Sick of Terrorism
- Jodi-Ann A. Richards
- Oct 2, 2021
- 2 min read
“I’m feeling a lot of different emotions. I feel sadness for so much of my fellow comrades’ youth spent and lost for this cause. However, I certainly do not feel shock - it has long been known the ineffectiveness of the Afghan state and military.” - a quote by Kyle Hanson: served in the US Army from 2006 to 2012 (Delausmann Jr. and Brady, 2021). International evacuations from Afghanistan are happening, and many are concerned that the country could once again become a haven for terrorists.
Terrorism and pandemics on the rise
International partners such as the USA were not able to rebuild Afghanistan for several reasons. Outside countries such as Pakistan have been involved in funding the Taliban terrorist group (Azami, 2021). Also, long-term planning was lacking, important development projects were not given enough attention and a lack of understanding Afghan politics and culture (Walsh, 2021).
The prevention of flow of weapons to terrorist groups by foreign countries (Amnesty, 2018) and other factors such as poverty have helped to support extremism (Austin-Bergen, n.d.). Another pandemic is possible, and the causes of extremism/terrorism have to be removed to prevent outbreaks of war. War is one of the main ways that infectious diseases can spread (Barry and Wise, 2017).
Wars can affect our mental health. Furthermore, the costs of war take away from the costs for Public Health programs and regulations that lead to infections (Rosenthal, 2021).
International approach needed
Terrorists in other countries may not seem to be our problem. However, when terrorist attacks reach us and help to create another big pandemic, it will be everyone’s problem. It is not any one person’s responsibility to fix unstable regions that are breeding grounds for terrorists. But, countries around the world should work together to improve international relations. Countries can work together to stop political corruption and erase the root causes of terrorism/extremism. We should take action now before we have another 9/11 attack and another pandemic.
References
Azami, J. (2021, August 28). Afghanistan:How do the Taliban make money? BBC News.
“Newspaper article retrieved from online.”
Austin-Bergen,E. (n.d.). Does Poverty Provoke Extremism? Endingpovertytogether.org
Brady, M and Debusmann Jr., B. (2021, August 17). Afghanistan: Was my role in
Afghan war worth it? BBC News. “Newspaper article retrieved from online.”
Rosenthal, E. (2021, March 28). Op-Ed: U.S. invested in the war on terrorism at the cost
Of Public Health. LATimes. “Newspaper article retrieved from online.”
Wise, P and Barry, M. (Fall 2017). Civil War & The Global Threat of Pandemics.
Amacad.org. Fa17_Daedalus_07_Wise & Barry.pdf (amacad.org).
Walsh, J. (2021, August 17). Afghanistan War Went Wrong For These 7 reasons, US
Watchdog Says. Forbes.
Amnesty International UK. (2018, January 12). How Islamic State got its weapons.
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