War on Terrorism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

War on Terrorism - Essay Example President Bush’s war on terrorism is counterproductive because it seems that the cost of freedom from terror is the freedom of privacy, It is questionable as to what the war on terrorism actually is. The Encyclopedia Britannica (n.d.) defined war as, â€Å"A conflict among political groups involving hostilities of considerable duration and magnitude† (War). Bush stated that war was declared on terrorism, but no specific countries or political groups were actually named in the declaration. The fact there were no specific guidelines set at the declaration of war has lead many to wonder if Bush’s war on terror is even legal. Now, in 2006, Bush’s continuing campaign leads many to wonder is this war on terrorism is to be a repeat of the Vietnam War. U.S. President Bush has utilized a series of legal loopholes and political strategies to keep a legally questionable war and freedom infringing policies going for almost 5 years. Lovinger and Scott (n.d.) stated that Bush’s war is illegal because: If so many aspects of Bush’s war on terrorism are illegal, how does he get away with it? Even though the Bush administration refers to its acts as part of the War on Terrorism, the campaign is not technically a war, but rather a Use of Force Resolution. The key difference in these two terms is the president’s ability to extend military force. In an article from Slate, Lithwick (2001) described the difference as, â€Å"While the wide-open wording of the joint resolution appears to give congressional approval to any act of war undertaken by President Bush, it contains several important checks on his powers† (What Sort of War, n. pag.). These checks were put in place to prevent a repeat of the Vietnam War by requiring the U.S. President to confer with Congress when implementing any new military actions. Before going into the details describing any negative impacts of the War on Terror, it is important to note that if there were no positive aspects, the U.S. would