- Terrorism
- Definitions and Theories of Terrorism
- Types of Terrorism
- Breeding Grounds of Terrorism
- Emerging Forms of Terror
- Counterterrorism
Understanding Terrorism
Terrorism, despite its rarity, is a momentous social event whenever it happens. The very word terrorism holds us at attention. When terror is used as a social tool for social change, it invites among us a kind of social alarm, a disturbance of the basic sense of social order with calamity that shakes us at the very core of our civilized society. This class will holistically study the presentation of terrorism as a worldwide phenomenon. We will take a broad look at all major forms of terrorism and highlight patterns of similarity and contrast the differences found when terror is used to accomplish political aims. Additionally, we will discuss various social behaviors and learn how society can easily find itself giving birth to the circumstances that allow terrorism to emerge. Moreover, our discussions will open a window to the future of terrorism and the attempts to control it.
Dr. Michael Thompson
Codi Guillory
Terrorism
Wiki – Essay 2
Counter – Terrorism
Counter – terrorism (also called anti – terrorism) incorporates the police, military tactics, techniques, and strategy that government, military, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or prevent terrorism. The National Counter – Terrorism Center (NCTC) serves as the primary organization in the U.S. government for integrating and analyzing all intelligence pertaining to terrorism possessed or acquired by the U.S. government (except purely domestic terrorism); serves as the central and shared knowledge bank on terrorism information; and provides all-source intelligence support to government-wide counter-terrorism activities. We will disrupt, dismantle, and ultimately defeat them (al-Qa’ida) – its leadership core in the Afghanistan – Pakistan region, its affiliates and adherents to ensure the security of our citizens and interests.
SOURCES
https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/06/29/fact-sheet-national-strategy-counterterrorism
www.nctc.gov
PICTURE
Lynzee Zeigler
Mr. Thompson
Terrorism
10.5.15
The definition of Terrorism
“"International terrorism" means activities with the following three characteristics:
▪ Involve violent acts or acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law;
▪ Appear to be intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and
▪ Occur primarily outside the territorial jurisdiction of the U.S., or transcend national boundaries in terms of the means by which they are accomplished, the persons they appear intended to intimidate or coerce, or the locale in which their perpetrators operate or seek asylum.*
"Domestic terrorism" means activities with the following three characteristics:
▪ Involve acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law;
▪ Appear intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination. or kidnapping; and
▪ Occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the U.S.”
“The State Department's definition holds that only sub-national groups, not states themselves, can commit acts of terrorism. It states the violence must be politically motivated, but does not mention instilling or spreading fear.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency's definition includes the use of illegal force or violence "for purposes of intimidation, coercion or ransom," but does not require it to be politically motivated.
The FBI looks to the Code of Federal Regulations definition: "The unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives."
The FBI has labeled as terrorists groups such as the Earth Liberation Front, which has taken responsibility for destroying millions of dollars worth of property, but claims to be nonviolent and avoid hurting people.”
http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=92340&page=1
My photo:
Tahnee Saxton
9/24/15
What is Terrorism?
Terrorism is a common misconception. Many people get terrorism confused with other violent acts, or acts of war. Also, people get “terrorists” confused with innocent, law abiding people. Since the attacks to our world trade center on 9/11, our country has been carrying out preventative acts to potentially stop terrorist actions. Civilians get angry when they, for example, have to get checked through security at an airport. But I don’t think they would get that angry if they knew exactly what we were trying to prevent.
The FBI defines terrorism in two different ways. The first definition is “international terrorism”. International terrorism is defined as the involvement of violent acts or acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law. They appear to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and occur primarily outside the territorial jurisdiction of the U.S., or transcend national boundaries in terms of the means by which they are accomplished, the persons they appear intended to intimidate or coerce, or the locale in which their perpetrators operate or seek asylum. The second definition given by the FBI is for “domestic terrorism”. Domestic terrorism is defined as the involvement of acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law. They appear intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the U.S.
With these definitions we can see exactly what terrorism is and is not. With a perfect explanation as to what actually is a terrorist attack makes us look more closely and want to know what causes these violent actions.
Terrorist attacks can be caused by a number of things, but the main causes are wanting to break away from a nation, escaping alienation and oppression, carrying our religious duties, or proving power by attacking the political system. For a terrorist, not attacking isn’t an option. If a terrorist doesn’t go through with the attack that has been planned, he or she has failed, or condemned depending on what he or she believes.
It is sad that erratic beliefs can lead to such violence and destruction. But it is something that has always happened. Terrorism isn’t a new concept, it is just fresh on our minds because of the attacks on 9/11.
http://handofreason.com/2011/featured/causes-of-terrorism
https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/terrorism/terrorism-definition
http://spiritoftime.su/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=114%3Atheories-of-terrorism&catid=43%3Asecurity&Itemid=42&lang=ru
A Critical Analysis on Terrorism
by: Mario Flores
The United States Department of Defense defines terrorism as : “The calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological.” The act itself isn’t the terrorist's true aim, its aim is to elicit a fear based response from it’s audience. The aphorism “another man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter” have been used from justifiable causes but it is terrorism nonetheless. Most terrorist believe that their ideologies fit this aphoristic model.
Take for example 9/11, arrogantly we never foresaw anyone attacking on U.S soil. As a child in the generation after 9/11, I don’t think if another attack happened we would be as afraid as the unenlightened people during the attack on the twin towers. Two very important different things happened here in America following the attacks. Voter turnouts after 9/11 increased significantly. The second is we saw a flaw in American democracy, a little after a month on October 11 2001 we passed the PATRIOT Act. I am not a kooky conspiracy theorists who thinks 9/11 was created by our government, but such dramatic events have had drastic decisions. Essentially we gave up our rights to privacy for the illusion of safety, nowhere does it guarantee that preventive measures like this will abolish terrorist attacks against the U.S. populace. The philosopher plato understood this and he had an accurate depiction and insight as he too lived in a democracy. Plato said “Dictatorship naturally arises out of democracy, and the most aggravated form of tyranny and slavery out
of the most extreme liberty.”
There are multiple views of terrorism, the terrorist’s, the victims, and the general population. Terrorist’s don’t see themselves as evil. They believe that they are fighting a just cause that they are very passionate about, and they have a Machiavellian mentality where the ends justifies the means. The victims of terrorism see the ones committing the act as the epitome of all evil without regard to the sanctity of human life. The general population's view is similar if not entirely different from the victims, some sympathize with the terrorists seeing them as fighting oppression, and others see them as those committing deplorable crimes against humanity. This is what the terrorists want. They want to sway the population to their cause.
So, we are back to the beginning.
What is terrorism? It’s too complex to be labeled with a pejorative connotation. More often than not we only see one side of the argument, it's up to us to decide.
Bibliography
http://www.terrorism-research.com/
https://news.wsu.edu/2011/09/09/big-issues-since-911-prompt-voter-turnout/#.Vgyd-PlViko
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-107publ56/pdf/PLAW-107publ56.pdf
Jessica Moss
Terrorism: Direct and Borderline
A common method of terrorism is killing people of a certain race, religion, occupation, or other discriminatory characteristic as an excuse of the terrorists particular religion. Islam is likely the most common religion used in terrorism and it happens to derive from a variety of different beliefs about it. In true Islam killing is not allowed. But in terrorism, “Muslims” will often sacrifice themselves as suicide bombers with the belief that they will die and go to heaven being rewarded with 77 virgins. In general, terrorists using Islam as an excuse to kill will say that if it is in the name of Allah, it is accepted in general no matter what the circumstances are.
‘Islam is however not the only religion that displays terroristic actions. Cults take on a variety of different races and religions. Self proclaimed prophet Yahweh Ben Yahweh (meaning God, son of God) was a black supremacist who was the leader of the cult, “The Nation of Yahweh,” who were apart of the Black Hebrew Israelites line of thought. This prophet acted swiftly on the weakness and confusion of those who were at an all time low in their life when they entered his church in search of guidance from God. According to a man on a documentary TV show about surviving this cult, he would act like a father figure and sit on the floor and talk to him for hours. When he gained his cult members’ trust, he would send them out on missions to perform terroristic acts. One in particular was when they launched a bombing on a block in Delray Beach, Florida. Ben Yahweh taught all of his followers that everything outside of the church was bad, and one time also sent a group of his men to spray paint and knock down a Martin Luther King Jr. statue to make a point to the community. Ironically, Ben Yahweh had a hatred for all white people and valued black people over anyone else, however Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the people he hated the most of all.
There are many religious cults that feature borderline terrorism in their groups. The Aggressive Christian Missionary Training Corps is a white based Christian cult who brainwashes its members about how wrong the political world is and refers to President Obama as a communist. Terrorists strictly believe that religion is far more important than state, and that the rights government give us are irrelevant next to what is written in the bible for instance. Terrorists do not see homosexuals and women who desire to have unwanted pregnancies aborted as human beings, and instead use them as a tool to inflict fear in the community and to be heard far across the nation. Unlike mafias, terrorist groups wish for their illegal activities and acts of hatred to be public and well known, remembered and able to leave a mark and impact on the country for quite some time. Most crimes are sought to be covered up and hidden, but in a way terrorism is intentionally publicized criminal activity. Although security precautions have been put into place to attempt to stop terrorist acts, terrorism is still a widespread issue across countries.
http://www.apologeticsindex.org/2743-aggressive-christianity-mission-training-corps
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahweh_ben_Yahweh
Daniel A. Rogers
Dr. Michael Thompson
Terrorism
10:40 – 12:05
1. November 2015
Theories of terrorism
Why do terrorists do what they do? Why do they go to such extremes for their beliefs and ideas? What motivates them to put their lives at risk and families lives at risk for such ideas? There are many theories on why they do what they do. Some say it’s for attention or that they are physiologically ill. Perhaps they are desperate and need something really bad or maybe they just don’t like the people they are terrorizing who knows for sure.
Most people think terrorists are mentally ill or just complete psychopaths, this however is not completely true most of them have been proven mentally stable but just put under extreme stress and tension and were pushed to do extreme things. Now you’re probably thinking, “Are you kidding me?” or “this is completely stupid this guy doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” Just remember these are merely theories and ideas on why they do what they do.
According to my source, “Researchers who subscribe to a macro sociological approach view terrorism as a reflection of various social dysfunctions or conflictive trends in the social system.” He or she also says. “Some of the possible root causes are poverty, authoritarian and repressive regimes, or cultural and religious practices.” It sounds like these terrorists easily influenced and can be rounded up under either one or multiple ideas of hate. On the television the media shows most of the religious struggles in the fight against terrorism. Being religion as one of the biggest reasons for terrorism people assume it’s the only reason. Its not…
Seeing as America as a big power house when it comes to coming over to other countries and helping them either over throw a government or chain of command or providing safety and help to citizens there America isn’t very liked by these terrorists and is a main target. Another theory is that terrorists are oppressed citizens or former government personnel from these countries we go over to help and end up hating our presence in the country and try to get us to leave.
According to my source he/ she believes there are seven psychosocial principles. “First psychosocial principle: terrorism must not be seen as a syndrome but as a method of social and political influence, Second principle: the attributes of terrorists are shaped by processes of social interaction, Third principle: terrorist organizations can be analyzed by analogy with other social movements, Fourth principle: terrorism only is possible when terrorists have access to certain resources, Fifth principle: the decision to begin and sustain a terrorist campaign is always legitimized by an extreme ideology, Sixth principle: every terrorist campaign involves strategic goals but the rationality which terrorists apply to their violence is imperfect, Seventh principle: the activity of terrorists partly reflects the internal features of their organizations.”
Seeing all these theories and possibilities for why terrorists do it or what motivates them really enlightens you to think about their position. You don’t have to support them because I certainly don’t but looking at the whys and how’s really makes you think.
Source:
http://www.terrorismanalysts.com/pt/index.php/pot/article/view/8/html
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nUbssUAvmJo/ULEvRLlIGsI/AAAAAAAAFDs/IYd2sZb1vPg/s1600/who+is+the+real++terrorist.jpg
Right Wing Vs. Left Wing Violence
Tahnee Saxton
11/16/2015
There are many belief systems that have led to acts of terrorist violence. In the modern political environment. Terrorism is usually classified into either left wing extremists or the right wing extremists.
Left-wing extremism is future oriented, seeking to reform or destroy an existing system prior to building a new and just society. To the extent that leftists champion a special group, it is usually one that is perceived to be oppressed unjustly by a corrupt system or government. This group is commonly a class or ethnonational category that, in the leftists’ belief system, must receive the justice and equality that has been denied them. In doing so, leftists believe that reform of the system, or revolution, is needed to build a just society. In this sense, left-wing extremism is idealistic.
Right-wing extremism is generally a reaction against perceived threats to a group’s value system, its presumption of superiority, or its sense of specialness. Rightists often try to preserve their value system and special status by aggressively asserting this claimed status. They frequently desire to return to a time of past glory, which in their belief system has been lost or usurped by an enemy group or culture. In this sense, right-wing extremism is nostalgic.
Ideologies such as “liberal” and “conservative” are derived from the far-left and the far-right groups. It has much to do with our political system today. There are terrorists out there in our own country fighting for what they think is right. Radical, illegal, deadly yes. But the way they understand it is if they are fighting for what they think is right then it is okay to attack. There is no common ground to a terrorist.
The recent attacks to France by Isis seem to be led by the extreme left-wing group. France was about the last place people expected to get attacked. Terrorists know how we think. They use strategies and attack places that are unexpected, so that they have better chances of success. I don’t know how successful they feel right now after the retaliation by France, but they obviously did it for some reason.
http://markhumphrys.com/left.right.violence.html
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2015/11/13/paris_shooting_why_did_terrorists_attack_france_again.html
Jessica Hagedorn
Michael Thompson
11/15/15
Types of Terrorism
According to Nick Grothaus, there are eight different types of terrorism. There is State Terrorism, Religious Terrorism, Right Wing Terrorism, Left Wing Terrorism, Pathological Terrorism, Issue Oriented Terrorism, Separatist Terrorism, and Narco-Terrorism.
State Terrorism is a use of terror by government in order to control the population. It is powered by the group in control of the country. This is also the original form of terrorism. The 1793 French Revolution and the thousands of executions that resulted are often cited as the first instance of state terrorism, though rulers have plausibly been using it for centuries to control their subjects.
Religious Terrorism is motivated by religious ideologies and grievances. This type of terrorism is particularly dangerous because the people involved are willing to sacrifice their own lives for the cause. They like to use suicide bombings or other “all in” tactics.
Right Wing Terrorism is a group that aims to combat liberal governments and preserve traditional social orders. This is mostly militias and gangs. Many times these groups are racially motivated and aim to marginalize minorities within a state.
Left Wing Terrorism is a group that seeks to overthrow capitalist democracies and establish socialist or communist governments in their place. They want to attack the established system in order to do away with class distinction. While these groups still exist they are not as prominent as they were during the Cold War.
Pathological Terrorism describes the use of terrorism by individuals who utilize such strategies for the sheer joy of terrorizing others. Pathological terrorists often operate alone rather in groups like the others on this list and often are not true ‘terrorists’ as they lack any well-defined political motive.
Issue Oriented Terrorism is carried out for the purpose of advancing a specific issue. Commonly these issues are social in nature or deal with the environment. Here this definition is used to include environmental terrorism.
Separatist Terrorism Separatists seek to cause fragmentation within a country and establishment a new state. This type of terrorism is typical of minorities within a nation-state that desire their own, commonly due to discrimination from the majority group.
Narco-Terrorism originally refers to organizations that gain funds through the sale of drugs. It can also deal with the use of violence by those groups or gangs designed to make the sale of their drugs easier.
http://handofreason.com/2011/featured/types-of-terrorism
http://terrorism.about.com/od/whatisterroris1/tp/DefiningTerrorism.htm
Fatoumatta Darboe
Types of Terrorism
The debate over the definition of terrorism is as old as the term itself. As the world moves into the information age, expanding the definition of terrorism to include action taken inside cyberspace as well as the physical world may be necessary. there are several elements that run through the many definition of terrorism. The first critical is physical violence, at some point in terrorism, an individual or group must believe that they are being threatened with violence. The second element is the political goal than the physical action itself.
The debate surrounding the definition of terrorism is addressed in Appendix B, which contains an overview of some of the more popular definitions in the literature. An understanding of the violent and political elements of terrorism are more important for the study. One of the popular selling points of information warfare is that it is a less violent and destructive form of warfare in which the combatant states wage war with electrons in cyberspace. While ability of states to wage relatively bloodless war is yet to be seen, the potential to create mass chaos and insecurity in a society via information warfare techniques may appeal to terrorists.
The evolving concept of information warfare will influence terrorism in the information age. Every advance in computing power continues to increase the usefulness of computers and their associated networks to law abiding citizens. Simultaneously. these computers increase the power of the weapons available to cybernetics and criminals. The implications of computer technology's dual nature, as both a tool and weapon. must be understood in the information age. The military information warfare tactics that exploit this duak nature may be used against the united states by future eyberterroists.
As such, it is important to include information warfare as a potential component of information age terrorism. There have been Different types of terrorism defined by lawmakers, security professional and scholars. Types differ according to what kind of attack against uses or by what ate they defending. Researches in the united states began to distinguish different types of terrorism in the 1970s, following a decade in which both domestic and international groups flourished. By that point, modern group had began to use techniques such as hijacking, bombing, diplomatic kidnapping and assassination to assert their demands and for the first time, they appeared as reach threats to western democracies, in the view of politicians, law makers, law enforcement and researcher. they began to distinguish different types of terrorism as part of the large effort to understand how to counter and deter it. Some of the types of terrorism which disturb our generations.
State Terrorism, many definition of terrorism restrict it to be an acts by non state actors, but it can be argued that states can, and have been terrorists. States can use face or the threat of force, without declaring war, to terrorize citizens and achieve a political goal. Germany under Nazi rule has described in this way. It has also been argues that states participate in international terrorism, often by proxy. The untied states considers Iran the most prolific sponsor of terrorism because Iran arms groups, such as Hizballah, that help carry out its foreign policy objectives. The untied states has also been called terrorist, for example through its civert sponsorship of Nicaraguan Contrast in the 1980s.
Another type of terrorism is called Cyberterroism, Cyberterroists use information technology to attack civilians and draw attention to their cause. This may mean that they use information technology, such as computer system or telecommunications, as a tool to orchestrate a traditional attack. More often, cyberterroism refers to an attack on information technology itself in a way that would radically disrupt networked services.
Another type of terrorism is Ecoterroism, which is a recently coined term describing violence in the interest of environmentalism. In general, environmental extremist sabotage property to inflict economic damage on industries or actors they see as a harming animals or the natural environment these inculcate companies., logging comapines etc. Again we have Nuclear terrorism, this refers to a number of different ways materials might be exploited as a terroist tactic. These inculde attacking nuclear facilities, purchasing nuclear weapons or building nuclear weapons or otherwise finding ways to disperse radioactive materials.
Finally, we have Narcoterroism that has several meanings since its coming in 1983. It once denoted violence used by drug traffickers to influence governments or prevent government efforts to stop the drug trade. In the last several years, narcoterroism has been used to indicate situations in which terrorist groups use drug trafficking to fund their other operations. Policymakers and law enforcement agencies seeking to understand the motives of violent groups engaged in drug trafficking tend to assume that motives are clear cut. But terrorist groups may not be so coherent as is commonly assumed. Many contain members who are more like thugs than committee ideologues, and driven by a variety of motives which may themselves be inchoate. Although there is a trend in examining terrorist groups through the lens of organizations psychology and network theory, continuing to seek to understand how and why individuals participate in such groups could provide valuable information about groups that combine terrorism and drug trafficking. However, the current close end search to understand individuals, Radicalization would have to be opened up a more ended query.
Resources
http://terrorism.about.com/od/whatisterroris1/tp/DefiningTerrorism.htm
http://www.nij.gov/topics/crime/terrorism/Pages/welcome.aspx
http://www.studymode.com/subjects/terrorism-happens-because-page1.html
Jessica Moss
Mail Bombs
A common form of terrorism is to use explosive devices, often known as bombs to kill, or sometimes severely injure those who represent a certain belief or moral that the terrorists have a strong disagreement with. Terrorism can be public or personal, but it is more known as being public in order to induce fear worldwide. Bombs can be planted in a location and set off, or sometimes terrorists will strap bombs to themselves in order to commit suicide and wipe out a large number of people while doing it. Some bombs will be large and more obvious, while others may be very hard to notice and will either be quite small, or disguised as something else.
Mail bombs for instance are a rare occurrence of terrorism, in fact over the last few years about 16 cases of them were reported of. However, they could be a sneaky way to successfully attack someone if they are not aware of the signs of them. Mail bombs may come in package parcels, or even letters. In 2001 anthrax had been going through the mail in letter form, and ended up seriously injuring and even killing many people.
There are several different warning signs that will help you identify a mail bomb. First you should examine how the package is wrapped. Mail bombs will often have extra packaging in order to secure them tightly in place. If a package is wrapped in either twine or string, consider that to be very suspicious as those materials are not needed for packaging anymore and the post office will not accept packages wrapped in them. This would be the most obvious sign that the package did not go through the post office. Mail bombs may also be very unprofessionally wrapped with excessive layers of packing tape as well. Examine the package for oil stains, protruding wires, and sloppy handwriting. Examine for endorsement in a restrictive manner with words like “personal, private, or confidential.” Research the return address (if there is one) and compare it to the postmark. If the package is sent from a business then research that as well since if it is a bomb it will most likely be fictitious. Pay attention to any unusual odors such as oils and gases coming from the package. Lastly, if the package has excessive postage, is shaped strangely, lopsided, and has bulges in certain areas, especially if it contains words such as “Fragile,” be very cautious.
If you suspect that you have received mail that contains a bomb, or any kind of radiological or biological chemical threat, set the parcel down in an isolated room and ventilate the area. Make sure that water or excessive heat will not come into contact with the package. Evacuate the area and call 911 immediately. Under no circumstances should you open the package if it contains any of these suspicious signs.
Each year there are over 170 billion packages delivered by USPS. Because of this large quantity, unfortunately not all packages can be thoroughly examined by the mail carrier. The chances of receiving a bomb in the mail are less than one in 10 billion, but with caution and reasonable thinking you could avoid a life or a limb being taken by this method of terrorism.
For More Information:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_bomb
https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/raddocs/bombs.htm
Daniel A. Rogers
Dr. Michael Thompson
Terrorism
10:40 – 12:05
What is terrorism?
To completely honest I was not aware there was other forms of terrorism. Now I know what you’re thinking how you could be that incredibly stupid to not realize there are different forms of terrorism. Well maybe I just didn’t know but anyway terrorism by definition is the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims. Sounds like a politician to me but I guess it’s acceptable there. Anyway there are quite a few different forms of terrorism.
A form of terrorism is State Terrorism, State terrorism is the systematic use of terror by a government in order to control its population. State terrorism is entirely carried out by the group holding power in a country and not a non-governmental organization. That sounds intense to me that the government has to use terror to control its citizens and just wow that amazes me. It must be a pretty terrible dictatorship rather than a government to use terror to keep its people under control.
The obvious form of terrorism is religious terrorism. According to my source Religious terrorism is particularly dangerous due to the fanaticism of those who practice it and their willingness to sacrifice themselves for the cause. Religious terrorists are more likely to use “all in” tactics such as suicide bombings. This is the kind of stuff you hear about on the news every day and is the main reason we are fighting wars in the Middle East. This kind of terrorism uses religious reasons to justify their action and reasons why they use terrorism.
I’ve never herd of this form of terrorism but my source says that quasi terrorism is a violent act that utilizes the same methods terrorists employ, but does not have the same motivating factors. Cases like this usually involve an armed criminal who is trying to escape from law enforcement utilizing civilians as hostages to help them escape. Seems a simple hostage situation only that it has a fancy name to it.
It’s not really terrorism but one of my sources say that civil disorder is a sometimes violent form of protest held by a group of individuals, usually in opposition to a political policy or action. They are intended to send a message to a political group that “the people” are unhappy and demand change. This is the kind of stuff that people say is peaceful protest but ends up being a riot and a governmental over throw.
A terrorism that involves drugs is called narco – terrorism. My source refers to narco terrorism as a term originally refers to organizations that gain funds through the sale of drugs. It can also deal with the use of violence by those groups or gangs designed to make the sale of their drugs easier. Sounds like a normal drug trade to me but oh well just call it what you want I guess.
A Separatist terrorist according to my source is when a Separatists seek to cause fragmentation within a country and establishment a new state. This type of terrorism is typical of minorities within a nation-state that desire their own, commonly due to discrimination from the majority group.
Terrorism can come with many forms of motivation or reasons and strategies. With many names and other ways to define it as well as categorize it we can come to realize different forms of terrorism. If you made it through this much of my essay you will realize that I am doing this at 1:45 in the morning because the final form of terrorism is college essays.
Sources
http://handofreason.com/2011/featured/types-of-terrorism
http://www.crimemuseum.org/crime-library/types-of-terrorism
Types of Terrorism
Kelsie Jolly
The first thought that most people have when they think of terrorism is the devastating bombing of the Twin Towers in New York City on September 11, 2001. This event awakened America that terrorism was out there and could have powerful effects. However, this was not the first time America had dealt with terrorism. There are six main types of terrorism that can use different ways of creating terror.
Civil Disorder is the first type of terrorism. This is often not viewed as terrorism because it is done by the "common" people and may involve rioting. Many times the protests do not begin as violent but can lead to destruction of private property and civilians may be killed in the violence. America recently encountered this kind of terrorism in Ferguson, Missouri when African-American rioters took to the streets to protest the shooting of a young, unarmed black man was shot by a white police officer. Quickly the protest became violent, buildings were set on fire, cars were vandalized, and antipolice violence ensued.
Political Terrorism is when one political group uses dangerous behavior to try to intimidate another. This is often used in other countries, particularly Communistic countries, to try to control the way elections are carried out. Political terrorism again is not viewed as terrorism but more as civil unrest but may lead to assassinations and other violent behavior.
Nonpolitical Terrorism is very similar to Political Terrorism but motivated by other causes. Religion is the most common motivator of nonpolitical terrorism. There has been cases of this type of terrorism in the United States when a group of radical Christians blew up the car of an abortion doctor. They seen this as acceptable because of their religious beliefs, but this was ethically wrong.
Quasi Terrorism is rare in that it is not usually a group activity. This type of terrorism is when an individual uses terrorism tactics but is not intended to reach a goal. Many criminals use this tactic to try to avoid arrest by threatening the lives of other innocent individuals. One of the most iconic forms of this was when in Waco, Texas, a cult leader threatened the lives of innocent children during a standoff with police. He had no terroristic motivations, but purely was trying to save his own skin by using violence.
Limited Political Terrorism is typically the one time use of violence to protest a government policy or action. The goal is not to overthrow the government but to prove a point that the people do not accept its actions. This type of terrorism was used heavily when the United States became a country and during the time leading up to the Civil War. The various rebellions were usually led by minority groups hoping to prove to the government that the people held the power in the country. Some were successful, but many were squashed before extensive violence gained leverage.
State Terrorism is a violent act led by an existing government usually against another country. This type of terrorism often is motivated by political and nonpolitical conflicts. Israel and Palestine are the perfect example of this. The continual conflict of these neighboring countries goes back to a conflict that is hundreds of years old. In America, the events of 9/11 are often viewed as state terrorism but in reality are a mix of state and nonpolitical terrorism. Iraq never claimed to have sent the Al Qaeda terrorists, but also refused to aid America in hunting down the perpetrators. The United States reacted as if it was State Terrorism and declared war on the grounds of the production of weapons of mass destruction.
Terrorism can come in many different forms, but all usually creates the same effect of fear and upheaval. Regardless of the form, terrorism has been around since the beginning of time and is used in increasingly destructive ways. As technology continues to advance, so will the different ways that terrorism is performed. In America, we need to acknowledged all six forms of terrorism.
www.crimemuseum.org/crime-library/types-of-terrorism
martinslibrary.blogspot.com/2014/08/terrorism-types-of-terrorism
Jessica Hagedorn
10/2/15
What is Terrorism?
Terrorism is a criminal act that influences an audience beyond the immediate victim. People describe terrorism as tactic and strategy. Some also call it a holy duty. It all depends on the point of view of the person describing terrorism. Terrorism is effective for weaker sides of conflict. It creates power with many advantages of the military force for cheap. Terrorists prevent the opponents a chance to defend against them. This is why pre-emption is important. Terrorism carries conflict, but the adversary does not realize the nature of the threat. Because of that, they take terrorism as criminal activity.
Terrorists strategically choose what they attack and target based upon what they are against. The terrorist attack act lies on the government’s or public’s reaction to the acts. They target the people watching the attack happening, mostly the people watching the tv, because the main goal is to introduce fear. Terrorism was created to produce overreactions and it most always succeeds in causing this.
“There are three perspectives of terrorism: the terrorist’s, the victim’s, and the general public’s. The phrase “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter” is a view terrorists themselves would gladly accept. Terrorists do not see themselves as evil. They believe they are legitimate combatants, fighting for what they believe in, by whatever means possible to attain their goals. A victim of a terrorist act sees the terrorist as a criminal with no regard for human life” (terrorism-research.com).
The United States Department of Defense says terrorism is “the calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological.” Within this definition, there are three key elements—violence, fear, and intimidation—and each element produces terror in its victims (terrorism-research.com).
The FBI uses this definition: "Terrorism is the unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives." The U.S. Department of State defines terrorism to be "premeditated politically-motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience" (terrorism-research.com).
The United Nations produced the following definition of terrorism in 1992; "An anxiety-inspiring method of repeated violent action, employed by (semi-) clandestine individual, group or state actors, for idiosyncratic, criminal or political reasons, whereby - in contrast to assassination - the direct targets of violence are not the main targets” (terrorism-research.com).
http://www.terrorism-research.com/
Fatoumatta Darboe
Breeding Grounds
It is pretty obvious why the United States has cared about failed states in recent years. in this current age of jihadist and sectarian violence, a lot of bad actors who can hurt the interest of distant countries as they did on September 11. Neither Boko Haram nor the Islamic state would be terribly impressive political movements if they had deal with organized state, we take them seriously only because they have flourished in the weak state environments of West Africa and syria-iraq. I believe that the United State has overestimated the overall dangers represented by terrorism coming from such sources.
Much of the extreme concern immediately after 9/11 was driven by the fear that jihadists were going to get access to weapons of mass destruction; while this remains possible, the real consequences are much smaller attacks like the Charli Hebdo operation, which fall well below the level of existential threats. The United States also has a humanitarian interest in the welfare and safety of innocent people living in these states. How powerful an interest this is questionable, however, when the costs of action are high. Nearly as many people have died in the Democratic Republic of Congo over the last decade as in the Holocaust, and yet hardly anyone in the United States has suggested it is worth intervening militarily in this conflict.
Weak states that can’t control security within their own borders, like Nigeria or Pakistan, can potentially shelter dangerous groups just as easily as failed one like Somalia. We are really not interested in failed states as a category, nut in the political and security externalities that flow from conflict in them. it is understandable why Us foreign policy since September 11 has forced on state building in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other areas, even if this is not the highest priority in us foreign policy, it is still reasonable that American should want to create order in potentially places. The real question is whether it can. the most successful transplant were settler colonies in highly inhabited territories like north America, Australia, new Zealand, south Africa, Patagonia and the like, where the native inhabitants could be physically killed or driven into reservations. Institutions were also transplant into more densely populated Ares like British India, Hong Kong, and Singapore.
Success in the former case involved staying a very long time and in the latter two form having strong military and commercial motives for investing in the colony and being able to shape it, as it were, from scratch. Compare to other countries, Saudi Arabia is already one of the strictest places on earth. Islam was born there, and it’s the state religion, one that prescribes the way of life for everyone, from the ordinary citizen, to the crown prince. The Koran, Islam’s holy book, is effect, Saudi araba’s constitution. Saudi law states that education should instill the Islamic faith, and that the role of the state is to protect Islam. The state pays celeries to teach a form of Islam called Wahhabism which many critics say is puritanical, intolerant and breeds extremism. i think Wahhabism participate in producing these extremist, yes I do.
But Dr Saleh al sheikh disagrees. As minister of Islam affairs and senior Wahhabi religious leader, he has been investigating thousands of Saudi Arabia’s clerics and teachers to determine whether they are disseminating extremism. So far, he says only 150 have been removed. By no means does this imply they all harbored ideas, says al sheikh. We do not have statistics on how many actually harbored such thoughts, but the members are very small, and we can count them on the fingers of one hand. There is a widespread perception in the United States that Islam followed here is puritanical, is intolerant, that schools here preach hatred, Bradley says to al sheik, and because of that, the extremists that attacked the united states on September 11 and the extremists who have been attacking here in Saudi Arabia this past year are a byproduct of Saudi society. You raised them. If Saudi araba’s teaching of Islam really produces extremism, then the outcome wouldn’t be limited to just 15, 20, or even 100 people. If that were true, we would have produced tens of thousands of terrorists.
These terrorists are a minority and are not the product of the Saudi educational system. In their view, today’s world is corrupt and has no morality. As servants of God they believe it is our duty as Muslims to change this world using any means possible. Even if that means killing children, shedding blood, or engaging in all kinds of barbarity to achieve that goal. We are fundamentalists, in that we are religious society, and the Saudi government is a religious government. But the issue here is really about the absence of different views. The problem is complex, it is not that we don’t accept those who are not Muslims. First we need to destroy the monsters within us that hatred for anyone who holds view different from ours, even Muslims from our own country. there is some criticism out there about educational curriculum , that it teaches young people that other religions, other beliefs, other ways of life aren’t acceptable. Unless we try to create a new culture, unless we prepare our people to accept diversity of ideas, the diversity of opinions, then we will be always dealing with extremism that will result, in one way or the other, to terrorism.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/4007037?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2013/05/28/north-africa-breeding-grounds-for-terror/
https://www.ashgate.com/pdf/SamplePages/Failed-States-and-the-Origins-of-Violence-Ch1.pdf
Lynzee Zeigler
Counterterrorism
According to this first article I found called counterterrorism/ terrorism, “Violent acts by non-state groups against the general population for political purposes are abhorrent crimes that, when widespread or systematic, can amount to crimes against humanity. Human Rights Watch condemns such acts. Governments have a responsibility to protect those within their jurisdiction from extremist attacks, but must ensure that all counterterrorism measures respect human rights. Human Rights Watch monitors actions by governments and inter-governmental bodies against violent extremism to ensure they do not infringe on the rights to life, to protection from torture and ill-treatment, and to a fair trial. We also condemn governments for targeting minorities or stifling the rights to free expression, association and peaceful assembly in the name of security. Such measures are not only unlawful under international law, they are also counter-productive.”
But, according to the second article I found, “IN THE DECADE since 9/11, the U.S. government has used a wide variety of tactics against terrorists. It’s invaded countries where they operated (and ones where they didn’t). It’s tried to win the backing of foreign populations in which the terrorists hide. And it’s sent commandos and deadly flying robots to kill them one by one.
One thing it hasn’t done, until now: troll them.
Within the State Department, a Silicon Valley veteran has quietly launched an improbable new initiative to annoy, frustrate and humiliate denizens of online extremist forums. It’s so new that it hasn’t fully taken shape: Even its architects concede it hasn’t fleshed out an actual strategy yet, and accordingly can’t point to any results it’s yielded. Its annual budget is a rounding error. The Pentagon will spend more in Afghanistan in the time it takes you to finish reading this sentence.”
Sources: https://www.hrw.org/topic/terrorism-counterterrorism
http://www.wired.com/2012/07/counterterrorism-trolls/
Counterterrorism-Is It Possible?
by Kelsie Jolly
11/18/15
It seems like everyday we hear of a new attack on freedom. Bombings, beheadings, and genocide have become an everyday occurrence since ISIS has taken the role as a leader for global terrorism. Some of their actions are more publicized than others, but there is no doubt about it that terroristic groups are powerful people who wish to be feared. Is there a way to control such an unorganized but hateful group? In the Western world, this is the main question on everyone's mind.
Counterterrorism is the effort to stop terroristic activity before it has the chance to happen. Since 9/11, counterterrorism has been the main concern for the United States. We did not realize what devastating events could come from an extreme group in the Middle East. There have different things suggested in order to prevent terrorism, but often this goes again Constitutional rights. Should we sacrifice freedom in order to hope to prevent attacks? Most Americans would say no. This problem creates a stand still between the government and the people. If the citizens of the United States knew how many threats were defeated each day, they would most definitely have a different opinion of how we are fighting terrorism. Americans would have more pride in our country and be more tolerant of the security precautions set up to help prevent terrorism.
One of the major ways we have tried to prevent terrorism is by reaching out to other nations for support, educating the local people, and holding firm stance against terrorism. Other western nations have often supported us in our war against terrorism. Even nations that we do not necessarily get along with will offer support against those who kill innocent people. Currently Russia and the United States have joined forced to stop the extreme violence in Syria.
Educating the local people was an earlier attempt at preventing terrorism. Soldiers tried to befriend rural communities and offer education and training for their children. They tried to show that the United States was good, and terrorist organizations were bad. Many people argue whether this strategy did any good. Some say that any time we can help people in need, we have reached a goal. Others say that we wasted money and resources trying to fix communities that didn't want to be fixed. Most of the time, the leaders of terrorist groups are well off and educated while their followers are the poor. Ultimately, we may never know how much good it did, but at least we tried.
Since 9/11, the United States has had a firm policy stating "We do not negotiate with terrorists." This has been a moto that has encourage our troops through the roughest times. Some have criticized this policy when ISIS beheaded an American journalist. We must stay strong against their treats if counterterrorism is to succeed.
Counterterrorism will continue to be the most important issue regarding national safety in the years to come. Counterterrorism will take on new forms as technology continues to change. America will adopt new laws and safety precautions as time goes on. Eventually we will win this war on terrorism.
Sources:
http://www.state.gov/j/ct/
http://usforeignpolicy.about.com/od/defense/a/what-is-counterterrorism.htm
Does Counter-terrorism Exist?
by: Mario Flores
11/18/2015
I’d like to begin this analysis on counter terrorism with an aphoristic quote by Friedrich W. Nietzsche: “Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster.. for when you gaze long into the abyss. The abyss gazes also into you.”
We must first begin by defining terrorism, the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims. In the website of the Federal Bureau of Investigation it defines terrorism as violent acts or acts against dangerous to human life that violate federal or state act. It appears that counter terrorism fights terrorists so that they cannot do any harm to civilians. Or in another way, to prevent or thwart terrorism.
The reason I believe it is hard to distinguish “terrorists” is, whenever someone is engaged in a war, the opposition will always commit acts of terrorism. For example, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant views the United States of America and Israel as the largest terrorist organizations in the world. The United States of America by definition meets these standards. Whether it be directly or indirectly the United States have had a hand in overthrowing multiple governments. Examples are, Iran, Guatemala, Congo, Dominican Republic, South Vietnam, Brazil, and Chile, etc. There are no rules in war. If there were The United States would not have dropped the atomic bomb in Hiroshima in 1945. When a small government does not have the troops or the advanced weapons to take on a large government, acts of terrorism are their only option. Committing acts of terrorism receives massive media coverage which aids in recruitment.
Counter-terrorism is sometimes put into question, The CIA gathers information abroad and has been under scrutiny for many cases of torture. The CIA refers to their forms of torture as “Enhanced Interrogation Techniques” this euphemism is used to mask the language. Although the interrogation techniques are used to cause little bodily harms many are left with psychological damage.
In a sense we get back to this circular reasoning. We are defending the sanctity of human life of our country's civilians. People that die abroad are simply “casualties of war”. Do counterterrorist exist, or are they simply terrorist on the opposing side? When an innocent person is tortured for information, is that not terrorism? When an innocent child is completely covered and approaches our troops on enemy soil and a sniper takes him out from a mile away, is that not terrorism? When we drop bombs and drone strikes in a town of suspected terrorists and innocent people are caught in the crossfires, is that not terrorism? Are we really battling terrorism, or are we causing it?
Bibliography
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/terrorism
http://antiwar.com/blog/2013/08/21/how-many-governments-has-the-us-overthrown/
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/cia-torture-report
Codi Guillory
Terrorism
Wiki – Essay 1
What is Terrorism?
Terrorism is defined as the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims. The United States Department of Defense defines terrorism as “the calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological.” Terrorism has been around for all of time and I don’t think it will ever go away because the one who commit these attacks are cowards. Terrorism has been described as a tactic and strategy; a crime and holy duty; a justified reaction to oppression and an inexcusable abomination. With terrorism comes different ways to view it: the terrorist’s, the victim’s, and the general public’s. The phrase “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter” is a view terrorists themselves would gladly accept. They don’t see themselves as evil, they believe that they are legitimate combatants, fighting for what they believe in, by whatever means possible to obtain their goals. Terrorists are just cowards who pick on the smaller, weaker opponent, trying to make it seem like they are a very serious and dangerous group, when in reality they are just to scared to attack someone their own size or even larger.
I found a few different types of terrorism:
1.) State Terrorism – States can use force or threat of force, without declaring war, to terrorize citizens and achieve a political goal.
2.) Bioterrorism – The intentional release of toxic biological agents to harm and terrorize civilians.
3.) Cyber-terrorism – Use information technology to attack civilians and draw attention to their cause.
4.) Eco-terrorism – Describing violence in the interests of environmentalism.
5.) Nuclear Terrorism – Refers to a number of different ways nuclear materials might be exploited as a terrorist tactic.
6.) Narco-terrorism – Denoted violence used by drug traffickers to influence governments or prevent government efforts to stop the drug trade.
SOURCES
www.terrorism-research.com
terrorism.about.com/od/whatisterroris1/tp/DefiningTerrorism.htm
PICTURE
Codi Guillory
Terrorism
Wiki – Essay 2
Counter – Terrorism
Counter – terrorism (also called anti – terrorism) incorporates the police, military tactics, techniques, and strategy that government, military, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or prevent terrorism. The National Counter – Terrorism Center (NCTC) serves as the primary organization in the U.S. government for integrating and analyzing all intelligence pertaining to terrorism possessed or acquired by the U.S. government (except purely domestic terrorism); serves as the central and shared knowledge bank on terrorism information; and provides all-source intelligence support to government-wide counter-terrorism activities. We will disrupt, dismantle, and ultimately defeat them (al-Qa’ida) – its leadership core in the Afghanistan – Pakistan region, its affiliates and adherents to ensure the security of our citizens and interests.
SOURCES
https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/06/29/fact-sheet-national-strategy-counterterrorism
www.nctc.gov
PICTURE
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