Saturday, September 26, 2015

Did Everything Just Get Worse?

By Adrienn Keszei

I was fourteen years old, sitting in the tv room of our high school dorm in Hungary, watching a television show with my roommates, when someone rushed into the room and changed the channel to see the news. Her sister, she said with trepidation, lived in New York and worked in the financial district. None of what she was saying made any sense—until we saw what was on the screen.
Exactly fourteen years after the attacks of September 11, 2001,  I found myself in Manhattan looking at the Tribute of Light from Brooklyn Bridge Park, and contemplating what – if anything - we have achieved in almost one and a half decade. How much closer did we get to a world where such things simply could not happen? Unfortunately, not much at all.

Dawn at the Pentagon Memorial prior to a ceremony to commemorate the 14th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attack on the Pentagon.

Washington - Pentagon Memorial 
(Source: http://www.navy.mil/view_image.asp?id=203186 )

9/11 was an extraordinary catalyst that started the long War on Terror. A lot has happened since 2001. The U.S. waged war on Islamist terrorist organizations and regimes supporting them, launched a war on Iraq based on erroneous intelligence, then the suffered international embarrassment when the inhumane treatment of detainees was unveiled and Saddam Hussein turned out to have no weapons of mass destruction after all. Of course, Osama bin Laden was killed, and in the midst of all this, following a US withdrawal from Iraq, the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) was “born’ into the political vacuum—a new enemy gaining more territory, power and followers every day. In many ways, the situation got worse than it was before, with the U.S. having to deal with a more dangerous and much more brutal organization than al-Qaeda ever was, while the government cannot seem to figure out an effective strategy to eliminate this new enemy. Furthermore, as a result of the war in Syria, which has been indirectly enabled by the U.S. intervention in Iraq, tens of thousands of people are migrating to Europe from the Middle East, seeking a better future. Among them, hidden safely in all the chaos, could be people sent by ISIS or other terrorist organizations, posing as migrants. Threats and security risks were ignored once before and with devastating consequences. Now, weary as the American public may be of the topic, the U.S. government must find a way to eliminate threats in the Middle East and minimize the risk of terrorist activity in Europe.
Many abroad now think that waging an extremely aggressive war on the countries associated with terrorist organizations was a mistake. They also believe that the U.S. overemphasized 9/11 while civil wars, famine, or constantly deteriorating hygiene and health conditions across the globe are contributing to much larger death tolls every day. Others argue that the leadership’s hostility toward all of Islam contributed to the ever-growing popularity of new jihadist groups. These are strong opinions, which seem quite insensitive at first, but a more detached perspective might just be what America needs in order to find a better strategy to eliminate the source instead of fighting a futile war against people on the ground.
It is hard to understand how the US government, with all the resources at its command, cannot figure out a better strategy to stop Islamist militant groups. After 9/11, most of the attention was focused on al-Qaeda, and as much as people wished for retribution, weakening al-Qaeda and killing bin Laden did not make the world much safer, nor did it heal the wounds caused by 9/11. Soon after al-Qaeda was weak enough to consider it less of a threat, a rival Islamist group appeared, known as the Islamic State. Their growing power and brutality forced thousands of people to leave their home countries.
These people are seeking a safe, better future—and it is the responsibility of the destination countries to assist them in any way possible to realize this wish. But migrants are arriving in large numbers, which means it will be difficult to effectively integrate them into society for a while as they will probably create their own isolated societies. This environment is unfortunately perfect for recruiting people to follow jihadist groups. Granted, the absolute majority of migrants are innocent people who deserve a better life. Nevertheless, it would be awfully naive to think that terrorist groups—that have been systematically recruiting people from all over the world for years now—would not take advantage of the chaos and the huge, uncontrolled mass migration. Some suspicious individuals have already been identified in several European countries, but chances are that due to the overwhelming crowds of migrants and refugees, most threats will remain undetected.

MSST stands guard near the Brooklyn Bridge

New York - U.S. Coast Guards Maritime Safety and Security Teams 
(Source: http://www.navy.mil/view_image.asp?id=2714)

To prevent such an outcome, the U.S. should offer help to Europe to ensure that migrants are registered legally and effectively; not only to ensure global security, but also to create a safer future for America. The Bush administration ignored several clear warnings before 9/11. Who is to say that the present administration will not make a mistake again, ignoring the minor threats in Europe, which may only become greater in time. So, as I was sitting on a bench, looking at the blue lights relentlessly pointing towards the sky, I was contemplating the past fourteen years, and realized that we must very quickly learn how to prevent threats in time; otherwise, we will find ourselves fighting futile wars for decades, only creating more enemies and more tragedies in the process.


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