Counter - Terrorism in the United States and its Affect on Arab Americans essays

Counter - Terrorism in the United States and its Affect on Arab Americans essays The threat of international terrorism has increased dramatically in recent years and especially since the events of September 11, 2001. However domestic terrorism threats from within the country have also played a role in Americas security landscape. The growth of terrorism in the last few years has added an even greater sense of urgency to monitor and curtail possible internal threats to the country. As one security analyst states ...there is increasing concern from many experts and in numerous studies at the ever-present and growing internal security threat. (Mowbray J. ) This increased domestic vigilance has placed various ethnic and religious groups in a vulnerable position. This is especially the case with regard to the Arab American population in America. Due to their religious and cultural affiliations with Middle Eastern countries they have been the focus of surveillance and investigation by the authorities. What is of particular concern is that there have been reports of cases of prejudice and discrimination against this sector of the population, which is seen as an infringement of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. However, the government and counter-terrorist agencies are placed in a difficult situation. On the one hand there have been cases where members of the Arab American population of the country have been suspected of assisting known terrorists. On the other hand it would be extremely morally incorrect as well as illegal to prejudice and discriminate against a group to ethnic minority in term of stereotypes and generalities. This paper will investigate the way in which counter-terrorism has impacted on the lives of Arab Americans and also remark on the way that the government has dealt with this sensitive and important issue. 2.Counter terrorism and the Arab American population. Until fairly recently the strategies and polices with regards to counter -terrorism in A...