Research synopsis

The war against terror, especially the war on Iraq, is a very popular issue among politicians and ordinary people at present. It took an almost equal, if not superior, status with many local and national issues in the minds of men. This attention to the war against terror has first gained national importance after the terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center towers on September 11 and continued to gain momentum as years go by. After this attack, American leaders shifted towards a more international approach to policy-making.

The dangers and issues that confront the country are not limited to internal threats and problems anymore. They have to be wary of external threats too. It is only by knowing that the government is also doing something to address external threats can the people in the United States feel safe in their everyday lives. Due to this extreme importance given to the war against terror, policy stances of the government are often influenced by this issue.

Platforms of both Democratic presidential rivals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama include addressing this issue. Like majority of other Democrats, they believe that ending the war is a better policy and will serve America and its people more than pushing through with war. (Henderson) Unfortunately, there is still no fixed policy as regards war. Even within one party, debates still exist as to whether to go through with or to end war. A bigger debate can be expected to exist outside a single party and even among ordinary people on the streets.

Unfortunately for many people, politics may be playing a large role on what politicians say about war. As one Illinois Senator once said, “ Being a leader means that you’d better do what’s right and leave the politics aside, because there are no do-overs on an issue as important as war. ” (Henderson) Hopefully, politics will not get in the way of adopting the correct decision as regards the war on terror. It will be interesting discussion to try to adopt competing policies on war and examine their consequences to find out the better policy.