HIS217 Discussion 6-1
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Southern New Hampshire University *
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217
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Philosophy
Date
Apr 3, 2024
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docx
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Uploaded by ChefSeahorse6988
My chosen topic is the question, “What Does a Terrorist Look Like?” Defining what a terrorist looks like revolves around perspective. In the eyes of America, a terrorist is anyone who commits acts of terror to communicate a larger message. However, while America defines who they view as terrorists, other people or countries may see them as freedom fighters. A common misconception is to label groups related to terrorism as terrorists, and any actions they do are seen as terroristic (DeValve, 2023). For example, the events of 9/11 were perpetrated by a terrorist group known as Al-Qaeda. They had strong ties to the Islam religion (Pritchard, 2022). Those who practiced Islam in America received racial and ethnic discrimination despite not being connected to the terrorist group. Before 9/11, information between federal agencies was divided. The Patriot Act connected information between these agencies and boosted security measures, such as airport security. The act was controversial as there are debates about whether it violates the Fourth Amendment because of the vast amount of data the agencies were able to collect from US citizens (Pizzo, 2023).
Being in the military, we go through online annual anti-terrorism training. Unfortunately, this training is not taken as seriously as it should be. The training does not focus on what a terrorist looks like but on the terrorist’s ideologies and capabilities. The most important part of identifying a terrorist is to identify extreme beliefs. However, all pictures of terrorists from the training represent someone from the Middle
East. When we enlist, we take an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. It is important to remember that while the focus is on the Middle East, the United States has faced domestic terror in the past, and we should not limit our perceptions of what a terrorist looks like by race or religion. Instead, we should try to understand and identify extreme beliefs
that can come from any background of race, ideologies, politics, or religion. DeValve, M. J. (2023). Terrorism. Salem Press Encyclopedia.
Pizzo, L. (2023). USA PATRIOT Act. Salem Press Encyclopedia.
Pritchard, J. (2022). September 11, 2001. Terrorist Attacks. Salem Press Encyclopedia.
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