Retaliation for 911: The
The most enduring, and difficult, philosophical question with regard to war focuses on the ethics of getting involved with it in the first place. Many people would make the claim that states can have moral justification for resorting to armed force in the international system. The idea here is not that the war in question is merely politically shrewd, or prudent, or bold and daring, but fully moral, just. However, when examining a number of recent situations, one must be more skeptical about the application of moral concepts, such as justice, to war. National Security and Power motivate states during wartime, and thus moral appeals are merely wishful thinking. This is not to suggest, however, that war is not a vital and important means of accomplishing important goals in an anarchical world—only that it should be resorted to when all other means have been exhausted. There is no better arena to explore the question of a just war than a discussion of the conflict in Afghanistan. The horrific events of September 11th are held up as justification for the bombing of Afghanistan, a logic one can only agree with if w
e conclude that the lives of Americans are of greater value than the lives of Afghans. As a result of the events and alliances proceeding the Gulf War, an anti-American consensus was created between Islamist fundamentalists on the right, who regarded Americans as infidels trespassing in their holy land, and pan-Arab nationalists on the left, who viewed Americans as imperialists forcing their ideals upon the unwilling. (Ajami) For this reason, the al Qaeda network established by Osama bin Laden had one objective; the overthrow of the Saudi and Egyptian regimes, who made allowances for an American presence in the Middle-East. (Indyk) With U.S. support, though, these governments had become hardened targets. It was for this reason that al Qaeda made a strategic decision to strike at their benefactor, the more powerful but also more vulnerable United States. (Indyk) On September 11th, 2001, the strike took place, and it changed U.S. Foreign Policy forever. Following September 11th, the United States launched a massive retaliatory campaign on the al Qaeda network, Afghanistan and other nations associated with knowin
Some topics in this essay:
Enduring Freedom,
Security Power,
,
Gulf War,
Foreign Policy,
Soviet Union,
Arabia Egypt,
Middle-East Indyk,
Moreover United,
America’s Arab,
al qaeda,
al qaeda network,
september 11th,
qaeda network,
reason al,
national security,
conflict afghanistan,
reason al qaeda,
gulf war,
suggest war,
Join now to see the rest of the essay!
Approximate Word count = 755
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
CUSTOMER SERVICES
| |
|