Complacency in the West in the Face of Islamic Radicalism

摘要

Osama Bin Laden declared war in 1996 against Americans occupying the 'land of the two holy places.' The Worldwide Islamic Front declared war against the United States in 1998. Islamic radical leaders desire to kill millions of Americans by first lulling the West into a sense of complacency, and they think they can get the United States there via the murky waters of ignorance, apathy, and a lack of moral clarity, leaving America vulnerable to catastrophic attacks. United States national leaders seemingly refuse to acknowledge the commitment of Islamic radicalism's intentions, and this failure is crippling America's efforts to develop a strategy to counter these Islamic radicals. If the American people and her leaders do not take this threat seriously, devise an enduring strategy, and commit sufficient resources to fight it, the next 9- 11 will be more devastating than the last. This thesis will assess national policy, expenditure of national power, and public support of the 'War on Terror' from 2001 to present day. Analysis will assess public support for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, but also attitudes concerning related domestic activities. This paper will show that Islamic radicalism presents a formidable threat to America. It will analyze United States strategy to counter Islamic radicalism. The author will analyze American attitudes from 2001 to 2010 in order to survey complacency in the face of this threat, and show that public support for war is strong when the case is well explained, but that this support is perishable, and that it must be sustained by national leadership.