CAN TERRORISM CLASSIFIED AS
“ASYMMETRIC WARFARE”.
Introduction
1. On 11 September 2001 where the World Trade Center (WTC) at New York and Pentagon in Washington D.C. become history, one word come out from this tragedy and most popular for people in the world, it is “TERRORISM”
2. The terrorism is not a new thing in world politics and its happened a long time ago. In late 19 century, there’s a proof shown that there was a certain groups planned their own strategy about it. For an example, the assassin of Spain Prime Minister, Antonio Canovas in 1897, the assassin of Sadi Carnot, the President of France in 1894 by the Italian anarchists and also the assassin of America President, William McKinley in 19011.
3. Some of the terrorist using this strategy as a psychology weapon to fear and make the government obey to their wishes and command.
4. Not only the government servant or government properties becomes the target, but also civilian and buildings. This is a normal situation to the politicians who fight to establish their own country or to demolish the government.
5. Since 1960’s, world had seen the strategy by certain terrorist group such as Irish Republican Army (IRA), Hamas, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam (LTTE) and Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG).
The Essay on Summary: Andrew Kydd and Barbara Walter, “The Strategies of Terrorism, “
Summary: Andrew Kydd and Barbara Walter, "The Strategies of Terrorism," There is a good summary in the conclusion of the article (last 3 pages) as well. Terrorism in this article is defined as: as the use of violence against civilians by non-state actors to attain political goals • The first statement made in this article is the fact that terrorism often works. o There are quite some examples of ...
1 Terrorism – Threat, Reality, Response
AIM
6. The aim of this essay is to explain the exact meaning of terrorism whether it can be categorized as asymmetric warfare or not. This essay will also cover activity and threat that made by the terrorist especially Al-Qaeda and Abu Sayyaf Group and compare US equipment to fight the terrorist with their equipment.
WHAT IS TERRORISM?
7. From research Michael Albert and Stephen R.Shalom, terrorism is – dictionary definitions indicate it is creating terror, employing fear for political purposes. More aptly, terrorism is attacking and terrifying civilian populations in order to force the civilians governments to comply with demands. So Hitler’s bombing of London was terror bombing, unlike his attacks on British military bases. The issue isn’t what weapon is used, but who is the target and what is the motive. For terrorism the target is an innocent civilian. The motive is political, impacting their government’s behavior. Attacks on the public for private gain are not terrorism, but crime. Attacks on a military for political purposes are not terrorism, but acts of war.2
8. For Federal Emergency Management Agency terrorism is the use of force or violence against persons or property in violation of the criminal laws of the United States for purposes of intimidation, coercion or ransom. Terrorists often use threats to create fear among the public, to try to convince citizens that their government is powerless to prevent terrorism, and to get immediate publicity for their causes.
2 file: // A: 55 qaframe _files 55 qa.html
9. For Terrorism Research Center it include – terror, as a concept, means “intimidating”, but this intimidating is in great intensity and capable of creating sudden feelings of fear on individuals explaining the manner of violence. Even though terror is frequently used term for the actions in question today, there is no any other definition, which is accepted and recognized, widespread. There have been many definitions made regarding terror, but in the international arena, no common concept has been determined. This is because the person who is declared as the terrorist by one side is called as the warrior of freedom by the other side.
Essay On Terrorism Is A Productive Political Strategy
The best example of terrorism in the present day was the attack on the Americans on September 11 th when the world trade center was destroyed. It certainly caught the attention of the world and succeeded in its goal. Terrorism is defined as using terror-inspiring methods of governing: is this a productive political strategy? Terrorists usually campaign for their political view to be enforced. By ...
10. According to Law of Terror Prevention (dated 12.04.1991 and numbered 3713), terror is defined as follows: “Terror is all kinds of activities to be attempted by a member or members of an organization on the purpose of changing the characteristics of the Republic which is stated in the constitution, and the political, juridical, social, secular, economic system, destroying the territorial integrity of the state and the government and its people, weakening or ruining or invading the authority of the government, demolishing the rights and freedom, jeopardizing the existence of Turkish government and Republic, destroying the public order or peace and security.
11. Notwithstanding the definitions of terror in many different ways, none of these definitions has managed to explain this issue alone. That is because, despite having many similarities in structure, terror organizations particularly differ in aim.
12. Some terrorist say that they struggle for national independence, some say they avenge the events that happened in the past, like ASALA, Armenian Genocide Organization, and the others tell that they want to make certain religious, racial, political, social, cultural and economic structures dominant. In addition to this problem, there is a basic application difference the solution of, which is impossible in the activities, defined as terrorism. “The person who is a terrorist for one is a warrior of independence for the other one”. Consequently, a person’s being considered as a traitor, who committed offensive crimes on one side of the border, while being considered as a hero, a warrior of independence on account of the very same activity on the other side of the border make explaining terrorist and terrorism very difficult.
13. All in all, terror, which doesn’t have a complete, explanatory definition, accepted on the international basis is “a symbolic activity requiring the usage of intimidation and threat for the purpose of causing impact by the means of unnatural behaviours involving political expectation.
TYPES OF TERRORISM
14. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) categories terrorism in United States as one of two types – domestic terrorism or international terrorism. Domestic terrorism involves groups or individuals whose terrorist activities are directed at elements of our government or population without foreign direction. international terrorism involves group or individuals whose terrorist activities are foreign-based and/or directed by countries or groups outside the United States or whose activities transcend national boundaries. Domestic and international terrorism is now at the top of the agenda for most nations. In 1998, major attacks occurred in Kenya and Tanzania, killing hundreds and injuring thousands of people.
The Essay on Motivations Of Terrorists Group Terrorism Terrorist
Discussing terrorism and motivations leading to terrorism brings up thoughts of random acts of violence. These acts are mostly considered to be methods of insane men. Most of these modern terrorists follow their own political agenda with each group trying to achieve a particular goal. There are three types of terrorists in today's society: the single individual, a certain group, and government ...
15. Meanwhile, 1995 saw the first ever-major use of nerve gas by a terrorist group when the Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo killed 12 and injured thousands of Tokyo subway passengers. Terrorist access to or use of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) poses significant risks to population centers around the world.
16. In the world, its have identified at least six different sorts of terrorism: nationalist, religious, state-sponsored, left wing, right wing and anarchist.
17. Nationalist terrorists seek to form a separate state for their own national group, often by drawing attention to a fight for “ national liberation” that they think the world has ignored. This sort of terrorism has been among the most successful at winning international sympathy and concessions. Experts say that nationalist terror groups have tended to calibrate their use of violence, using enough to rivet world attention but not so much that they alienate supporters abroad or members of their base community. Nationalist terrorism can be difficult to define, since many groups accused of the practice insist that they are not terrorists but freedom fighters.
18. Nationalist terrorist groups include the Irish Republican Army and the Palestine Liberation Organization, both of which said during the 1990’s that they had renounced terrorism. Others are the Basque Fatherland and Liberty, which seeks to create a Basque homeland separate from Spain, and the Kurdistan Worker’s Party, which seeks to create an independent Kurdish state apart from Turkey. Earlier nationalist terror groups sought to expel colonial rulers, such groups included the Argon and Lei (opposed to British rule in Palestine in the 1940s) and the National Liberation Front (opposed to French rule in Algeria in the 1950s).
The Essay on Which Groups Pose An Urban Terrorist Threat
6 April 2002 WHICH GROUPS POSE AN URBAN TERRORIST THREAT There is not one particular group that poses an urban terrorist threat as long as the spread of the message is the only goal of the movement. Many organizations wish to gain the understanding of "outsider Americans" and try to reach as many sympathizers as possible for their movement. The problem arises when an organization seeks to gain ...
19. Religious terrorist seek to use violence to further what they see as divinely commanded purposes, often targeting broad categories of foes in an attend to bring about sweeping changes. Religious terrorists come from many major faiths as well as from small cults. Because religious terrorists are concerned not with rallying a constituency of fellow nationalists or ideologues but with pursuing their own vision of the divine will, they lack one of the major constraints that historically has limited the scope of terror attacks, experts say. As Hoffman put it, religious terrorists can sanction “almost limitless violence against a virtually open-ended category of targets, that is anyone who is not a member of the terrorists religion or religious sect”.
20. Religious terrorist groups include Osama bin Ladens’s – al Qaeda network, the Palestinian Sunni Muslim organization Hamas, the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, the radical Jewish groups affiliated with the late Rabbi Emir Klahanie, the Israeli extremists Baruch Goldstein (who machine-gunned Muslim worshipers in a Hebron mosque in 1994) and Yigal Amir (who assassinated then Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995), some American white-supremacist militias, and the Aum Shinrikyo cult in Japan.
AL-QAEDA
21. Al-Qaeda is multi-national, with members from numerous countries and with a worldwide presence. Senior leaders in the organization are also senior leaders in other terrorist organizations, including those designated by the Department of State as foreign terrorist organizations, such as the Egyptian al-Gama’at al-Islamiyya and the Egyptian al-Jihad. Al-Qaeda seeks a global radicalization of existing Islamic groups and the creation of radical Islamic groups where none exist.
22. Al-Qaeda supports Muslim fighters in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Chechnya, Tajikistan, Somalia, Yemen and Kosovo. It also trains members of terrorist organizations from such diverse countries as the Philippines, Algeria and Eritrea.
The Term Paper on Bin Laden Osama Islamic People
Presidential Rhetoric and Campaign Osama bin Laden 12-9-04 Osama bin Laden is a political icon to the people of Afghanistan. He has created a modern day crusade against western civilization that people support because of his rhetorical ability to create, not only through speech, but also through his actions, an insightful philosophy that has moved thousands of people into action against the United ...
23. Osama Bin Laden, a multi-millionaire ex-Saudi financier who is a principal source of funding and direction for Al-Qaeda, has been described by the US Government as “one of the most significant financial sponsors of Islamic extremist activities in the world today”. Osama Bin Laden was born around 1955 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. He is youngest son of Muhammad Bin Laden, a wealthy Saudi of Yemeni origin and founder of the Bin Laden Group, a construction firm heavily involved with Saudi Government contracts.
24. Osama Bin Laden left Saudi Arabia to fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan in 1979. He sponsored and led a number of Arabs fighting in Afghanistan against the Soviets in the 1980s. In the mid-1980s he co-founded the Maktab al-Khidamat(MAK) or Services Office, to help funnel fighters and money to the Afghanistan resistance in Peshawar with the Palestinian Muslim Brotherhood leader Abdallah Azzam. The MAK ultimately established recruitment centers around the world – including in the U.S, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan – that enlisted, sheltered and transported thousands of individuals from over 50 countries to Afghanistan to fight the Soviets. It also organized and funded paramilitary training camps in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Osama Bin Laden imported heavy equipment to cut roads and tunnel and to build hospitals and storage depots in Afghanistan. As many as 10,000 Arabs received training and combat experience in Afghanistan. Of these, nearly half were Saudis, with others including more than 3000 Algerians, 2000 Egyptians and hundreds of others from Yemen, Sudan, Pakistan, Syria and other Muslims states.
25. Osama Bin Laden split from Azzam in the late 1980s to extend his campaign to all corners of the globe while Azzam remained focused only on support to Muslims waging military campaigns. He formed a new organization in 1998 called Al-Qaeda. After Azzam was killed by a car bomb in late 1989, the MAK split, with the extremist faction joining Bin Ladens organization. Osama Bin Laden returned to work in his family after Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan in 1989.
26. After Afghanistan, Osama Bin Laden ran the Jihad Committee which includes Egypt, Yemen, Pakistan, Libya and Algeria. Although the Afghan war had ended, Al-Qaeda has remained a formidable organization consisting of Mujahidin of many nationalists who had previously fought with Osama Bin Laden. Many of these have remained loyal to and continue working with him.
The Essay on Usama Bin Laden Biography
Usama bin Laden and His Selection Of Terrorism Usama bin Laden, born in 1957, comes from a wealthy Saudi Arabian family that owns a multinational construction business. He used his inherited wealth to finance Afghan forces fighting the Soviet Union's occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980's. After the 1991 Gulf War, he was distressed that Saudi Arabia allowed U. S. forces to remain in the Arabian ...
27. Osama Bin Laden quickly returned to Afghanistan after leaving Sudan, where his support for and participation in Islamic extremist activities continued. Since departing Sudan he is said to have changed considerably, suspecting that there are plots to murder him, so he reportedly now only trusts only a narrow circle of people. He is reported to act on the premise that attack is the best line of defense, rather than efforts to unify extremist groups.
28. Prior to the emergence of the Taleban he was functioning and moving around freely while Rabbani and Massood ruled in Kabul. Osama Bin Laden was subsequently reported to be living in Taleban-held Jalalabad in Afghanistan. A few months after his arrival in Afghanistan the Taleban gained control over Jalalabad and Kabul, and launched a campaign against the “Arab Afghans”. In February 1997 the Taleban rejected an American agreement to turn Osama Bin Laden over to them in return for international recognition and obtaining Afghanistan’s seat in international organizations. But in early 1997 at least two large bombs were detonated in Jalalabad as part of attempts to assassinate Osama Bin Laden, including a 19 March 1997 explosion that destroyed the police station, killing more than 50 and wounding 150. Osama Bin Laden subsequently moved to Kandahar from his Jalalabad stronghold as a result of concerns for his personal safety. Kandahar is the stronghold of the Students of the Syariah, and the central residence of the Commander of the Faithful al-Mullah Muhammad Umar.
29. Since 1996, his anti-U.S. rhetoric has escalated to the point of calling for worldwide attacks on American and allies because he want advocates the destruction of the United States, His activity includes :
a. involved in operations against the American forces in Somalia in 1993
b. bomb attacks on American service personnel in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia in 1996
c. attacks on U.S. military personnel in Somalia and Yemen, declaring that “we used to hunt them down in Mogadishu”
d. “If someone can kill an American soldier, it is better than wasting time on other matters” – his statements in February 1997
30. Osama Bin Laden remained in Afghanistan under protection of the Taleban, an ultra-conservative Islamic militia that controls most of country. The United States conducted a bombing run – Operation Infinite Reach – against Bin Laden facilities there on 20 August 1998.
ABU SAYYAF GROUP
31. Abu Sayyaf Group is the smaller of the Islamist groups fighting to establish an Islamic state based on the Islamic Law(syariah) in Mindanao, an island in the southern Philipines. The Abu Sayyaf Group whose name means “Bearer of the Sword” split from the Moro National Liberation Front in 1991. Although based almost exclusively in the southern islands, Abu Sayyaf has ties to a number of Islamic fundamentalist organizations around the world, including Osama Bin Laden, chief for Al-Qaeda and Ramzi Yousef, who was convicted of organizing the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York.
32. The founder and the leader of Abu Sayyaf until 1998 was Abdurragak Abubakar Janjalani, was a veteran of the war in Afghanistan. He led the group since 1991, and was killed in December 1998 in a firefight with police in the Lamitan village in Basilan Island. He is most popular with other Islamic radical leaders.
33. After Janjalani’s death a power struggle took place within the organization, with the former leader’s brother, Khadafy Janjalani finally emerging as the new leader. Abu Sayyaf is estimated to have several hundred active fighters, largely based in the islands of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi in the Philippines southern most section. Their memberships is a young Islamic radicals, many of whom were recruited from universities and high schools. It is believed to have roughly a thousand supporters in the southern islands. The group finances its operations mainly through robbery, piracy and ransom kidnappings. Abu Sayyaf may also receive funding from the international terrorist network of Osama Bin Laden. Abu Sayyaf never took part in the peace process between the government and the MNLF, demanding an independent Islamic country.
34. Abu Sayyaf’s activities include bombings, assassinations, kidnappings and extortion from companies and wealthy businessman in order to attain their aims. The group’s first major terrorist attack was a grenade attack in 1991, in which two foreign women were killed. The following year Abu Sayyaf militans hurled a bomb at a wharf in the southern city of Zamboanga where the MV Doulous, an international floating bookstore manned by Christian preachers, was docked. Several people were injured.
35. This attack was followed by similar bombings on Zamboanga airport and Roman Catholic churches. In 1993 the group bombed a cathedral in Davao City, killing seven people. The group has consistently targeted foreigners for kidnapping. In 1993, Abu Sayyaf gunmen kidnapped Charles Walton, a language researcher at the U.S. based Summer Institute of Linguistics. Walton, then 61, was freed 23 days later.
36. The following year, Abu Sayyaf militants kidnapped three Spanish nuns and a Spanish priest in separate incidents. In 1998, their victims included two Hong Kong men, a Malaysian and a Taiwanese grandmother. In April 1995, Abu Sayyaf carried out a vicious attack on the Christian town of Ipil in Mindanao. Gunmen razed the town center to the ground and shot 53 civilians and soldiers dead.
37. On 23 Apr 2000, a small group of Abu Sayyaf militant raided the divers resort on Sipadan Island. They kidnapping 21 tourist and resort workers and took them at gunpoint back to their hideout on Jolo Island. From all the persons who are kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf Group, there are 10 persons who are identified as foreigner tourist. They are two from French, three from German, two from South African, one from Lebanon and two are from Finland.
38. On 29 April 2000, Abu Sayyaf Group was present three new claims or demands beside of money against the Philippines Government in term of rules to release the hostages. The claims is follows:
a. Re-established interchange market trading Islamic Mindanao Autonomy Province.
b. Not allow the big fishermen’s boat to catch fish in their area in order to protect the local fishermen income.
c. Fully implementation of Declaration 1976 about the 13-autonomy province.
39. However, the Abu Sayyaf Group claims were not fully agreed by Philippines Government. President Arroyo was offered American troops to join training exercise in an actual terrain of military operations and against an actual enemy, the Abu Sayyaf Group.
COMPARISON AMERICA’S EQUIPMENT TO FIGHT THE TERRORISM IN
AFGHANISTAN
|Weapon Systems in Use by U.S |Taleban Weapons (Al-Qaeda) |
|* RQ-1A.Global Hawk Unmanned Aircraft |* Tanks : T-34, T-54/55, T-62, PT-76 |
|* RQ-1. Predator Unmanned Aircraft |* Other Vehicles : BDRM-2, BTR-50, BTR-60, BTR-70, BTR-80, |
|* U-2.Reconnaissance Aircraft |BTR-152, BMP-1 |
|* AC-130.Gunship |* Towed Guns: 120mm Mortar, 152mm Howitzer |
|* EC-130.Electronic Warfare Aircraft |* Rocket Launchers: 122mm BM-21, 132mm BM-13 Katysha, 140mm |
|* EA-6B.Electronic Warfare Aircraft |BM-14, 220mm |
|* E-8 JSTARS.Ground Tracking Radar Aircraft |* Snapper Anti Tank Missile |
|* E-3.AWACS |* Surface to Air: SA-7 Grail, FIM-92A Stinger |
|* E-2.Hawkeye |* Anti-Aircraft Artillery: ZPU-1, ZPU-2, ZPU-4, ZSU-23-4, ZU-23, |
|* F-14.Fighter / Attack Aircraft |S-60, KS-12 |
|* F-15.Fighter / Attack Aircraft | |
|* F-16.Fighter / Attack Aircraft | |
|* F-18.Fighter / Attack Aircraft | |
|* A-10.Attack Aircraft | |
|* C-17.Cargo Aircraft | |
|* C-130.Hercules | |
|* KC-130.Tanker | |
|* UH-60.Helicopter | |
|* H-53.Family of Helicopters | |
|Weapon Systems in Use by U.S |Taleban Weapons (Al-Qaeda) |
| * AH-64.Apache Attack Helicopters | |
|* AH-1.Super Cobra | |
|* OH-58D.Kiowa Warrior | |
|* S-3B.Carrier Based Tanker | |
|* B-1B.Bomber | |
|* B-2.Bomber | |
|* B-52H.Bomber | |
|* CVN-65.Enterprise Carrier | |
|* CVN-68.Nimitz Class Carrier | |
|* DD-963.Spruance Class Destroyer | |
|* DDG-51.AEGIS Destroyer | |
|* AGM-142.Raptor | |
|* BGM-109.Tomahawk Missile | |
|* AGM-114.Hellfire Missile | |
|* M-220 TOW Anti Tank Missile | |
|* Javelin Anti Tank Missile | |
|* JDAM (GBU-29,30,31,32) | |
|* GBU-28.Bunker buster | |
|* BLU-82.Daisy Cutter | |
|* GBU-37.GPS Aided Munition | |
|* Mark 84. 2000lb Gravity Bomb | |
|* Mark 83.1000lb Gravity Bomb | |
Conclusion
40. After the 11th September 2001 tragedy, America started the campaign to against the terrorism around the world, especially to the Islamic country which then labeled as ‘Terrorist Training Centre’. Most of the Islamic leaders feels and thought that this kind of label is not true.
America launched an attack to Afghanistan because they thought that Al-Qaeda responsible to the attack on the New York World Trade Centre. This poor country then was raining with bombs and missiles and killed many innocent people.
The Afghans never fight back because of this small Islam Organization. America shows the injustice on this because they have the most powerful combined-armed attack a poor country that have nothing and they the American didn’t know who should responsible about this actually.
Compare the army equipment, strength and facilities between America and Al-Qaeda or Abu Sayyaf, it shows that “TERRORISM” can be classified as ‘asymmetric warfare’. It also happened in Palestine where the PLO’s send their die-hard supporters to scare the Israel who had full military equipment like main battle tank and other equipment by suicide bombers.
BIBIOGRAPHY
1. TERRORISM-Threat, Reality, Response by Robert Kupperman and Darrell Trent
2. file://A:Terrorism Research Center, Inc,htm (accessed on 30 march 2002)
3. A:TERROR~1.HTM (accessed on 30 March 2002)
4. A:FEDERA~1.HTM (accessed on 30 March 2002)
5. A:ABUSAY~1.HTM (accessed on 30 march 2002)
6. A:AL-QA`~1.HTM (accessed on 30 March 2002)
7. file://A:55qaframe_files55qa.html (accessed on 30 March 2002)
8. A:FEMABA~1.HTM (accessed on 30 march 2002)
9. Majalah Perajurit Jil. 10 – Januari 2002
“IF HE (THE ENEMY) IS SUPERIOR IN STRENGTH, EVADE HIM. IF HIS FORCES ARE UNITED, SEPARATE THEM. ATTACK HIM WHERE HE IS UNPRERARED; APPEAR WHERE YOU ARE NOT EXPECTED.”
SUN TZU
