The Reality of Terrorism

Everyone thinks of terrorists as being such a threat to our country, and most people think of certain religions are the only people who terrorize our country. Most people don't even know why they terrorise but just single them out and not try to help one another. In reality these people have different backgrounds, not every person terrorizes for the same reason. For example, some people cite the case of Nidal Hasan, “The Army major who killed 13 people at Fort Hood...the massacre at Fort Hood was also motivated by Nidal Hasan’s personal problems. He was unmarried, both his parents were dead, he had no real friends and a dreaded deployment to Afghanistan loomed” (Bergen). According to the article terrorist do have reasons for terrorising other countries, their reasons aren't right, but some don't do it just for fun. On this quote is says a certain attack was because he was stressed out in his life with his family and his friends, but we can help prevent his stress from coming out the wrong way. We should help other people go get some help so they won't have to hurt others. You can help by bringing them to some group meetings that help people with depression. If it's a family or friend, and you see that their not in a good state of mind, spend time with them help them forget how miserable life could be. According to the same article “Why Do Terrorist Commit Terrorism” it states “his younger brother, Dzhokhar,...smoked marijuana, drank and chased girls — hardly the actions of a Muslim fundamentalist. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s motivations for the bombings were instead largely molded by his older brother, (Tamerlan Tsarnaev) whom he admired and feared” (Bergen). This was clear that this had nothing to do with the religion that he believed in, but how he was choosing to live his life. Nobody seemed to care for him or help him and nobody realized how depressed he was. He relied on his older brother and he wasn't thinking on what might go wrong because everything is already messed up in his life. In the same way Tamerlan Tsarnaev had a hard time in his life as well “Tamerlan Tsarnaev carried out the Boston Marathon bombing (with two of his brothers) in 2013. He was a non practicing Muslim and his dreams of becoming an Olympic boxer faded. At the time of the attack, he was unemployed. For him, bombing the marathon seemed to allow him to become the heroic figure that he believed himself to be” (Bergen). These quotes all show how where your from or what you believe in has nothing to do with if your qualified to terrorise or even worse see a certain religion as a threat to our country.

According to some people like the article”Why Do Terrorists Commit Terrorism?“people believe that “The perpetrators were generally motivated by a mix of factors, including ... dislike of American foreign policy in the Muslim world; a need to attach themselves to an ideology or organization that gave them a sense of purpose” (Bergen). This quote explains another reason why people terrorize. Its because the laws in America, and were the terrorist live are different and they don't like the way we live here in America. They feel as if everybody should follow the same rules and laws they do. On the website “What Makes A Mass Shooting Count As Terrorism” it says “It is intended to frighten a large number or people or to put a political cause on the map, if it makes other leaders fear they might be next or that there might be a pattern ” (Stanford). This shows that some people only want to do a big seen for attention or to make sure people know a certain date. If anything some countries just get attacked for no reason and only so that other countries would be scared of these terrorist. “Why Do Muslims Execute Innocent People?” shows another reason we get attacked just for the laws we have. “While often ignored in the Western media, human rights abuses in the Islamic world are a daily occurrence.”(MacEoin). In their countries, not everyone has the freedom like we do. Women can't do certain things so they aren't considered free and innocent. But at the same time these actions should not be the reasons for attacking innocent people.

Many people assume Muslims or anybody from the Middle East part of the world are terrorist but that's not always the case. Some examples show facts on how many people in the U.S alone terrorised the country for just being mentally ill. In the article “The Trump Administration Is Using Fake Terrorism Statistics to Scare

You About Immigrants” it states “Homegrown fanatics have killed many more Americans on U.S soil than foreign-born terrorists have The disparity grows much wider if you include mass killings carried out not for any religious or ideological cause but...by mentally troubled individuals”(Isaacs). This example shows that immigrants aren't the problem but religion isn't either kids with disabilities don't have control over themselves. According to the same article statistics show that “Deranged shooters with assault rifles killed more than three times as many people as all foreign-born jihadists have killed in this country in the last 16 years”(Isaacs). Another quote that explains how attacks don't have to just be from other countries is “September 11, 2001 is still the worst international terrorist attack that has ever happened on American soil, killing more than 3,000 people and wounding countless others. (Since then, 142 Americans have died from terrorism at home.)” (Fostenson). This quote is from the article “Most Terrorist Attacks In The US Are Committed By Americans — Not Foreigners”.

A lot of people judge others but don't realise anybody could just take out any sort of weapon or any object that can harm you and cause chaos. Terrorism doesn't necessarily mean someone from out of the country that comes to harm, it means when a person is using violence against another person or property to persuade the government or community in doing what they want, or simply just an act of suffering. As a young person living in America in 2019, i feel as if people need to know how not everyone that looks a certain way or acts a certain way is a threat to this country. Helping each other and being considerate will change our country and its future for the better. 

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Arnold. “The Trump Administration Is Using Fake Terrorism Statistics to Scare You About Immigrants.” The                   Nation, 5 Mar. 2018, www.thenation.com/article/the-trump-administration-is-using-fake-terrorism-                     statistics-to-scare-you-about-immigrants/.                                                                                                    Bergen, Peter. “Opinion | Why Do Terrorists Commit Terrorism?” The New York Times, The New York                             Times, 20 Jan. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2016/06/15/opinion/why-do-terrorists-commit-                                        terrorism.html. Isaacs,                                                                                                                            Frostenson, Sarah. “Most Terrorist Attacks in the US Are Committed by Americans - Not Foreigners.”                             Vox.com, Vox Media, 9 Sept. 2016, www.vox.com/2015/11/23/9765718/domestic-terrorism-threat.