Thursday, February 24, 2011

Terrorism, A Costly Issue.


Terrorism is known to be a costly problem through out the world. Many associate terrorism with terrorist attacks and that is why terrorism is so costly. Not only are destructive terrorist attacks costly, so are the policies going towards terrorism, and the war of terrorism is also costly. This is why, as a whole, terrorism is considered to be a problem known to expensive. When 9/11 occurred, this horrific attack cost 95 billion dollars (theatlantic.com). To terrorists this is considered to be a successful attack. Along with 9/11, the Madrid bombing and the London bombing is considered to be a successful attack to terrorists because these two other incidents were known to be costly. These incidents are causing major loss of money for either the businesses or costing the countries money to rebuild these structures. When it comes to terrorism, the damage to building structures is extremely costly, but the attacks are not the only reason why terrorism is considered to cost so much.

The holding of terrorists might seem to many people as a movement forward to stopping terrorism, but there is always a cost for holding anyone in a cell. According to BBC news, it costs 120 euros a day to hold a terrorist under a holding center. Since the year of 2006 to present, the cost to hold terrorists as reached 11 million euros. (BBC News). There is more to terrorism than just terrorist attacks. The holding and questioning of terrorists is a costly matter. It’s costing, worldwide and the United States, millions of dollars to help fight terrorism. I mean, 120 euros a day is more than holding an inmate in a prison cell. This is part of terrorism that is causing the cost to continue to rise. Not only is holding terrorists costly, but so are programs or actions that are going towards fighting terrorism. It is estimated that it cost 500 billion dollars annually to fund the fight for terrorism (about.com). This not a cost that is over a period of time, but this is how much it costs yearly and will continue to cost yearly if fighting terror continues.

The war on terrorism is another costly issue.. Money is spent on deploying troops, supplying weapons, supplying food, and so much more. Not only are innocent lives being lost, but also the money being spent continues to increase. It has been estimated that 802 billion dollars is being spent in Iraq, 455 billion dollars is being spent on Afghanistan, 29 billion dollars for enhanced security, and 6 billions dollar is being spent on unallocated DOD (Department of Defense) (http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL33110.pdf). This adds up to a total of 1.3 trillion dollars being spent on the war of terrorism. This is not a inexpensive fight, but an extremely costly situation. So much money is being spent to continue to fight terrorism. The war of terrorism to some people is seen as solution to stop terrorism from occurring, but it is more than that. It is a solution that is continuing to cost the United States billions to trillions of dollars. This number is not going to decrease, but will continue to rise until a solution is found to stop the war of terrorism.

Terrorism is a term that is well known world wide and well known to be an extremely costly problem. People associate terrorism as being costly because of the damage terrorists attacks cause, but that is not the case.. The war on terror is costing the United States 1.3 trillion dollars as well as 11 million dollars being spent to hold terrorists under control. This dollar amount is going to continue to rise if terrorism continues to occur. Innocent lives and the money being spent on terrorism will continue to increase unless something is done to stop terrorism or solution is found to stop the war on terror.


References:

Zalman, A. Economic Impact of Terrorism. Retrieved on 22, February, 2011 from

Unknown author (2009). Tories attack control-order cost. Retrieved on 23,

Indiviglio, D. (2009). The Economic Cost of Terrorism. Retrieved on 23, February,

Belasco, A. (2010). The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Global War on Terror
Operations Since 9/11. Retrieved on 23, February, 2011 from
www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RL33110.pdf.






Thursday, February 10, 2011

Terrorism is a World Wide Issue.


Terrorism is a term that is not unknown, but a term that is well known through out the world. Ever since 9/11 has happened, Terrorists attacks have increased dramatically. Why is terrorism considered to be problem? Terrorism is a problem because it causing deaths of innocent people to increase, instills fear within the people in targeted countries, increase of terrorits attacks, and is a costly issue. Terrorism is not a minor problem that can be solved with just one solution, terrorism is an issue that is more complicated and harder to find a solution for it to come to an end. It is an issue that is well known not only in America, but also in third world countries.  Some third world countries are run by terrorism causing its people to live in fear; fear of not knowing if they are going to live or die. Terrorism is problem that is bigger than words can describe. Terrorist attacks and deaths of victims of terrorism has and continues to increase. For example, in the near eastern region, FBI statistics reveal there were 5,528 deaths and 4,594 terrorist attacks according to the 2008 statistics gathered (fbi.gov/stats). This is an example how immense of an issue terrorism is because more innocent lives are being taken as well as terrorist attacks increasing. Terrorism does not just effect one type of region, but all regions world wide.

Terrorism does not have a specific country that is a target, but every country is in danger of being victims of terrorist attacks. Terrorism is an issue that is a problem for everyone through out the world. Terrorism is not just stationed in just one country, but has become scattered. Since terrorism is becoming more scattered, the power of terrorism has been increasing. An example of this would be Al Qaeda. In Frontline's video, Al Qaeda's new front, is a perfect example of how terrorism has become powerful. Al Qaeda has become very involved in terrorist attacks occurring through out eastern Europe, such as the Madrid bombing. The Madrid bombing is an example of how scattered and powerful terrorism has become over the years. The Madrid bombing found evidence of cellular connection within known terrorists in Paris and London. This cellular evidence is an example of terrorism, especially Al Qaeda, is not just in Iraq, but others countries such a France and Britain etc. It is even known that Al Qaeda was also involved in the bombing that occurred in London because fertilizer that was used were tied to the ones found in Madrid (Frontline video). Ever since 9/11, terrorism has become more scattered and has being increasingly gaining power over the years.

If nothing is done  to solve the issue of terrorism, more issues involved are going to arise. Innocent lives will continue to be taken by terrorist attacks, terrorist attacks will continue to rise, terrorism will continue to scatter world wide, and the cost of terrorism isn't going to decline, but increase. Terrorism is a costly problem that every country has to deal with. For example, 9/11 is known terrorist attack through out the world. The World Trade Center building collapsed leading to not only the death of many people, but lead to a costly tab. Daniel Indiviglio, from The Altanic, discusses the economic cost of terrorism. Indiviglio states that, "The cost are obvious from a successful terrorist attack." 9/11 in American's eyes is a tragic event that occurred, but to terrorist 9/11 is considered to be a successful attack due to the damaged that was caused. The Madrid bombing as well as the incident in London is considered to be successful attacks due how much damage was done. That is what Indiviglio means when a costly attack is considered to be successful attack. A costly attack in terrorists eyes is a success and to the victims it is a tragedy. The damage that was done by 9/11 was 95 billion dollars (theatlantic.com). This is a perfect example to show how costly terrorism and terrorist attacks can be. It is something that is going to continue to rise cost wise if nothing is done. If nothing else is done, the death fatalities will continue to rise as well. This is why terrorism needs attention nation wide.

Terrorism is an issue that needs great attention. If attention from every region does not aim towards terrorism, issues will continue to rise. In order to devote our attention to terrorism, terrorism needs to be fought through rule of law. If rule of law is used, it could possibly decrease terrorism in domestic and international countries. Choi (2010) did a study demonstrating how rule of law can help reduce terrorism. Choi discovered that in domestic and international countries terrorism increases due to political and religious reasons (pg 956). For example, if any policy that is made by the US and or Eastern Europe, this is seen by the Muslims as an attack on the religion. This can possibly lead Muslims to act out through terrorist attacks. Choi results from the study showed that rule of law does reduce domestic and international terrorist attacks. Choi argued that a democratic rule of law system will offer ordinary citizens a nonviolent way of settling an issue, so there will be a likelihood of terrorist attacks as being the last resort (pg 957). If rule of law is capable of reducing terrorism, than this should have our attention nation wide. Terrorism needs our attention, world wide, because of the catastrophic damage it is causing. If nothing is done, then damage will continue to arise and more lives will be lost. Terrorism is not only a known term, but is a immense problem world wide that needs to be dealt with.


References:
Choi, S. (2010). Fighting Terrorism through the Rule of Law? 
   Journal of Conflict Resolution, 54(6), 940-966.
Indiviglio, D. (2009, December 28). The Economic Cost of Terrorism. Retrieved on February 9, 2011 
   from http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2009/12/the-economic-cost-of-terrorism/32650/.
National Counterterrorism Center (2008). Retrieved on February 9, 2011 
Frontline: Al Qaeda's New Front (2005). Retrieved on February 6, 2011    from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/front/view/utm_campaign=viewpage&utm_medium=grid&utm_source=grid