Wednesday 12 September 2018

Why It Is Necessary To Counter Terrorism

By Eric Martin


Terrorism can be defined as an unacceptable way of gaining political, religious or ideological interest by intimidating people, especially the civilians. The people who are involved in this act are called terrorists and they are often masked when carrying out their operations. Their places of dwelling are usually covered so that it becomes hard for the government to trace and capture them.

Most developing countries suffering from the menace of terrorist attacks have not recovered in years. They are finding it difficult to counter terrorism because they lack the advanced technology with which to track them. Hence, they have more room and time to operate, making the sufferings of the people where they operate to be persistent. The effects of all these are further discussed in the following paragraphs.

The first thing that happens is that people lose their lives. In fact, this is obviously the sole aim of many of the terrorist groups. They try to kill quite a whole lot so as to grab the attention of the media and other countries where they aren't operating. It is not possible to quickly forget what happened at the World Trade Centers in the year 2001 where thousands of lives perished. Terrorist attacks have not been at a low ebb since then.

Properties are also lost in the process. In their bid to claim more lives, the terrorists often target public places where people are confined. For example, they could target shopping malls, the markets, and churches. Residential buildings are also targeted in most cases.

When lives and properties are lost, the next thing that happens is the onset of abject poverty. This is because resources which are also among the factors of production are destroyed. People are rendered homeless and there is nothing left for them to sell and make money. This leads to persistent hunger, such that the government finds it difficult to come to their rescue.

In order to put an end to this, the government spends hugely. Some of the areas where they spend include buying of weapons, police and military recruitment as well purchase of technology appliances to help in finding out the culprits. In many developing countries, this makes them indebted. Another avenue where lots of money is spent is in the replacement of damaged infrastructure. They have to rehabilitate the markets, water supply systems and other things the people need to enjoy life.

The government also loses money when foreign investors run away from doing business because of the unsafe environment. Foreign investments are a major source of government revenue in many developing countries so when terrorist attacks are prevalent, they lose a lot. Even developed countries that partner with some world powers may lose the close relationship that exists among them because of the fear of losing their lives and investments in the affected country.

When the people are no longer sure of who is going to die next, everyone is on the run. Tourists think of such place as the last to visit even if they could hardly spend a vacation outside the area in the past. Until the terrorists that wreak havoc in the area are conquered, the country affected will continue to lose money from tourism. In fact, they have additional work of rehabilitating damaged tourist attractions and this is more wastage of money.




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