The term terrorism is broad and difficult to define. Terrorism can broadly be defined as a criminal act in which excessive violence is inflicted on the general population of a country either by estranged citizens or persons from another state. Such attacks are mainly purposed at causing prolonged psychological torture (Cindy C. (2006).
The motive is normally political although terrorists may attack to raise attention to particular issues that they want responded to such as freeing of hostages.
Terrorism can also be religiously instigated where members of a certain religion may appoint themselves guardians of such a movement like the Al Qaeda and Islam. Surprisingly, Osama bin Laden’s approach to Islam has not gone well with muslims and only a minority group supports this movement (Peters, Ralph (2007).
Thesis Statement Victims of terrorist attacks are normally not the real targets and civilians have fallen victim to this atrocity. Terrorists are aware that any government will react in defense of their citizens in the event of an attack and this kind of response is what they want to attract.
The September 11 attack in the US for example may not have had any particular motive beyond showing the US that their security system was wanting and that it was not a super power after all. The attack proved it was possible to pass through the US security system unnoticed. This has raised concern that extremist groups like the Al Qaeda are capable of acquiring knowledge for nuclear and atomic bomb assembly raising a lot of fear internationally. The US has for many years been recognized for having a very strong security system and such an attack raised a lot of questions as how strong is strong.
The Essay on Social Security System
The social security system in the United States is a federal program that benefits the retirees and the disabled that was introduced in 1935. This program contains the disability income, public housing, retirement benefits, food stamps program and also the veterans’ pension. These benefits are not like any other government welfare programs. This is because the social security welfare system ...
As a growing concern therefore, need has arisen to define new measures of dealing with this issue before man destroys the world (Cindy C. (2006).
The US however is not the only victim of terrorism as the threat of terrorism affects the world at large. Any approach to deal with the problem must therefore have a very universal outlook. Questions arise as to how the September 11 attackers boarded the aeroplanes with their gadgets undetected by the airport security system. There’s a clear indication that someone was not doing their job or may have been compromised.
Airport authorities and railroad operators worldwide should therefore be extra careful with their check system and be up to date with latest security measures (http://www. mipt. org/terrorism/MIPT-Terrorism…… ) Behind every terrorist attack, there must be an underlying cause. It’s therefore the responsibility of every world government to try and approach possible causes of such attacks from their roots. The example of the US concentrating so much on the Al Qaeda could create opportunity for other groups to grow stronger as attention is concentrated towards one side.
The United Nations as a world body should create well defined measures of eliminating any existing terrorist groups as this could create an atmosphere where possible upcoming ones are easily detected. It should also stress the need for every government to educate the general public on the need to stay alert towards any acts of terrorism. With the increased probability of nuclear terrorism, the Nuclear control Institute has been giving high alerts to policy makers and the general public about possible nuclear terrorism with intensive follow up on world governments, international organizations and the industrial sector.
The Essay on Terrorism World Trade Center
Terrorism is a form of violence that is difficult to define. The State Department defines terrorism as 'premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience.' Terrorism is not a random, undirected, purposeless act of violence, it has definite goals and violence is the medium of ...
Advanced technology has given rise to improved and very fast methods of communication worldwide. One such channel of communication is the worldwide web which has turned the world into one small village. There’s a growing concern that the perpetrators of the September 11 attack could have been taken advantage of this mode of fast and efficient communication to plan their attacks. The internet offers techniques that enable the user to hide messages in graphic files or prevent access by use of password.
Any measures taken to detect terrorism online must be well studied as they must not interfere with any other process using the internet for operation (Cindy C. (2006).
Perhaps the US should also reconsider its foreign policy to remove the general feeling especially from member nations of the UN that they are being sidelined. When nations operate on a common level, it could become possible to sit together and agree on measures that should be drawn to curb terrorism (Cindy C. (2006).
The US policy on Israel for example has caused a lot of conflict between the US and Arab states .
This kind of hatred between the US and most Middle East countries has been an issue that raises great concern. If the US wants to achieve anything in its war against terrorism, then such underlying issues must be dealt with. Terrorism as a movement needs strong financial support. Any groups, individuals or governments identified to support such movements should be dealt with and accounts identified be rendered inaccessible. Banking policies in such countries as Switzerland should probably be checked so that terrorist groups do not use such bases to hide their money.
The general reaction to any terrorist attack is a military counter – attack normally carried out on suspicion rather than real evidence. The culprits are rarely caught and in any instance that they are, a lot of innocent lives have been lost in the process. One is left to wonder how logical it is that so much blood should be shed in such of a criminal. An example is the kind of suffering that has been experienced by Afghan nationals in the US search for Osama bin Laden. For how long the masses will suffer for crimes they probably know very little about remains a growing concern.
The Essay on Is It Terrorism To Attack Terrorists
Is it Terrorism to Attack Terrorists Terrorism is politically motivated violence intended to intimidate and terrify. When U. S. embassies were bombed in Kenya and Tanzania, Washington decided to retaliate. On Aug. 20, 1998, the U. S. launched military strikes at what they believed were terrorist-related bases in Afghanistan and Sudan. They believed these groups played a key role in the embassy ...
Counter attacks should not be the most immediate solution as they only raise emotions and increase hatred leading to more war (Cindy C. (2006).
Trade sanctions and huge international debts accumulated by third world nations should be cancelled. These create a feeling of helplessness towards the concerned parties and may lead to deep rooted hatred towards the imposers. A good example is the expulsion of white settler farmers in Zimbabwe which shows a deep hatred towards the colonial masters.
There’s a common characteristic of prolonged civil wars amongst many third world nations. There’s need to check such wars as the presence of strong rebel groups could offer a very conducive environment for terrorist groups to operate on. Religion greatly influences human beings as it is deeply rooted in the human spirit. Religious leaders worldwide need therefore to come together and develop ways of fighting this evil from their churches, mosques, temples, shrines etc.
Extra care should however be taken to check on extremist groups as these may the original cause of any religion. The Al Qaeda as a group seems to want to change the original beliefs of Islam by using jihad as a means to carrying out terrorist activities. Conclusion A lot of measures could be taken to put a check on terrorism but nothing much can be achieved unless the root causes of terrorism are strictly analyzed. Terrorism dates as far back as the 17th Century and its root causes are deeply imbedded in history.
The course of history detailing such historical events like the revolutions and world wars has only ensured that the feeling of war and more war remains in the minds of human beings. It then becomes very difficult to define what is terrorism and what is liberalism and most of what are now termed as terrorists started as liberal groups. The war against terrorism is a very expensive and terrorism is equally expensive. This war must continue at all costs and any security measures set up should be uptodate. The US war on terrorism should not be selective and terrorism is terrorism whether by the Al Qaeda or by the IRA.