In 1998, a fictional movie was released, depicting a middle eastern terrorist cell in New York City In The Siege, two FBI agents, after a terrorist bombing that kills innocent men and women, are tasked with tracking down an elusive terrorist that blends into Arab population of New York. The movie, The Siege, brings up many possible scenarios of what could possibly happen if the government experienced terrorist attacks in California and the United States.
Associated with terrorist attacks in Iraq and Afghanistan, suicide bombings are conducted when one detonates explosives attached to themselves killing themselves and anyone around them. In one of the movie’s opening scenes, a terrorist has taken hostage innocent men, women, and children on a bus in down town New York. Sadly, the terrorist succeeds and kills everyone including himself aboard the bus. This type of suicide bombing, was seen in real life, three years after the release of The Siege. According to Encarta.com, on September 11, 2001, the international terrorist group Al Qaeda, hijacked four jet liners, two which crashed into the World Trade Center towers in New York City. This terrorist attack killed more than 3,000 people including the 19 terrorist, making America rethink it’s idea of isolationism. With many densely populated cities in California suicide bombings are possible tactic for terrorist organizations to attract media attention to their cause and strike fear into the hearts of their victims.
As the bombings continue in the movie, the United States Army is sent to New York. However, their counter-terrorist activities clash with that of the FBI. Since it is hard to distinguish “Friend vs. Foe” the Army resorts to the tactic of rounding up all people of middle eastern ethnicity to prevent another terrorist attack. This idea is not just seen in the movies but happened in real life. In World War II, with the bombings of Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, American soldiers rounded up all Japanese Americans and placed them in concentration camps throughout the United States. The general idea behind their incarceration was to prevent another terrorist attack and keep spies away from planning another attack. What the Japanese incarcerations proved is that it is hard to target an enemy that blends into the general population. Without the proper evidence, laws, and laws, finding the enemy could turn into a “witch hunt”.
One of the last ideas brought up by the movie, The Siege, is how far we are willing to go to find an elusive and clever enemy. Towards the climax of the movie, a possible terrorist is about to be tortured. Denzel Washington’s character, witnessing this action, makes a good point in that “How far is our military and law enforcement willing to go (to catch the terrorist) ?” The rules and laws of our society have been put in place to prevent unreasonable acts, and if people act not within our laws, the blood spilled by our fore father would be for nothing. Essentially, the War on Terrorism, is an impossible war to fight and without politicians supporting it, the United States will fail.
The movie, The Siege, depicts a modern America, where it is near to impossible without impeding on someone’s personal rights to fight the War on Terrorism. Unlike the previous world wars, where the enemy is clear marked and both sides support the traditional rules of warfare, the enemy the United States is fighting in the present, is smart, cunning, and uses different tactics. Instead of resorting to fighting the US soldiers head on, they send suicide bombers and leave improvised explosive devices by road sides. California without the help of the federal government and military is not equipped to deal with another September 11th like attack. California law enforcement and emergency rescue service s can only train in terrorist like scenarios to wait for the next attack. The best way to save California from a terrorist attack is rethink the way, they see the War on Terror.
Works Cited
· "September 11th attack." Encarta.com. Encarta,. Monday. 28 September. 2009. http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_701509060/September_11_Attacks.html
· The Siege Dir. Edward Zwick. Perf. Denzel Washington, Tony Shalhoub. Bedford Falls Production, 1995. Film.
Also used photos/video: “The Siege”
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