Donald Trumps War on Terror

By -
Cassandra Monteiro
Blog Post #3
Trump’s War on Terror


            We are currently sixteen years into America’s “war on terrorism” and it has been a major part in both the Bush and Obama administrations, but with a new administration in office questions have arose about what Donald Trump is going to do in regards to the war on terror. The threat of terrorism is very clearly present still to this day, especially in the form of ISIS groups and members attacking the United States. Counterterrorism is something that President Trump will have to focus a lot on while he is in office.
            During his presidential campaign Trump made it clear that he intended to confront these terrorists and ISIS to be specific saying; “I will quickly and decisively bomb the hell out of ISIS, will rebuild our military and make it so strong no one—and I mean, no one—will mess with us.” Since being in office he has made attempts to make military action a priority in order to target more terrorists and killing them in a faster manner. Force is one of the actions that Trump has clearly intended to use in this fight. This is similar to what the Obama administration has done in the past, making the military one of the main forces in the fight against terrorism.
            Another effort Trump has made is increasing the amount of air strikes. One of the most recent airstrikes targeted in Syria to stop Assad and their chemical weapons from hurting the civilians. This strike included 76 missiles which were fired towards the Syrian research and development center in Damascus. The goals of this strike was to put a halt in the Syrian’s use of their chemical weapons and to hopefully stop any further attacks. They wanted to install fear and make them think about their actions as said by the lieutenant general McKenzie "I'm not going to say that they're going to be unable to continue to conduct a chemical attack in the future, but I suspect that they'll think long and hard about it based on the activities of last night." The night after the attack President Trump sent out a tweet saying “A perfectly executed strike last night. Thank you to France and the United Kingdom for their wisdom and the power of their fine Military. Could not have had a better result. Mission Accomplished!” Made clear by this tweet Trump intends to do what he can to put an end to this terror and stop what is currently going on in Syria.
            One of the most controversial counterterrorism tactics Trump has used is the travel ban which he created. President Donald Trump said that, "when it comes to terrorism, we will do whatever is necessary to protect our nation.” One of his ideas was banning travel from mostly Muslim countries into the United States. The travel ban has recently returned to the Supreme Court and includes new rules and regulations. This ban would limit granting visas to travelers from five of the six countries covered by the original travel executive order — Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, and Yemen. It lifts restrictions on visitors from Sudan and adds new limits on those from North Korea and Venezuela. The Trump administration believes that this effort will keep out those who could potentially pose a threat to the United States. Some people who are against this tactic claim that it could be considered unconstitutional as it is mainly based on the religious ideals of Muslims and this is unfair to take it out on everyone who may be tied to this religion even if they have no part in terrorism. Trump has replied to this by saying that “"This is not about religion - this is about terror and keeping our country safe. There are over 40 different countries worldwide that are majority Muslim that are not affected by this order."
            Though a lot of the tactics that President Donald Trump has used in regards to counterterrorism are very controversial it cannot be said that he isn’t making any effort. When running for president fighting terrorism was a large part of his campaign. Though some of his ideas seem to be radical he is attempting to make changes and is doing what he believes will work in regards to fighting terrorism.
                       
Works Cited
Totenberg, Nina, and Lee Sheehan. “Why Dozens Of National Security Experts Have Come Out Against Trump's Travel Ban.” NPR, NPR, 24 Apr. 2018, www.npr.org/2018/04/24/604949251/why-dozens-of-national-security-experts-have-come-out-against-trumps-travel-ban.

Brechenmacher, Saskia, et al. “Trump's War on Terror.” The National Interest, The Center for the National Interest, nationalinterest.org/feature/trumps-war-terror-22783.


“Trump Declares ‘Mission Accomplished’ after U.S.-Led Airstrikes in Syria.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/syria-airstrikes-trump-declares-mission-accomplished-after-hitting-weapons-targets-n866001.

Comments

  1. UnknownApril 25, 2018 at 4:10 PM

    Hi Cassie!

    I think you took an interesting take on this topic! Americans consistently want our leaders to have an aggressive take on terrorism but no one can agree on how to tackle that task. If a leader is too aggressive, then he is shunned, if he is not aggressive enough, he is weak. As the world's leader, we have a difficult duty to protect not only ourselves, but many countries across the globe; there is no right way to win the War on Terror. Great work.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownApril 26, 2018 at 7:37 AM

    Hi Cassie,

    Great post! I thought it was interesting how you discussed the differences and similarities of the Trump and Obama administration's response to terrorism. You went in depth into the Trump administration's response. I thought this was effective in portraying your argument. Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Taylor WhiteApril 29, 2018 at 10:30 AM

    Hi Cassie,

    I really enjoyed reading your post since it talks about issues we read about in the news each day. Being in control of a country's government is extremely difficult and there is no clear path as to how to deal with situations that arise. While Trump's policies in regard to terrorism may be controversial, it is difficult to say that the are wrong simply because he may believe that he is doing what is best. Yet, looking back some of his efforts have been wrong, when dealing with an issue as complex as this one no one will ever be completely correct.

    ReplyDelete

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