...James Janosz Political Science 495 Terrorism December 14th, 2009 The Changing Look of Terrorism The purpose of this paper is to study and look at how terrorism has changed from pre 9/11, to post 9/11, to the current and future times. The United States is currently fighting the war on terror. But who is the enemy to the war? Can terrorism actually be considered an enemy? The answers to these questions are difficult to answer and defend, depending on the circumstances. But the key constant to the question is, there is no internationally agreed definition of terrorism. Common definitions of terrorism refer only to those violent acts which are intended to create fear/terror, are perpetrated for an ideological/political goal, and deliberately target or disregard the safety of civilian targets. The first section of this paper will deal with both views of the changing face of terrorism from pre 9/11, to post 9/11, and to the present day. The next section of this paper will discuss the variables of why terrorism has changed. In conclusion this paper will summarize the study of the changing face in terrorism. Throughout this paper there will be historical facts, evidence, theories, and analysis to support my argument how terrorism has changed over time. The language of terrorism that we, as Americans read it as, on September 11, 2001, two American airplanes flew into the World Trade Center and another into the Pentagon, while yet another suspiciously crashed in a deserted Pennsylvania...
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...authors Nicholas Koehler and Stephanie Findlay write a proactive essay about the radicalization of Osama Bin Laden titled “Bin Ladens Ruinous Legacy”. The article begins with an account of early Al Qaeda attacks and the spectacular failures that ensued. The story begins in Yemen with an account of a series of attacks that occurred in the early 1990s. Bin Laden and his Al Qaeda operatives attempt to bomb two hotels in Aden where just two days prior up to 100 U.S. service members were being housed. While the attack failed and it left only two dead, the lessons learned were invaluable to the terrorist organization. Yemeni authorities found an arsenal of weaponry associated with the plot, including 25 other explosive devices, two anti-tank mines, two machine guns and a pistol. That stash and the large quantity of cash recovered from a suspect's apartment pointed to an operation of means and sophistication. As inept as the attacks were Osama Bin Laden was able to achieve his goal of pushing American troops out of Yemen. Nonetheless he remained focused on his primary goal of displacing the American military presence he felt had arrived as an occupying force in Saudi Arabia in 1990 to establish a base of operations for the first Gulf War....
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...than 20 years ago. Suicide attacks began in Lebanon in 1983 (some say 1981, when a sole suicide attack hit the Iraqi embassy in Beirut), at the instigation of Hizbollah, a Lebanese Shiite terror organization. Six months after an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, simultaneous truck bombings killed 241 U.S. Marines and 58 French paratroopers; just four months later, U.S. troops left Lebanon. Five other organizations (most of them not religious) in Lebanon carried out about 50 suicide attacks before this modus operandi was exported to other areas of the world. The use of suicide attacks garnered considerable prestige for the perpetrators and their organizations — particularly in light of the withdrawal of foreign troops from Lebanon, which many attributed to the bombings — and turned the act into a symbol of martyrdom and a source of inspiration for other terror organizations worldwide. What made these actions unprecedented was their scale: driving cars or trucks filled with explosives, an individual (or individuals) could kill scores, if not hundreds, of people. After 1983, many terror groups adapted the concept, giving bombers explosives to carry on their bodies. The resulting bombings were smaller, though more precise, allowing the bomber to be a “guided human missile.” Therefore, modern suicide terror attacks can be defined as violent, politically...
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...In this week's Geopolitical Weekly, George Friedman discussed the geopolitical cycles that change with each generation. Frequently, especially in recent years, those geopolitical cycles have intersected with changes in the way the tactic of terrorism is employed and in the actors employing it. The Arab terrorism that began in the 1960s resulted from the Cold War and the Soviet decision to fund, train and otherwise encourage groups in the Middle East. The Soviet Union and its Middle Eastern proxies also sponsored Marxist terrorist groups in Europe and Latin America. They even backed the Japanese Red Army terrorist group. Places like South Yemen and Libya became havens where Marxist militants of many different nationalities gathered to learn terrorist tradecraft, often instructed by personnel from the Soviet KGB or the East German Stasi and from other militants. The Cold War also spawned al Qaeda and the broader global jihadist movement as militants flocking to fight the Soviet troops who had invaded Afghanistan were trained in camps in northern Pakistan by instructors from the CIA's Office of Technical Services and Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence directorate. Emboldened by the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, and claiming credit for the subsequent Soviet collapse, these militants decided to expand their efforts to other parts of the world. The connection between state-sponsored terrorism and the Cold War ran so deep that when the Cold War ended with the Soviet Union's...
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...Executive Summary After Osama Bin Laden was killed by a U.S. military raid in Pakistan, his aides have followed his footsteps and started their own branch of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). This organization was formed in January 2009 through a union of the Saudi and Yemeni branches of al-Qaeda (Masters, Jonathan. 2012). This fairly new group has the closest components and core, associated with Bin Laden’s former Al-Qaeda network. With the country of Yemen unstable, this organization looks to overtake the country with new recruits and spread their cause to its borders and beyond, from their stronghold in the southern part of the country. The AQAP’s primary goals are to try and bring down a United States airliner, spread Islamic Law, and continue to draw out a long fight forcing America to slow the economy by spending its money on security for the nation. Fighters arriving back to Yemen from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan bring their experiences and provide valuable training to the new recruits. Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, mastermind of bomb making, has almost made all of his devices come to life. By gathering intelligence and focus overtime, we know more about how potentially deadly and a threat this organization is to the United States. Current operations with drone surveillance and strikes are trying to take out this organization’s operatives. Imbedded agents are trying to gather information on the ground to try and foil the next plot. The United States has been...
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...September 11th terror attacks were a sequence of four attacks by al-Qaeda terrorists on the United States. They were carried out by al-Qaeda, an Islamic terrorist group. The terrorist attacks were launched in New York City and in the metropolitan area in Washington D.C on Tuesday, 11 September 2001. 19 al-Qaeda terrorists commandeered four planes and flew them into buildings in suicide attacks. Among the planes that were hijacked, were United Airlines Flight 175 and American Airlines Flight 11. These planes were crashed into the South and North towers of the World Trade center, respectively. American Airlines Flight 77 was crashed into the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, widely known as The Pentagon. The fourth plane was United Airlines Flight 93. Despite being targeted at Washington, D.C, its passengers tried to overcome the hijackers and ended up being crashed into an open field in Pennsylvania. The attacks killed approximately 3000 people. Among them included all 19 hijackers and the 227 passengers who were aboard the four planes. The 9/11 terrorist attacks are considered the most fatal case for firefighters in United States history. The bipartisan Commission was given the mandate of researching and presenting its conclusions, findings and recommendations that would ensure that a similar scenario of the September 11th attacks did not happen again. The Commission found out that al-Qaeda had used loopholes in the United States’ aviation security systems...
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...Al-Shabaab Profile Al-Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahidden (al Shabaab) is a designated terrorist organisation (National Counterterrorism Centre, 2013) and part of al Qaeda, which operates in Somalia aiming to establish an Islamic Somali state(Atwan, 2013 pp.111-114). Al-Shabaab would want to meet clandestinely with the pirates. Al-Shabaab’s need for financing, and al Qaeda’s emphasis on finding local sources, means that al-Shabaab supports pirates in exchange for receiving a portion of the pirates’ ransoms (Atwan, pp.121-126). Ports and maritime access are essential for piracy and al-Shabaab can use this as leverage for further collaboration (Akhgar, 2013 p.42). The failed US attack on an al-Shabaab Barawe stronghold and al-Shabaab’s subsequent deployment of beach defences are demonstrative of the advantages of operating out of al-Shabaab controlled ports and evidence of al-Shabaab’s ability to withstand attacks by foreign forces (Ahmed et al., 2013). When meeting with the pirates, al-Shabaab could ask for control of the AusAID/WFP food shipment and future pirate food hauls. Over 3 million people are reliant on aid in Somalia (Atwan, p.118) and the food could be used to restore Somali faith in al-Shabaab, lost after recent al-Shabaab attacks. Food supplies could provide incentive for recruitment to the al-Shabaab cause if distributed in Somalia, or in the Somali populated areas of Kenya and Ethiopia. Al-Shabaab would not meet with aid agencies such as the WFP. The WFP was ‘banned’...
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...Today i will be disseminating the similarities and differences between the attacks on pearl harbor and 9-11. With pearl harbor the attack was mainly focused on military targets, on 9-11 most of the targets were civilians, with the exception of the pentagon bombing, and the supposed failed white house bombing. Both of these attacks were sent as an message to the united states, but the pearl harbor bombing had a more definitive meaning, to literally cripple the united states navy. 9-11 was more of a threat than a message, saying that america needs to stay out of the middle east or else. The differences between the attacks are one was during the 1940’s and they other was in 2000, a 60 year difference. Another difference was technology, the main source of information during the 1940 was radio, and this took about 1 hour to 2 hours to communicate just to the united states. With 9-11 the main source of information was television, and this was spread worldwide in a matter of minutes, if not seconds. Another difference was the countries / groups that committed these heinous crimes, one was the japanese imperial navy, the other was a ruminant of al qaeda....
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...Reign of Terror initiated by the Revolutionary government.” In other words, the agents of the Committee of Public Safety and the National Convention that administered and enforced the policies of "The Terror" were called 'Terrorists". The words terrorist and terrorism can cause an immediate effect in people’s minds. People often just relate terrorism to power and politics, but what is the real meaning of Terrorism? Every time I hear the word terrorism, I unconsciously think of Religion and Arabian countries. However, those are just labels that were built up in my mind by what surrounds me. In this research paper, I will explain what terrorism is and its effect in international relations, the terrorist organizations most heard of such as Al Qaeda and Muslim Brotherhood, and how international organizations are controverted and are...
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...and why they want to one must first look at their history and beliefs. Al-Quade started during the Cold War when Russia invaded Afghanistan. The United States was against all things Russian and started to support the locals fight back against the Russians. This led to the United States giving Al-Quade weapons and training. After the withdrawal of the Russians in 1988 a named Ahmad Fadhil Nasal Al-Khalaylah joined Al-Quade. Once there he met a man named Sheikh Abu Muhammad who had a lot more violent outlook then Obama bin Laden. Unlike Bin Laden, Al-Khalaylah, who changed his name to Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi, grew up very poor and was a lot more extreme because of this fact. In 1999 he returned to Jordan and formed his own organization known as Jamaat Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad or the Organization of Monotheism and Jihad. On September 11, 2001 Al-Quade made their motives known when they committed a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon, and another flight that crashed before reaching a target. This would led to the United States invading Afghanistan in 2001 and in 2003 Iraq. Zarqawi’s group was among the extremists who entered the country to fight the United States. His group as well as others and the former Sunni army that was led by Saddam Hussein joined together and eventually joined Al-Qaeda gaining access to it funds and more fighters. They employed tactics that Al-Qaeda did not such as attacking Shia civilians hoping they would attack Sunnis...
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...Bobby Barksdale October 16, 2012 Summary: The Logic of Suicide Terrorism As it was initially used in Lebanon in 1983, the tactic of suicide terrorism was later used in Israel and unfortunately expanded into what is now one of the most effective and deadliest tactics used to instill fear within the public. This problem has come to Israel and has been a regular security issue since its establishment there Suicide bombing is responsible for more than half of the terrorist attacks death since then. Targeting Israelis in public places where people are highly populated and killing innocent men women and children. Over the past ten years more than 750 have died as a direct result of these planned terrorist attacks. The use of suicide bombing has intensified not only in Israel but also in the U.S. , which experienced the gruesome affects of suicide bombers on September 11 2001. This outrageous action of terrorism devastated American and its defense system. Killing hundreds of innocent civilians on American soil with a airplanes. The chief spokesmen for al Qaeda went on to say after the brutal attack that “Those youths that destroyed Americans with their planes, they did a good deed. There are thousands more younger followers who looking forward to death like American look forward to living.” This statement shows the determination and willingness of those wanting to die for what in their eyes was the greater cause. The effect of these bombers...
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...Al-Qaeda From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search al-Qaeda القاعدة Participant in the Persian Gulf War, the Global War on Terrorism, the War in Afghanistan, the Iraq War, and the Syrian Civil War Active 1988-present Ideology Sunni Islamism[1][2] Islamic fundamentalism[3] Takfirism[4] Pan-Islamism Worldwide Caliphate[5][6][7][8][9] Qutbism Wahhabism[10] Salafist Jihadism[11][12] Leaders Abdullah Yusuf Azzam (1988-1989) Osama bin Laden (1989-2011) Ayman al-Zawahiri (2011-present) Area of operations Worldwide (predominantly in the Middle East) Strength In Afghanistan – 50–100[13] In Egypt –Unknown In Iraq – 2,500[14] In the Maghreb – 300–800 In Nigeria –Unknown In Pakistan – 300[15] In Philippines – Unknown In Saudi Arabia – Unknown In Somalia – Unknown In Syria Unknown In Thailand -Unknown In Yemen –500–600[16] Allies Taliban Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan East Turkestan Islamic Movement Al-Shabaab Islamic Courts Union (dis) Jundallah Lashkar-e-Taiba Jaish-e-Mohammed Jemaah Islamiyah Boko Haram Abu Sayyaf Iraqi insurgents Caucasus Emirate FARC[17][18] Syria (alleged)[19][20] Qatar (alleged)[21] Opponents United States of America Israel International Security Assistance Force Syria Iran Afghanistan Pakistan Turkey Yemen Egypt Algeria Colombia Al-Qaeda...
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...religious relics to appeal to a wider existing audience, and invoke a response through violent act to prove or propagate their point. Yoram Schweitzer in "Suicide Terrorism Development & Characteristics," Mark Sedgwick in "Al-Qaeda and the "Nature of Religious Terrorism," and Dr. James Armstrong, all demonstrates that suicide terror attacks are politically motivated even though the perpetrator may use religious symbolism to justifies their acts. Observing areas in the world where terrorism is frequent, especially in the Middle East, it can be argued that groups that engaged in terrorists' activities are those that feel suppressed and taken advantage of by a much greater power. Thus, terrorism, particularly suicide terror is prevalent in areas where systems of gross injustice seem to exist. Therefore, the actual use of terrorism by non-state actors is a tactic aimed at polarizing the population in their favor. By killing people in mass number, they are attempting to take away the view that only the state can legitimately kill – thus undermining the state authority. As Armstrong, Sedgwick and Schweitzer exemplify, suicide terrorism is not a new happening, but an old historical phenomenon. And that just as modern day terror organizations, particularly Al-Qaeda, uses religious concepts to motivate its actions...
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...In Jassem Al Salami’s Article, Iran Says It’s Under Attack by ISIS, ISIS, a Sunni terrorist group, blows up a pickup truck, killing 5 Iranian engineers and many Iraqi guards, just shortly after a threat given by Abu Mohammad al Adnani. Iran used to have many complications with another terrorist group called al Qaeda because Iran is Shia, which is the opposite religion of the Sunni. Later then, ISIS began to form out of a branch of al Qaeda, and kept the same grudge against Iran. Iranian leaders normally try to censor the threats within their country, but many of the officials in Iran have talked about ISIS to the public, tightened security, and issued a warning to the Iranian peoples. This shows the people preparing themselves and the people for an attack or invasion of the extremist group. ISIS is beginning to capture cities in Iraq and is focusing their fighting, on gaining power and getting rid of resistance of the people. They are using guerrilla-fighting tactics to slowly get what they want and looming fear over many people. On October 2nd sources reported an attack from ISIS, that led to the assassination of a Sargent. Later then, Iran arrested over 130 men, which were believed to be taking part in this attack. Iran believes that because they arrested these men they saved the people in Iran from at least 4 suicidal attacks and a bombing. But...
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...of Terrorism: From Antiquity to Al Qaeda. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2007. Change plus vite, hélas! que le coeur d'un mortel. The form of a town changes more swiftly alas! Than the heart of a mortal. Charles Baudelaire, Le Cygne (The Swan) In The History of Terrorism: From Antiquity to Al Qaeda, edited by Gérard Chaliand and Arnaud Blin, readers will find an excellent compilation of essays regarding the history of terrorism. Beginning with the earliest recorded manifestations of terrorism to the present day, the editors provide not only detailed accounts of terrorism through the ages, but valuable historical context that helps the reader understand the complexities of the terrorism we face today. Overall, the purpose of this book is to show that terrorism is used for political purposes, that it is psychological in nature, and that this has been the case throughout history. The editors organize this collection of essays into a roughly chronological order that provides continuity to the argument that terrorism has evolved throughout history, while maintaining signature characteristics that distinguish it from other types of warfare. Beginning with the Zealots and Assassins of pre-medieval history, readers will soon begin to make connections between the various eras of terrorism. Additionally, this chronological arrangement lends itself to understanding that from its earliest stages, terrorism has always been a tactic that “…is the most violent form...
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