Since the World Trade Center towers fell in 2001, almost anything having to do with Islam or the Muslim culture has become an automatic “go-to” for blame. Nervous Americans have turned terms used by Muslims into synonyms for “terrorism.” The question that has to be asked is how is the Muslim community reacting to these anti-Islamic extremists?

In the past four years, 326 reported U.S. drone strikes have occurred within Pakistan with an estimated 1,707 to 3,025 deaths – more than 400 of them reported to be civilian bystanders. All of this within a country that the United States is not at war with.

As United States citizens, we are often told about the horrors of the police state. Soldiers patrolling throughout cities, rifles at the ready to arrest and detain anyone engaging in suspicious behavior, with no one to answer to except for themselves.

Republican candidates at the foreign policy debate on Saturday were asked to share their views on torture. This question segued into their views on waterboarding. Both Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain said that if elected, they would return to the practice of waterboarding as an interrogation technique.

Mark Juergensmeyer, director of the Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara, spoke to the ULV community about the war on terror last Thursday in the Campus Center.

Charles Doskow, professor of law, discussed the legality of using drones to hunt terrorists in his lecture “Defending Ourselves Against Terrorism: Targeted Killing by Drones.”

On March 28, President Barack Obama addressed the nation to answer the questions surrounding why the United States is taking part in the airstrikes in Libya.

It is important to learn from mistakes. When a light socket electrocutes you, it would be smart to not touch the socket again. In terms of helping soldiers to adapt to life after war, the United States has latched onto an electrical circuit and is frying.

As Americans, we sometimes have a false sense of security. We expect our phone calls to be heard only by the person on the other end of the line, and an occasional little brother listening through another phone.

Muslims have been the recipients of a multitude of hate in the last few weeks. Protesters have stormed the city of New York in opposition to the construction of a mosque two blocks away from the former World Trade Center.