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How the “War” Began

I. Introduction
The event that set off this war on terror was the worst attack ever recorded on American soil. There have been only two events in American history where the US was attacked on its own land by foreigners. The first of which, was on December 7, 1941, also know as Pearl Harbor.1 This was when the Japanese attacked a Harbor in Hawaii without any warning and killed thousands of people. The second event was that of September 11, 2001, where Terrorists hijacked several airplanes and crashed them into the world trade center towers.2 This terrorist attack also resulted in thousands of American deaths and million and millions of dollars in damage. These two events in American history are the only two which have caused the United States to declare war. The United States declared war the first time against Germany and the axis powers in Europe. The second event even caused something that has never happened before, which is that a country declared war against an Idea. So thus the “War on Terror” began and a military campaign, unlike any other in history began.
II. What is Terrorism
When concerning terrorism it is difficult to describe. The act of terrorism is a very scary thought though, because it is such a controversial idea. When an act of terrorism occurs, the people who commit it, believe that they are fulfilling a mission, just like any other American soldier.3 When a man ties a bomb to his chest and blows up people all surrounding him, he is at much at fault as, a US jet fighter who drops bombs and kills many innocents also. Terrorism is defined as:
Terrorism in the modern sense is violence or other harmful acts committed or threatened against civilians for political or other ideological goals. Most definitions of terrorism include only those acts which are intended to create fear or "terror", are perpetrated for an ideological goal as opposed to a lone attack, and deliberately target or...