There are 365 days in a year. So far in 2016, there have been nearly 1,500 terrorist attacks all over the world. Over the past summer, there was a seemingly endless barrage of attacks; France, Orlando, Nice, Japan, and Germany are just a few examples of places that were targeted and attacked. In a two-week period from March 13th to March 27th, 247 lives were lost because of terrorist attacks. In Brussels on March 22nd, 32 people were killed in a suicide bombing attack at the Brussels airport. On November 13th, 2015, in France, 130 people lost their lives in a truck bombing.

The almost unimaginable amount of lives lost is not the only impact terrorism has had on the world. Civilians caught in the middle of this war on terror are forced from their homes in staggering numbers; 65.3 million people have been displaced from their homes, almost half of which are under 18. Currently (as of October 20,2016), Mosul, a city in Iraq under Islamic State control, has 30,000 people crammed into under-prepared and inadequate refugee camps. One of these refugee camps, the Al-Hol camp, which was built to house only 7,500 refugees, now holds 9,000 people with only 16 latrines and no source of fresh water, creating unsanitary and unhealthy living conditions. The situation in Mosul is becoming more complicated with a million more residents predicted to be trapped within the city in the near future.

Counter attacks lead by American coalitions have also lead to deaths. 35,000 bombs have been dropped by American lead groups in both Syria and Iraq, leading to civilian deaths that number in between 22 to 846. This has left many people disillusioned with the progress the U.S has made in fighting the Islamic State.

With the election coming up quickly, it becomes critical to assess each candidate’s approach to terrorism. Each candidate has come up with thoughtful tactics on how to deal with the international issues that are slowly destroying nations. Billions of dollars have been spent on rebuilding from these attacks. If a solution isn’t found soon, countries will be in further debt, and countless more lives will be lost due to terrorism.