What is a War on Terror? (The War on Terror)
For the readings done, the one that really interested me was War Time by Dudziak. One of the phrases that resonant with me was "'Why do they hates us?'--- the 'they' in this question ostensibly referring to the world's Arabs and Muslims." (Dudziak, 102). The fact that the 'they' is allegedly pointed towards all Arabs and Muslims is unnecessary because, at the time, the people of America had no idea who the 'they' actually was. It truly amazes me that some American people could accuse entire populations of a crime they did not do. As Bush stated in his September 20th speech, "the terrorists are traitors to their own faith." However, on his speech on September 11th, Bush never said who the terrorist were, of what nationality, or what religion the terrorists practiced, but did American people assume the terrorists were Arabs or Muslims? Bush said the enemies were against the American ideas of democracy and freedom of expression (Dudziak, 102).
War was once defined as a conflict between nations, rather than between nations and ideology (Dudziak, 114). I do believe that war is between nations and not ideas. Although, one could say that the war on terror after 9/11, is actually a war against nations that contain terrorist groups or people, such as Iraq and Afghanistan. In a way it seems as though the war on terror could have possibly been a superficial way of waging war against two threats: Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden in the nations they both resided. To me the war on terror is a war against nations covered up by the word terror. With having a war against an idea, Bush did not need Congress to declare war on an idea.
Thus, leads to the war on terror being an emergency rather than an actual war (Dudziak, 113). If the definition of war is a conflict(s) between nations, then the statement above would be true. This would mean the President would not have more power than normal. Nonetheless, if war is described as a conflict between a nation and ideology, then the President would get the expansion of power during the war time (Dudziak, 113). Bush did get the power expansion which limited the rule of law, such as the eighth amendment, and this was how prisoners at Guantanamo Bay were tortured and treated extremely incorrectly. Nevertheless, if the war on terror was not commenced, then Guantanamo would have not been used as it was. As stated on page 115, "... time changed on September 11, that it has ushered in a new era," the part of time that had changed into a new era was now the war on terror. A new era of Americans always being in a state of emergency because of possible terrorist attacks from Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups.
War was once defined as a conflict between nations, rather than between nations and ideology (Dudziak, 114). I do believe that war is between nations and not ideas. Although, one could say that the war on terror after 9/11, is actually a war against nations that contain terrorist groups or people, such as Iraq and Afghanistan. In a way it seems as though the war on terror could have possibly been a superficial way of waging war against two threats: Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden in the nations they both resided. To me the war on terror is a war against nations covered up by the word terror. With having a war against an idea, Bush did not need Congress to declare war on an idea.
Thus, leads to the war on terror being an emergency rather than an actual war (Dudziak, 113). If the definition of war is a conflict(s) between nations, then the statement above would be true. This would mean the President would not have more power than normal. Nonetheless, if war is described as a conflict between a nation and ideology, then the President would get the expansion of power during the war time (Dudziak, 113). Bush did get the power expansion which limited the rule of law, such as the eighth amendment, and this was how prisoners at Guantanamo Bay were tortured and treated extremely incorrectly. Nevertheless, if the war on terror was not commenced, then Guantanamo would have not been used as it was. As stated on page 115, "... time changed on September 11, that it has ushered in a new era," the part of time that had changed into a new era was now the war on terror. A new era of Americans always being in a state of emergency because of possible terrorist attacks from Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups.
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