The War On Terror (Incomplete)

The War on Terror

The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York, brought along many changes. It contributed to the development of new laws, regulations, precautions and safety measures. After this occurred, people started realizing that the danger had reached home. In an attempt to counter terrorism, our national government started abducting and shipping possible terrorists to Guantanamo Bay, where they are confined and investigated. Ethnic profiling also became an issue, given that airport security had to be more strict and cautious about the people traveling on planes. The Patriot Act, which was made shortly after the terrorist attacks allows government officials to perform surveillance, wiretapping, harassment, and criminal action on possible terrorists. It also allows law enforcement to conduct secret searches, perform roving wiretaps, and gain access to highly personal medical, financial, mental health, and student records. So while some argue that the U.S. policies resulting from the war are unconstitutional, unlawful and unfair, others claim that they are the necessary precautions and sacrifices that must be made in order to ensure the safety of the American citizens they are sworn to protect.

After September 11th, 2001, people of Middle Eastern decent were all being targeted as potential threats. They were being investigated and harassed because of their ethnicity. As much as there are people supporting these policies, people also oppose them. According to a Gallup poll conducted shortly after the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack, 71 percent of blacks, and 57 percent of whites, supported racial profiling of Arabs and South Asians at airport security checkpoints. Another poll conducted in 2002 by the survey group Public Agenda found that in the post-9/11 world the public rejected some forms of ethnic or racial profiling more strongly than others. The survey found 52 percent said there was "no excuse" for profiling of blacks, but two-thirds said profiling of Arabs and South Asians was "understandable, but you wish it didn't happen."

Some believe that it is absolutely necessary to obviously target people based solely on their ethnicity. They argue that profiling young Middle Eastern men who may be Muslims will make a lot of people angry, including young Middle Eastern men who may be Muslims, but as long as global terrorism is dominated by young Middle Eastern men who happen to be Muslims, profiling young Middle Eastern men who may be Muslims justifies the action. According