War on Terror

Before terrorism was such a prevalent problem I'm sure war was much different. I can imagine war before terrorism was much less violent and bloody and somewhat more moral. I'm sure they did not torture their prisoners as harshly as we do now, they probably did not put them in little boxes or hang them by their limbs from the ceiling. They probably did not make them get naked, put a collar on them, and walk them like a dog. Terrorism has brought out the worst in war. It has made war become bloodier and dirtier than ever before. Although, I'm not sure what about terrorism causes war to be more violent. It may be because it is more of a personal attack. These enemies aren't just attacking for reasons of money or land. Instead, this group of enemies is attacking because they truly hate Americans. They hate with such a passion that they find it necessary and urgent to kill as many Americans they possibly can. Also, it is not simply just a war between those who choose to participate, it is a war in which everyone is involved--willing or not. We saw in the film “Zero Dark Thirty” some of the various terrorist attacks that took place under Osama’s reign. Not only were they aggressive in their attacks but also the Americans were aggressive in their apprehension. The many torturing scenes and the ending sequence when the soldiers will killing any and anyone in their way, including grieving women, serves as an example of the extended violence that takes place in the war on terrorism. It isn’t a clean fight and is definitely more brutal and bloody than a normal war.

Terrorism

War has changed drastically during the age of Terrorism.  As discussed in class, the enemy has become almost invisible or impossible to recognize.  This allows for the enemy to attack wherever almost whenever, without being accounted for.  During this era, there have been many bombings, shootings and attacks that are barely re-traceable.  That is probably one of the worst things about terrorism.  The next attack can be anywhere.  It can take place on a plane like what happened on September 11th, or at a marathon, a stadium or train station.  War nowadays most of the time is not between countries, but between a country and an extremist group from another country.  This often creates the perception that everyone in the other country should be held accountable.  That perception leads to racism, stereotypes, and profiling.  The age of terrorism has created fear amongst people who normally live in safe countries.  There is always a lingering paranoia that I and others have as I enter a airport, or a well populated area like a stadium. 

How war has changed due to Terrorism

War has changed a lot since the age of terrorism. With the increasing involvement of terrorists around the world, war has become much more severe and threatening. Terrorists innovate, exploit new technology, learn from one another, imitate successful tactics, produce manuals of instruction based on experience, and justify their actions with doctrines and theories based on religion. Due to this we can recognize several drastic changes and trends within terrorism. It has become bloodier, in terms of what acts are committed and how many victims are involved. The order of magnitude has increased almost every decade. For example, on 9/11, there were thousands of fatalities, and there could have been far more. We now think about scenarios in which tens of thousands might die. Terrorists have also developed new ways of financing their operations so that they are less dependent on state sponsors. They have evolved new models of organization and can now wage global campaigns. They have successfully exploited new communications technologies to use and some of them have even moved beyond tactics to strategy, although none of them have achieved their stated long-range goals. The course of terrorism is unpredicted which is what makes it so hard to be prepared for a terrorist attack because it is unexpected and you never know when they will attack again. The only way to cope with this sever matter is to incorporate more and more security measures around the world. 

Joshua LaViollete

Friday’s in class session with Joshua LaViolette was a very insightful and eye-opening experience. He is a US navy veteran who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan for 8 years and now teaches at Loyola. Being able to hear and talk to him about his own life experiences during the war was very interesting. Listening to his stories and encounters opened my eyes to many things I was not aware of. He spoke about what his job was and how he was in charge of any medical procedures within the military camp. He noted that a lot of soldiers do suffer from PTSD after the war, even though in his case, it wasn’t that intense. He told us about the time he experienced PTSD, he was in the supermarket and heard a spraying sound and fell to the ground thinking it was a chopper or something in the air. He made a joke about this and several other things giving off a more positive vibe instead of all the negative scenarios you hear about from war. The soldiers were very limited when it came to communicating with the outer world so they became very close to each other, creating a tight brotherhood which continues to exist even after the war. He also said he met great people out there and he still keeps in contact with them. One thing he kept mentioning was the fact that he was very young when he began to serve, around 18 years old, he had just got out go high school and had zero experience and knowledge of the war. His lack of education affected the way he viewed and communicated with the civilians. Joking that he would not have acted the same way if he had known better. Overall, his talk gave me a different perspective on war and gave me a more positive outlook on war. 

More frightening war

     Over time, war has made some drastic changes in how it was fought.  From hand to hand combat, to guerilla warfare, to now terroristic warfare, the tecniques have evolved, which have some benefits and some consequences.  In more modern war, less lives are lost.  Instead of standing in lines and shooting at each other, killing as many people in a group as you can, the tactics are more discrete.  Now, in the age of terrorism, the perpetraitors look like civilians.  They fly under the radar and make more dramatic and drastic moves like flying airplanes full of civilians into the Twin Towers.  Its a more frightening version of war, because a terrorist could be anyone.

Meeting Joshua LaViolette

After spending eight years in the navy, Joshua LaViolette changed careers. He discussed how if he moved up in the army ranks, he would lose contact with his friends who worked alongside him. The brotherhood that they were a part of was one of the things that LaViolette loved most about the navy. After spending all semester learning about the negative side of war, (aside from the small instances of beauty that can be found during wartime) the discussion with LaViolette was certainly different. He did not describe any major negative experiences in detail, although he did mention how some of the troops were killed, and how he had to shout at another soldier for hiding behind a car in cowardice. Overall, LaViolette was fortunate in his positive experiences in the army that he shared with us. He did not see a single woman working while he served, so perhaps if there was a woman working alongside him in the navy, we may imagine that the experience could have been different for him. LaViolette commented that he was in a position where he had to put his life on the line for others. This is definitely admirable and makes us consider how difficult it must be not to be the soldier hiding behind the car.

Enviroment of Terror

Robert Lalani

The start of the nuclear age has brought an end to most massive scale conflicts. Enemy combatants no longer wear uniforms to identify their allegiances and instead use a guerrilla warfare tactics. This is due to the fact that the United States and other western powers are far more technologically advanced to those of less stabilized countries where terrorism is more likely to take place. The causes of war have shifted from one of nations and territory to one of ideological differences. Al-Qaeda and other terrorist cells operate around the world and across boarders. In order to combat this tactics have shifted. Information has always been valuable in warfare however as the world enters the “age of terrorism” it has become doubly so.

In Zero Dark Thirty the main objective of the United States was to find and eliminate the leadership of Al-Qaeda.  Without fundamental support structure, extremist would have a hard time operating. Any organization needs resources and leadership and without a command structure this would be almost impossible. However, even if the United States dismantled Al-Qaeda would this bring an end to terrorism? I don’t think so; in the lapse of Al-Qaeda other terrorist originations took their place. In order to fundamentally solve this crisis there needs to be a systematic change in the environment that breeds it.

The Diminishing Geological Impact of War

I believe the majority of war is slowly reducing its mark on the ground. Wars no longer have these week-long and even month-long battles stretched out across a scarred and entrenched landscapes as in past conflicts. Think how much different the world, in particular Europe would look, if previous wars were fought like they are today. Perhaps so many virgin forests and historic villages would have been preserved rather than reduced to rubble by haphazard bomb dropping.

World War I:                                                       

 Iraq War:
                         

I'm not asserting that war today is somehow eco-friendly but rather that the natural repercussions of conflict are slowly being reduced by the use of more advanced technology and more refined targets. The biggest problem with my argument of course is the question of nuclear weapons which are in fact designed to destroy everything in a 100 mile radius. But these are weapons of destruction rather than war. They are really quite needless in fighting a war so perhaps as technology becomes more advanced, even WMD's will become obsolete.