...Terrorism is a Political Term 'States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil...' President G. W. Bush, 29th January 2002 State of the Union Address Abstract: As can be seen from the above quote, ‘terrorism’ is a political, derogatory term with no real, inherently meaningful definition and, with the war being waged against it in its tenth year, one that has divided the world. One reason for the division stems not from the nature of its ambiguity or any fundamental change in its manifestation, but in the West’s difficulty in conceptualizing the motivations behind its many faces. ‘Terrorism’ does not define the motives behind an act of terror. It characterizes them, and this is what has led to its increasing use as a political term, particularly since 9/11. The reasons go beyond mere semantics however and, in the context of the Global War on Terror, have fueled not just the conflict but the surge in recruitment and sympathy that has taken place for terrorist causes across the world. It needs to be recognized that the use of terrorism as a political term has actually had more of a negative impact on the world than any terrorist attack to date. Introduction: Since the coinage of the term ‘terrorism’, its characteristics have always been synonymous with organized violence and a political end-goal. Until recently, however, its employment had been more of a vernacular convenience than a political expression. Over the last...
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...In modern society, the term Terrorism, carries with it a nebulous connotation. The term, tainted by its perception, is inherently misconstrued and demonized. In public dialogue, it is immediately sensationalized by the media, hotly discussed by the people, quickly vilified by politicians, and overly generalized by the masses. Its mention and increasing global occurrence triggers an intense negatively charged emotional response that is forever associated with the 2015 November Paris Attacks, the London Bombings, 11 September Attacks, the “War on Terror,” Jihadists, and numerous stereotypes and mischaracterizations. Yet, nowhere in the discussion is the rhetoric being examined. Nowhere in the discourse do questions arise about the roots and branches...
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...Terrorism Terrorism has been in existence since the recording of history and manifests itself in different ways. Understanding terrorism has been a task that most agencies have never reached a conclusion. Quantifying terrorism comes in as a complicated philosophy. To start with, the problem quantification of terrorism begins with physiological anomalies where the disparity between gains and losses is considered. Questions of whether people are willing to pay to reduce terrorism arises. Similarly, terrorism as a phenomenon is international. Terrorists easily move from one country to another and therefore accounting for such a trend makes it difficult to quantify it. (The Struggle to Define Terrorism, n.d.) Defining terrorism is as difficult as quantifying it. The main reason comes from the misunderstanding among most anti-terrorism agencies on what should be included to get with terrorism acts. The difficulty in this is determining where there is legitimacy in the use of violence and where it is directed. Most beliefs are that terrorism is associated with the Islamic religion, and this has made it hard to define elements of terrorism. Terrorism stems out of misunderstandings and in search of justice, and that is where most agencies fail to understand. (The Struggle to Define Terrorism, n.d.) Various agencies define terrorism in different ways. The FBI outlines terrorism as the illegal use of force and violence against individuals or property to intimidate a governing body...
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...Given the growing global threats of terrorism, it is significant that an understanding of the history, nature and mechanism-premises under which terror operates is obtained. This is significant as it would shape the perspective of policy makers when addressing issues of this nature. Terrorism, as it is understood is the action of none-state weak actors, individual or groups, who for some reasons feels suppressed, marginalized and, or denied what they may view as the basic human right. All terrorism has political objectives, even though the perpetrators may use 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...
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...“THE ADVENT OF WHAT IS CONSIDERED MODERN, INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM OCCURRED ON JULY 22, 1968.” In considering the changing nature of terrorism from 1879 to 2005, How far can the internationalisation of terrorism that began on the 22nd July 1968 be regarded as the key turning point? The 1968 hijacking proved to be significant as a turning point as it laid a framework for the internationalisation of terrorism as its aims and objectives shifted beyond its borders. The operation being the first to investigate fear through the trade of hostages, served as a catalyst for terrorist actions to be involved on an international scale. Through the immense media generated from the terrorist attack as well as the new form of approach as Zehdi Habib stated the “hijacking aroused the consciousness of the world and awakened the media and world opinion much more- and more efficiently…” The 1968 redefinition of a legitimate target and the implementation of their objectives beyond their frontiers could be seen as “the advent of what is considered Modern international terrorism” as depicted by Hoffman. However other significant terrorist groups did massively contribute to the development of terrorism such as Anarchist through the adoption of the principle “propaganda by deeds” in carrying out their terrorist acts in the mid-80s, the IRA which made excellent use of martyrdom to attract foreign aid and generate diaspora support, likewise the suffragette movement. Nevertheless the 1968 hijacking targets...
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...Cyber Terrorism: The American Response Mutale Chisanga School of Computer Science 03-60-305 Professor Kristina Verner March 6, 2016 Cyber terrorism: The American Response United States (U.S.) critical infrastructure faces a growing cyber terrorism threats due to advancements in the availability and sophistication of malicious software tools and the fact that new technologies raise new security issues that cannot always be addressed prior to adoption. The increasing automation of U.S. critical infrastructures provides more cyber access points for adversaries to exploit. Industrial control systems, which operate the physical processes of the U.S. pipelines, railroads, and other critical infrastructures, are at elevated risk of cyber exploitation. The growth of malicious techniques that could degrade, disrupt, or destroy critical infrastructure is a huge concern for the U.S. government. It is also likely the cyber threats will surpass the terrorism threat to U.S. in the years to come (MLI, 2012). Even though only advanced threat actors are currently capable of employing these high level malicious techniques, these capabilities will eventually be within reach of all threat actors. Discussion The potential economic consequences of cyber terrorism attacks are severe. The severity of cyber terrorism are not felt equally across the board. A small company may not be able to survive even one significant cyber-attack. On the other hand, large companies may take a long time...
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...Given the growing global threats of terrorism, it is significant that an understanding of the history, nature and mechanism-premises under which terror operates is obtained. This is significant as it would shape the perspective of policy makers when addressing issues of this nature. Terrorism, as it is understood is the action of none-state weak actors, individual or groups, who for some reasons feels suppressed, marginalized and, or denied what they may view as the basic human right. All terrorism has political objectives, even though the perpetrators may use 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 &ump; 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...
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...Terrorism has deep historical roots as a threat to peaceful existence of nations and common citizens. Terrorism, as opposed to other forms of violence, is the system¬atically applied threat or use of illegitimate force with the designed intent of achieving a goal by means of such a method as coercion. It is violence used as a policy; it is fear or terror engendered on an organized basis. Terrorism is defined as (1) “intended to inflict death or seriously bodily harm upon civilians or other persons (presumably military personnel) not taking part in hostilities and (2) its purpose is to intimidate a population or persuade a government or international organization to adopt a certain policy” (Weiss, 2002, p.25). Terrorism has many applications, including purely criminal purposes; it is politically motivated terrorism, however, which is of major concern in the modem context. Motivational basis, therefore, is examined first in assessing the nature of the threat presented by the phenomenon of terrorism. Included within the context is brief reference to the contemporary historical development of terrorist activity, because in many cases the two aspects are rooted together. Following Oliverio, “The process by which the definition of terrorism is shaped and enforced involves a theoretical approach that recognizes “terrorism" as a historically and contextually produced discourse, and understood in contemporary U.S. society is the by-product of an androcentric discourse in which relationsod...
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...Terrorism as a true threat to national security in the United States Terrorism as a true threat to national security in the United States Terrorism is a true threat to national security. It brings human distress and goes beyond the direct suffering by causing fear in the population as a result of its cruel and unsystematic nature. It can be defined as the use of violence by a group or an individual to create tremendous worry and panic within a target population. The group undertakes the violent actions with the aim of compelling the target population into agreeing with their demands. It does this by targeting symbolic buildings and/or places (Ervine, 2010). It is extremely difficult to argue that terrorism is not a threat to the state and that the US has overly focused on it. The threat is true and has become more evident due to the increasing attacks that have claimed a lot of lives. It is covered extensively in the media and every US citizen lives with fear. It is a threat to innocent residents conducting their daily routines as the terrorist activities are aimed at them and not necessarily at the government (Wilson, 2010). Terrorism influences and is influenced by the political arena. It is linked to the government and has a wider scope of effects that reach beyond the targeted individuals. It mainly depends on the fear of the state’s general public and tries to achieve precise goals such as the freedom of political prisoners. A small group of individuals can...
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...President Georgia W. Bush within the highest stages of the American government. During 9/11 former President Bush signed a document that would give the CIA the control, to capture kill also interrogate terrorist leaders and group member of that outfit as well. It even gave the CIA the authority to obtain private locations around, the world to capture also interrogate the terrorism with the human right being taken away from them within theses private areas they used. Then former president as well develop and top property lines, of high valued names of terrorist. This government agency granted the right to detain, interrogate also kill the terrorist that was not on the high-value list. Many people within a society have different definitions of torture. However, torture is a person that intentionally physically harms a defenseless, also not consenting individual severely. The considerable deliberate curtailment, with the exercises of a person self-sufficiency, obtain by any means necessary commonly to assume the reason for breaking the will of the not consenting individual. Also in this paper, we will talk about terrorism. Torture look at both sides in favor and not in the use of torture it evaluates each side ethically (Jeremy Diamond, 2014). In the practice of torture is used to break, the individual will society has to figure out when would this tactic as such be useful to put into action. This form of a method would be unwanted within society because it would violate the public rights...
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...DB Unit 4 - Victims of Terrorism, Hate Crimes & Racial Profiling November 27, 2012 Every year, many people around the world suffer disasters; whether they are natural for example hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes and extreme heat, as caused by man, for example terrorist attacks. Although it is not possible to predict when and where these destructive forces will occur, yes it might learn from each disaster and take certain measures to safeguard our physical and emotional well-being. According with International Terrorism and Security Research (n.d.), terrorism is a set of acts of violence used to generate terror in people of a particular country. The aim of the terrorists is to achieve political goals using force rather than reason; reprehensible acts that often cause damage to large numbers of innocent people. When a terrorist attack happens people experience damage psychological as well as the physical consequences of the same. Over the years has not been too into account this psychological damage, which however is of great relevance; Although increasingly more considered these emerging psychological repercussions, it gives the feeling that there is still long way to go in this regard. Residents of Shady Oaks, a community that has a high number of elderly and disabled people, need a program to instruct them on how to prepare for a terrorist attack or catastrophe. These elderly live quiet and safe in your community since they think that a terrorist act ever happened...
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...empowering CIA to "Capture, Kill, or Interrogate Al-Queda Leaders." (Lendman, 2008). It also authorized establishing a secret global facilities to detain and interrogate them without guidelines on proper treatment. In the same time, Bush approved a secret "high-value target list" of about two dozen names. He also gave CIA free reign to capture, kill and interrogate terrorists that were not on the list (Lendman, 2008). What is torture: (a) the intentional infliction of extreme physical pain or suffering on some non-consenting, defenseless person; (b) the intentional, substantial curtailment of the exercise of a person's autonomy (achieved by means of (a)); (c) in general, undertaken for the purpose of breaking the victim's will." We will discuss terrorism and torture, look at arguments for and against each practice, and ethically evaluate those arguments (Lendman, 2008).. If pain is meant to break the will of the person, one must ask when we might have an interest in doing so. Certainly violating the freedom through violence is not acceptable for citizens; I may not justifiably torture you to obtain what I want from you, be it your property, your behavior, or your ideological consent (Lendman, 2008). Also, the police may not torture to obtain information, as we have the right to defend ourselves in a court of law, and the courts may not inflict pain as punishment for a crime, as there is a constitutional prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment (Lendman, 2008). The UN and the Geneva...
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...Eco Terrorism Eco-terrorism is the term used to describe the violence in the interests of environmentalists. There have been cases when environmentalists have inflicted damage to the industrial factories, due to the fact that, they cause pollution and other environmental problems. According to Manning (2012), “Eco-terrorism can be defined as the act of violence or sabotage against person and property commits and support animal right activist.” There are some organizations that participate in it, such as, Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and Animal Liberation Front (ALF). These organizations managed to burn down a ski resort and blow up a laboratory among other things. On the other hand, some groups such as the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society are labeled as eco-terrorists although they do not commit such acts of violence against humans- they do not attempt to injure or kill people, but only provoke people through property. This has led to a debate that touches on whether or not to classify these actions as "terrorist" or not. The FBI has given the environmentalists a definition ‘the use or threatened use of violence of a criminal nature against innocent victims or property by an environmentally-oriented, sub national group for environmental-political reasons, or aimed at an audience beyond the target, often of a symbolic nature.’ John Lewis, a top FBI official says, ‘The number one domestic terrorism threat is the eco-terrorism, animal-rights movement.” Eco-Terrorists...
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...Thomas Nagel makes a claim that terrorism uses violence on non-combatants as a means to achieve an end. Nagel refers to the victims of terrorism as “collateral damage”, an unintended harm that come to non-combatants. He makes the point that unlike terrorism, minimizing the “collateral damage’ is different because of the difference in attitude towards the value human life. When attacking enemies in war it is justified to put innocent peoples’ life’s at risk but one must do their best to minimize the collateral damage as much as possible, even if not completely avoidable. Terrorist have no regard for human life, they see humans as expendable and as a means to an end in order to get what they want. Terrorism is considered immoral because it inflicts harm on innocent people as a means to an end. It is wrong to aim at intentionally killing non-combatants because they have done no harm, however it is morally...
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...Emotion has received a mixed reception within terrorism studies. This is partially due to the somewhat nebulous nature of emotion. As Smith notes, research into emotion is multifaceted and contested. Emotion is difficult to define and conceptualise, this challenge is exacerbated by the inability of the individual to convey their own emotional experiences. Additionally, limited contact with individuals involved in terrorism has meant scholars have had little chance to explore the concept at the source. Adding to this difficulty is what Cottee and Hayward call the “hardened empiricism of many terrorism scholars,” who would prefer to focus on other aspects of terrorism such organisational structure, tactics, and ideology. This has led to the...
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