“America and our friends and allies join with all those who want peace and security in the world, and we stand together to win the war against terrorism.” spoke then President George W. Bush on September 11th, 2001. “We are pursuing every single possible action to keep our country safe from terrorism.” stated Senior Policy Adviser Stephen Miller on February 12th, 2017. Two quotes, from two very influential policy makers and leaders of the United States of America, almost two decades apart from each other yet each are still trying to achieve the same goal. This brings us to a troubling fact, America has been and is still in great danger of terrorists overseas and on our homeland yet we have not completely ended the so called “War on Terror”. Will America ever? The United States of America is arguably the most powerful nation in the world. But, as Americans have seen we have created enemies over the years and they are persistent on impairing our free nation. Whether it is Al Qaeda, ISIS, or radicalized lone attackers, the United States has a battle to fight. Therefore, what kind of threat is the United States under today and how will our new administration approach domestic and foreign terror in comparison to past administrations? 

In order to comprehend why the United States has the allies and the enemies it has today, basic background knowledge is necessary. The article titled Theology in Foreign Affairs ISIS in Context, published by Foreign Affairs on March 29th, 2016 explains the background leading up to the formation of ISIS. Although ISIS is just the most recent terror group formed, the author, Jacob Olidort, dives into theological misunderstandings first and then into present day to describe ISIS’s powerful image on the world map. Terrorism began around the late 1970’s during the cold war when the Soviet Union took over Afghanistan. For the purposes of this paper regarding the research question and recent administrations we will begin to dig deep  into what led the United States to it’s current position starting from September 11th, 2001.

Terrorism is defined as the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims. We see the use of terrorism mainly related to the Middle East and radicalized Islamists. On September 11th, 2001 planes crashed into the North and South towers of  the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in Washington D.C., as well as one crash landing in Pennsylvania which was supposedly headed for the White House. Almost three thousand people died while leaving six thousand others wounded, making it the worst attack ever in world history. Soon after the attack, terrorist group Al Queda headed by Osama Bin Laden claimed responsibility. This is what originally sparked the War in Afghanistan lasting from 2001 to 2014, and then continued from 2015 to present. The Iraq War, lasting from 2003 to 2011, and the War in North-West Pakistan from 2004 to present, were then caused as results. All of these wars put together make up the larger war - the War on Terror. The emergence of ISIS, also referred to properly as ISIL, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, began the War on ISIL. All of these wars are occurring in different parts of the Middle East and become easily confused as they are all grouped within the War of Terror. Therefore since September 11th, 2001 the United States has been involved in numerous single terrorists attacks as well as many wars in order to put an end to terrorism as we know it. 

With the threat of terror in our world and specifically our country clearly present we must figure out a solution once and for all. In order to come to this, it is necessary to look at past administrations efforts and evaluate what tactics have been successful and what have not. Starting with the Bush administration we see that a war against terrorists is a tricky war to fight as they do not necessarily follow the implied rules of war, for example killing innocent women and children. As the War in Afghanistan is very controversial, I will leave it at that, concluding that that war carried on far longer than anybody had ever hoped or thought it would. But, as stated by former United States President George W Bush in his address to Congress on September 20th, 2001 “Our war on terror begins with al Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated.” (Bush). This has held true, as the Obama Administration worked towards this goal, and now the Trump Administration is doing so. 

As Bush pushed for a war, forty-fourth United States President Barack Obama made tremendous efforts to end the war in the Middle East while still trying to defeat terrorism. The Obama Administration successfully killed the leader of Al Qaeda who organized the attacks on September 11th, 2001. Although that was a victory for the United States, a major downfall quickly shed light and the terrorist group ISIS was formed. As the Obama Administration was pushing for less boots on the ground in the Middle East, ISIS was growing stronger and stronger as they still are today. In a statement by Obama on Afghanistan on October 15, 2015 he stated “And to the American people -- I know that many of you have grown weary of this conflict.  As you are well aware, I do not support the idea of endless war, and I have repeatedly argued against marching into open-ended military conflicts that do not serve our core security interests.” (Obama). Therefore,  the tactics used in this situation for the past four years were mainly air strikes. Using drones they would aim at places they believed ISIS soldiers were hiding, dropping bombs. Because this technology is new and the United States is not always one hundred percent on the whereabouts of these soldiers, innocent women and children in villages were killed in the process, only angering ISIS further. This is why I do not agree with the Obama Administration’s strategies regarding foreign policy, which leads into my argument and answers my research question, what kind of threat is the United States under today and how will our new administration approach domestic and foreign terror in comparison to past administrations, at the same time. The United States is under a major threat with the formation of ISIS and we need increase funding to defense agencies in order to put boots on the ground over seas in order to defeat The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria before another full scale attack like September 11th, 2001 occurs on American soil. 

With the safety of million Americans at home and abroad at risk, newly elected President Trump’s stance on our military, foreign policy, and security is crucial. In an article released in September of 2016 Trumps policies are evaluated and compared to then President Barack Obama’s. Ideas shared include: “disrupting terrorist social media recruitment efforts with cyber warfare; coordinating with other countries in military operations to destroy ISIS; expanding intelligence sharing; and cutting off ISIS funding.” (Where Donald Trump Stands on Terrorism). The article also mentions that Trump would “call for an international conference focused on collaborating with U.S. allies who share the goal of ISIS’s demise.” (Where Donald Trump Stands on Terrorism). Six months since the date this article was published, Donald Trump has been sworn in as the forty-fifth President of the United States and has begun to show the nation which direction the United States will be moving in in the fight against Terror. Throughout his entire campaign Trump made it clear that rebuilding our military is necessary. This has been proved correct by the proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year as the sole three departments which were increased were Veterans Affairs by over four billion, Homeland Security by almost three billion, and National Defense by a staggering fifty-two billion. With this proposed large spending increase within the three main departments connected with defense it proves the Trump Administration is serious about protecting Americans and sends that message clearly to terrorists abroad and those hiding in our land. 

With the argument for more money to create stronger troops to be sent into the Middle East to defeat ISIS completely and increase national security comes a lot of controversy. One main concern is privacy. Rebecca MacKinnon covers this issue in a very relatable and intelligent way during a TED Talk filmed June of 2016. She titled her discussion “We can fight terror without sacrificing our rights”. MacKinnon displays many cases of American’s right to free speech and privacy being violated at the expense of possibly stopping a terrorist. I completely agree that constitutional rights should never be violated and that is something every single American should never have to sacrifice. But, when our leaders are passing legislation that is put in place in order to save one or one million American lives, adjustments are imperative. Rebecca MacKinnon states “We've got to do everything we can to push our governments and companies to do a better job of protecting their rights.” but I have to disagree and say that by creating further security measures the government is protecting our right to be safe on American soil from foreign enemies. Having the government be able to take down a social media post is extremely less upsetting than innocent Americans under attack when our government could have prevented their plan of attack. 

This argument for increased protection geared towards troops deployed and homeland security is significant because of how many people it affects. Not only does it personally affect Americans but it involves every single person on the face of this planet, as terrorist attacks can happen anywhere. Even if radicalized terrorist groups number one enemy is the United States, by attacking other cities outside of America can harm United States citizens abroad and sends a message to the American government and people that their group is alive and strong and will not stop. This has been the number one form of terror we have seen in the past four years with the creation of The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. While discussing the Middle East I would like to point out statistics. In the last thirty days one hundred and thirty four Islamic attacks have occurred in twenty tour countries killing nine hundred and ninety two while leaving one thousand one hundred and two injured. While this has occurred in the past month overseas, there have been many small scale attacks within the United States as well. Second to attacks in other countries, lone attackers who have become so called drafted or radicalized through the internet or various forms of communication in a brainwashing type form are committing terror acts as well leaving people killed or harmed. We see this type of lone act, where one or two radicalized Islamists will work together compared to the leaders of ISIS planning an attack. Since 2009 when former President Barack Obama took office there have been thirteen major terrorist attacks in the United States, not to mention the many small scaled attacks believed to be motivated by radicalized Islam. The thirteen major incidents over the past eight years have occurred in Columbus, Ohio; New York City, New York; St. Cloud, Minnesota; Orlando, Florida; San Bernardino, California; Chattanooga, Tennessee; Garland, Texas; Brooklyn, New York; Queens, New York; Moore, Oklahoma; Boston, Massachusetts; Fort Hood, Texas; and Little Rock, Arkansas. The list goes on and on. While all of these attacks occurred under the Obama Administration heavier national defense was not put in place, yet we continued to take troops out of Afghanistan and carry on with the inaccurate drone strikes. A major factor benefiting my argument for increased security and defense has already been pushed for by the Trump Administration. 

So where does this argument get us? This argument brings the American people, living on United States soil and abroad, security and safety. It can lead the American Government closer to accomplishing the goal that forty-third President George W Bush set after September 11th, 2001, to end terrorism once and for all. This discussion addresses the problems outlined fiscally, domestically, foreignly, and through technology. Now the action that needs to take place is for President Donald Trump to follow through with his plans of tighter security and increasing the military, as well as getting the proposed budget passed. Changes are seen through funds and action and those are the changes every administration has done, and the Trump administration is currently doing, just all in various ways. 

Before concluding my argument I would like to outline one more counterargument since there are so many different views, as the lives of our men and women who serve in our military are to be handled with extreme care and strategic planning. One specific article counter argues my essay to a pinpoint. Titled “Killing ISIS: Five reasons American “boots on the ground” will backfire” author Loren Thompson explains. These reasons include: “It will give the terrorists easy targets.”, “It will provide captives for influencing U.S. policy.”, “It will take the pressure off local forces to perform.”, “It will lead to taking sides in civil wars.”, and “It will become a force of occupation.” (Thompson). Before disputing each proposal it is worthy to note that this article was published November 20th of 2015, almost a year and a half ago, before many attacks had occurred. Especially the large number of attacks that occurred during the summer of 2016 abroad during Ramadan, the Muslim Holy month. First, troops will not give terrorists easy targets as they have easy targets already such as American embassy’s and major cities within the United States. Secondly, the author is afraid that troops will give ISIS captives that will in return make the United States look weak. This is such a large possibly that it should not even be listed as a reason against boots on the ground. Also, if we increase military spending and train our troops to the highest standard the possibility of this is too low to testify against. Next, American troops overseas will not take the pressure off local forces to perform but rather help train the local troops to defeat the same group as well, working together and improving at the same time. Following is the civil war issue. Thompson worries that because Iraq and Syria are divided, war torn countries, it will lead to the United States taking sides in issues by working with groups that are divided. This is easily preventable as the United States has stayed neutral in situations before and will be trained to know what local groups are associated with certain affairs. Finally, to discuss “It will become a force of occupation”. This concern ultimately fears that American troops will have to remain in these regions forever in order to achieve peace, as this is most peoples number one regard. But, if we relate back to the previous argument, if American troops can build of local militaries and create some sort of stable government those areas should be able to prevent terrorists from escalating to extreme groups themselves. To quote Thompson, although that is a “messy and frustrating” task, it can be done. 

The United States is under a threat by the current group ISIS, and was under a threat by the previously dominate group Al Qaeda. The United States needs to increase military spending and tighten homeland security in order to protect it’s citizens at home and in foreign lands. The issue of terrorism is significant as it has been ongoing for many years and affects millions of lives on a daily basis.
