden was the mastermind of the infamous attack on the United States land. It is also believed that he orchestrated the plan to its final stages. These two events had great impacts on the lives of many Americans. This brings us to questions about the end of Al-Qaeda and the threat posed by terrorism (Cronin et al.). I support the idea that the terrorist threat is real and still exists despite the death of one of the greatest terrorists.
Terrorism is very dynamic (Mueller). The fact that there exist several terrorist groups in the world is very worrying. These groups can be found in many countries, although most of them are closely associated with the Islamists. Some experts argue that these groups constantly change in structure and form. The United States and the world in general initially thought that the elimination of Al-Qaeda was enough to end terrorist attacks, but this is not true. Even after the death of Osama bin Laden, terrorists have attacked and killed many innocent people. These cases involve mainly countries in Asia, especially the Arab world.
Body
The use of intimidation tactics is also a weapon that terrorists often use. They direct their attacks on countries that are perceived to be allies of the United States. This was the case when in 1998, the US embassy buildings in Kenya suffered terrorist attacks (Odhiambo et al.). Since Kenya was an ally of the United States in their fight against terrorism, the latter directed their anger towards Kenya. The attack on the United States Embassy was a message that terrorists could still hit their enemies where it hurts most.
Terrorism also benefits from the backing of certain governments. These mostly Islamic governments offer both financial and political support to these terrorist groups. There are claims that Al-Shabab, an Islamist group in Somalia, receives financial support from Eritrea. Countries that support terrorists give them a lifeline and a reason to perpetuate their dubious activities. It has also been reported that several governments in the Middle East also support Islamic terrorists.
The fight against terrorism becomes difficult by the presence of the die-hard faithful who are willing to walk the extra mile to advance their cause. These young men sacrifice their lives while attacking and killing others. They are willing to strap bombs around their waists and throw themselves at the targeted groups. This is the situation in Afghanistan. In this country, suicide bombers are not a new phenomenon. These “militants” strapped with bombs approach and throw themselves at the US army and Afghan police officers killing them instantly, which they do quite frequently. To most of them, it is a holy war. If one dies in this war, then one is guaranteed a place in heaven. These statistics usually discourage and demoralize parent countries whose citizens die in the name of restoring peace. They face opposition at home as well and have to pull out of the affected countries prematurely. This is what happened when America had pulled out of its peacekeeping mission in Somalia in 1994.
The fight against terrorists is often protracted and takes decades. This constant fight against terrorists is a bother, and many countries are unwilling to enter such warfare. Terrorists often tend to attack their targets abruptly and without warning. They do this constantly, and to them yielding is not an option. This is a huge challenge to those fighting them as they tend to throw in the towel. Whenever this happens, terrorists get all the encouragement they need and continue with their assaults.
To add to the list, terrorists often benefit from their environmental and physical surroundings. Most of the terrorist groups have their bases in deserts. The conditions in these hide-outs are a far cry from humane. These challenges are discouraging to the opposing sides as they try to win this war. Although anti-terrorist fighters like America and Britain have more advanced equipment and techniques, they too find it very difficult to fight in the desert.
The use of technology is also of concern to the fight against terrorism. Although the Internet is an important source of information, entertainment and a means of communication, it also offers terrorists opportunities to perpetrate their activities. They use the Internet for communication and relay of orders. These groups are well organized and disciplined and precisely execute any incoming instruction. This is the case when bomb attacks on trains were carried out in France, Greece, and some other country. Cyber terrorism is also on the rise with the advancement in technology (Verton et al.). This involves attacks on major companies, banking institutions, various sites, and government websites. This was the situation that has been recently reported in South Korea. Several banks lost money because of terrorist attacks on their databases.
Conclusion
The numerous attempts reported in the past and the ongoing attempts are enough evidence to show how difficult the fight against terrorism is. The governments supporting terrorists, physical conditions, and many other factors favoring terrorists only serve to make anti-terrorist attacks futile. It is true that the terrorist threat is still present. The fall of Al-Qaeda as a group does not necessarily mean that an end to terrorism is in the offing (Cronin et al.).
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