Terrorism
Terrorism is the use of violence and intimidation in order to achieve political aims. Every day newspaper and TV news bombard us with reports of violence and terror. Terrorists kill for religious, political or nationalist reasons. They use various methods: plant bombs in public place; release deadly poisonous gases in underground railways; blow up buildings and cars; hijack planes; assassinate presidents, prime ministers, high officials and diplomats. Among other famous politicians who lost their lives in terrorist attacks were, for instance, John F. Kennedy, Aldo Moro, Olof Palme or Indhira Gandhi.
The question arises whether terrorism can be in any way justified. Most people doubt it since very often the victims are innocent children, women and defenceless civilians. In 1995, for example, a home-made bomb produced by two government-hating former American soldiers destroyed a U.S. government office building in Oklahoma, killing 168 innocent people. Five hundred others were badly injured. In 1997 the explosion of a bomb planted by some Islamic terrorist at a bazaar in Jerusalem killed 12 people and hurt 170. However, the worst terrorist strike in history happened on September 11, 2001 in the United States. Two hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade center in New York, and yet another struck the Pentagon. The terrorist attack was prepared by an America-hating Islamic extremist Osama bin Laden, the leader of a vast international terror network. The horrific co-ordinated assault on the economic and military symbols of America caused an enormous amount of damage and took a heavy toll on human life- about 6,500 innocent people were killed.
Terrorists often say by way of excuse that they are the ones who are oppressed and that they have to destroy “the system” because it cannot be reformed in any other way. They also claim that when they kill in war, it is an act that is praiseworthy cause having pushed a bus full of passengers into a precipice? Isn’t it immoral to say that the end justifies the means or that the death of some innocent people is meaningless?
Most of us condemm terrorists and wish to stop the wave of terror that is sweeping the world. However, it is very difficult to wage a fight against scattered terrorist groups which do not obey any conventional rules of conducting a war and without the slightest hesitation murder civilians or sacrifice their own lives in suicidal missions. Our bombers, rockets, launchers, tanks, commandos, special agents and the police seem powerless to defeat the insidious enemy. However, all freedom-loving nations around the globe should unite in combating the plague of terror because as long as long as terrorism threatens us, nobody can feel safe and each of us can become a victim. Let’s just imagine what may happen if terrorists gain access to nuclear weapons.
Only peaceful solutions, not violence and terror, should be accepted in the contemporary world.
The question arises whether terrorism can be in any way justified. Most people doubt it since very often the victims are innocent children, women and defenceless civilians. In 1995, for example, a home-made bomb produced by two government-hating former American soldiers destroyed a U.S. government office building in Oklahoma, killing 168 innocent people. Five hundred others were badly injured. In 1997 the explosion of a bomb planted by some Islamic terrorist at a bazaar in Jerusalem killed 12 people and hurt 170. However, the worst terrorist strike in history happened on September 11, 2001 in the United States. Two hijacked planes crashed into the World Trade center in New York, and yet another struck the Pentagon. The terrorist attack was prepared by an America-hating Islamic extremist Osama bin Laden, the leader of a vast international terror network. The horrific co-ordinated assault on the economic and military symbols of America caused an enormous amount of damage and took a heavy toll on human life- about 6,500 innocent people were killed.
Terrorists often say by way of excuse that they are the ones who are oppressed and that they have to destroy “the system” because it cannot be reformed in any other way. They also claim that when they kill in war, it is an act that is praiseworthy cause having pushed a bus full of passengers into a precipice? Isn’t it immoral to say that the end justifies the means or that the death of some innocent people is meaningless?
Most of us condemm terrorists and wish to stop the wave of terror that is sweeping the world. However, it is very difficult to wage a fight against scattered terrorist groups which do not obey any conventional rules of conducting a war and without the slightest hesitation murder civilians or sacrifice their own lives in suicidal missions. Our bombers, rockets, launchers, tanks, commandos, special agents and the police seem powerless to defeat the insidious enemy. However, all freedom-loving nations around the globe should unite in combating the plague of terror because as long as long as terrorism threatens us, nobody can feel safe and each of us can become a victim. Let’s just imagine what may happen if terrorists gain access to nuclear weapons.
Only peaceful solutions, not violence and terror, should be accepted in the contemporary world.
W kategorii: Język angielski