Transcript THE TERRORIST CHALLENGE

THE TERRORIST
CHALLENGE
Islam and Islamic Radicalism
Are all Muslims terrorists?
• Since September 11th, many Muslims
have insisted strongly that Islam forbids
terrorist attacks on innocent people.
• Yet the terrorists who carried out the
attacks all did so in defense of their idea of
Islam.
• The terrorists believe that the U.S. is a
threat and their religion teaches them to
fight back.
• “Islamic Radicals” are political and religious
people acting on behalf of Islam.
• Islamic radical leaders view the United States as
the enemy of Islam.
• Islam teaches that
men and women
have very different
roles in society and
the family.
• The Koran, Islam’s
holy book, requires
women to dress
modestly.
•Some Islamic radicals impose very strict
limits on women – even threatening to shoot
women without veils.
• The views of Islamic radicals are not the
views of all Muslims.
• Some Muslims say that “Islamic” terrorism
goes against the teaching of Islam.
• Other Muslims and Islamic governments
support terrorist groups.
• Americans need to find ways to stop Islamic
terrorists without unfairly discriminating against
the majority of Muslims for whom Islam is not a
violent religion.
THE TERRORIST
CHALLENGE
Confronting Terrorism
at Home and Abroad
• September 11th generated an outpouring of
patriotic pride.
• Flags went up everywhere: homes, car
windows, mailboxes, etc.
• TV and newspaper ads included a lot of red,
white, and blue.
• It may have seen like patriotic overkill, more
accurately it was a way to unite Americans in
a just cause.
President Bush vowed to fight a
war against terrorism.
The first target in that war was
Afghanistan.
• Within months, the Taliban government
was ousted and many of al Qaeda’s
terrorist camps and caves were destroyed.
• Most Afghan people were thrilled about the
government overthrow, but the new
leaders faced huge challenges.
• If the government falls apart, it could
become a hiding place for terrorist
organizations again.
President Bush stated that the war on
terrorism included three nations: Iran, Iraq,
and North Korea = the “Axis of Evil.”
The original Axis of Evil was Germany,
Japan, and Italy during World War II.
This may be and indication of how serious and
long-term the struggle against terror may be.