Can military force defeat terrorism?

Question

Please explain...

Answer 1

Nope - for practical purposes it's like trying to kill a fly with a tank. It's possible but silly.

Answer 2

Contemporary military force has only encouraged terrorism and deliberately so. It's common knowledge the CIA funded terror groups through the roof to fight proxy battles against communists, socialists or even democratically voted in governments.

Islamic Jihad was a group that made its first attack in the 70s against an American/French peacekeeping force in the palestinian area. From before then suicide attacks were unheard of, and from then on they became more commonplace. After their attacks, one which was really deadly, the forces withdrew; this might have been a victory for the terrorists.

But also, it might have been a victory for the military. Terror cells are a complicated thing and most of them recieve their money and guns frm large governments. Al Qaida was apparently created by Laden, and the CIA threw millions of dollars at him to fight the Soviets out of Afghanistan. The atrocities there are the worst in modern history, and what the right claim to be the true face of Islam, but what is actually the true face of America funding Terrorism.

In Iraq, it is the same thing. Let's not forget all the Western blocs, America, the UK, Germany and France went to Hussein, who was accused of holding terrorists. In Palestine it's different - look for a BBC program called 'Death in Gaza'. It shows how people find glory in death (hope you're over 18).

As for State Terror? 'Shock and Awe'? Terrorism is a fact of life.The UN spent a lot of time deciding on what was terrorism and what was not because the definition would sometimes imply western powers too. As long as we can even percieve terror, we'll use it as a weapon. No matter what ordinary horror we live with today.

Answer 3

Can "military force" (vice "a military force") defeat terrorism? Conventional wisdom says no.

You can certainly kill terrorists, but you cannot necessarily kill an "ism" short of mass extermination.

Many groups and countries have tried economic reforms to prevent and remedy terrorism (it has to do with the Marxian criminology that most acts of crime are a result of economic despondency; i.e. terrorism is just the Social Conflict Theory on a much greater scale) and it has worked quite well.

The US Institute of Peace states "To [ have pro-west reforms], U.S. policy should concentrate on building consensus and enhancing international cooperation, strengthening law enforcement and the rule of law, applying cautious pressure for reform in Muslim states, encouraging moderate Islamic voices, and achieving political stability and economic reconstruction in Iraq and Afghanistan."

There has only been one successful action against a guerrilla uprising by a foreign power in modern history, and that was the Malay Uprising which lasted from 1948 - 1960. The British attempt at military force didn't work, neither did the forcing of Chinese residents onto reservations. Taken from Global Security, "The British finally began to have some success against the uprising when they began to address the political and economic grievances of the Chinese minority, isolating the rebels as extremists."

So, no, you can't really defeat terrorism with military action.

Answer 4

Study some history and learn from the mistakes and successes made in the past, WW2 being the prime example. Appeasement only made Hitler want more, it encouraged him to attack. The only way he was defeated was through overwhelming military force.

If Germany raised a new division and sent it to the front, it was attacked and destroyed. If they raised another one after... it was destroyed.

This is the only way to deal with terrorists. Keep hunting them down and killing them, destroy their base of support, kill every new recruit they pull into their crimes. Do this until they stop or they run out of people to recruit.

People keep talking about the "root cause" and such. But the "root cause" of virtually all terrorism is that somebody isn't a Muslims or isn't the same type of Muslim. There simply is no "warm fuzzy" way to wish this away.

Answer 5

Terrorism is a tactic. It's a little like asking "can tanks defeat submarines." There are more factors than just the tactics one side of a conflict chooses to employ.

Military force can prevail against an enemy using terrorist tactics, for instance, if aplied ruthlessly enough.

Answer 6

The problems are:

1. Terrorism is underground and is everywhere. You can't fight them with a military force without hurting innocent people as well (as we have found in Iraq).

2. Intervening and fighting in the Middle East makes them hate us more. We can't force them to practice democracy and we can't force them to love us.

Ron Paul is the only candidate out there who makes sense on this issue.

Answer 7

Very excellent question. Military force can "punish" the suspected group or country of origin, however, terrorism, the world wide terrorism we are facing now is in alot of countries, they wait and plan to kill more people, to fight against the so called "evil" of the west. They believe this is a good fight. So to answer your question honestly. NO, we cant win. We can just kill alot of them and have perpetual war. Maybe we can win, maybe we can somehow, (pray) make peace with these people. One thing for sure is, they cannot win. We have too much fire power and resources, (every modern sophisticated nation is with us on this one) for them to do anything but kill some of us, while we kill many of them. God help us.

Answer 8

yes..can the police control crime..yes..remember terrorism is nothing more than some one killing some one else..all you have to do is kill the terrorist..and their supporters..yes finding the root cause of the terrorism ...like no jobs or mistreatment will help resolve the issues but it wont stop people from killing people..some terrorist just like killing for the fun of it..its not always about issues..sometimes its about personal pleasure...wake up ...military have defeated terrorist before..look at the Brits in Mallissa...and Borneo...

Answer 9

Nope, not unless they are willing to annihilate an entire group of people.. and that includes women and children.

Terrorists will only go underground and come out stronger. Somewhere, sometime.. we have to sit down and speak.. every side.. terrorists too. I know this seems impossible, but even terrorist must have a point of view altho sometimes I wonder. But I do know,.. war is not going to stop them.

Answer 10

Insurgencies and terrorists can only be stopped through force. The only other option is surrender. It must be overwhelming force and it must be without conscience.