On Bastille Day 2016 in Nice, France, an incident occurred in which a man had driven a truck through a crowd, resulting in the deaths of eighty-four people while two hundred and two more were injured. In response to the attack, the Prime Minister of France, Manuel Valls, declared that "France is going to have to live with terrorism", yet many have critiqued this statement. A Room for Debate titled, "Can We Just 'Live With' Terrorism?" discusses what approaches people should take in order to address this global issue.
A former U.S. attorney general, Michael B. Mukasey, suggests to go on the offense and to gather intelligence in order to fight terrorism. According to Mukasey, terrorists aim to "impose their will on the world...by shaking the confidence of citizens that their governments can do what governments principally are there for which is to keep them safe." Therefore, many agree with Mukasey's opinion that the United States, being the world's only superpower left, should bear the burden of gathering intelligence to strengthen defenses and to go on the offensive in this "fight" against terrorism. However, a former commander of the Israel Defense Forces' School of Military Law, Amos N. Guiora, suggests that people should simultaneously live their lives as if there was no terrorism while recognizing the reality of terrorism. In Guiora's defense, terrorists desire for citizens to be consumed by fear and to not continue living their lives the way they were. The best response to terrorism according to Guiora, is for people to continue enjoying the simple pleasure of life since it shows that people are not giving into fear.
Terrorism remains a global threat and it could even grow into an even greater issue, especially since groups like ISIS, are using technology and social media to find new recruits. Personally, I support the government's effort to protect our citizens, but I don't necessarily want the U.S. to become involved in even more armed conflicts. Another thing to mention is that there are thousands of people in other countries who endure violence, terrorism, and war on a daily basis and deserve a chance to live a peaceful and safe life. Fear is what motivates terrorists and if people can stop giving into fear and try to keep a positive mindset, perhaps terrorists will become discouraged. What do you think of this global issue? Should we learn to "live with" terrorism and focus on the simple things in life? Should governments go on the offensive to protect our citizens? Will this issue ever improve?
-Rosecka M.
I believe that we shouldn't go with the decision on 'coexisting' with terrorism as Valls and Guiora had suggested we do. I think that we should continue to pursue our fight with terrorism; however, like what you said, not to an extreme extent such as invading other countries and drop bombings on cities or villages that are presumably bad (as it can potentially kill and injure innocent people and refuges there). I don't think that peacefully existing with terrorism in our cities and states will solve this conflict as the terrorists might go to more extreme activities as they're not receiving the reactions they wanted.
ReplyDeleteI do believe, however, terrorism will not be easily terminated as humans are greedy and will do whatever they want to achieve their goals and desires, but I think that our terrorism issue will improve someday to reduced groups (or none at all, hopefully).