The influences of Terrorism
There are those that will say that terrorism is a new form of
warfare. The truth of the matter is that terrorism can be
traced back to the days of the Zealots and the Assassins. Terrorism comes
in many forms and is used in many forms to accomplish the mission of destroying
the sense of security, by installing fear.
To
understand the world of Terrorism one must first understand the true mission ofterrorism. The primary purpose of terrorism is to use it as a “calculated
use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear”
(Terrorism-Research.com). The history of terrorism can be traced
back to the 11th and 13th centuries. The Hashhashin (assassins)
who were an, Islamic secretive group active in Iran and Syria, are identified
as the first organized terrorist group in history. The Hashhashin earned
their reputation by caring out the assassinations of the Abbsid and the Seljuk
who served as the political leaders of that time in an extremely
violent public display. The assignations of said individuals struck fear in
those who challenged their politicalviews.
Terrorism is viewed by many to be a modern
occurrence. The main reason behind this is that there were no modern
nation states in existences until 1648. The lack of organized government
made it difficult to use terror as a technique of distressing a political
change, as no single prevailing political authority existed
(Terrorism-Research).
As
controlled and centralized forms of governments began to develop so did the use
of terrorism. The biggest period of evolution for terrorism came during
the time of the French Revolution as several important theories of social
revolution developed during this time frame. Terrorism evolved into two
forms of ideologies during this time with the extremism leading the groundwork
for the use of violence as a form of political ends.
The two ideologies that supported the use of violence in an attempt to cause
change were Marxism, which would later evolve into communism, and the second
was anarchism. Both ideologies called for the destruction of the
government systems in place. Communism focused its efforts on an economic
class of warfare, and called for the seizure of state power by the working
class of the state. This would call for total control of the state by the
people and would call eventually for the disposal of the state. Anarchism
called for the immediate rejection of all forms of government. The belief
here was that once the state had been destroyed; there would be nothing to
require replacing it. This would allow people to live and interact with
one another without any form of governmental coercion. Communism was the
more flourishing of the two ideologies; however, Anarchism is still preferred
by extremists to this day. A perfect example of Anarchism is display in
the latest Batman move currently playing in theaters.
Another evolution trend among terrorism appeared in the late 19th century as
the tide of nationalism became popular. Nationalism is defined as the
process in which the combination of the identity of the people of the nation
and the political state combined. The best example of this is the
multi-century struggle of the Irish nationalism movement known today as the
Irish Republic Army (IRA). In the 20th Centuries early year’s
nationalism and revolutionary political ideologies were the principle
developmental forces acting upon terrorism. Russia and Communism played a
role in ideological bases of political terrorism from the onset and would take
a considerable role as the 20th century unfolded.
Terrorism can relate to either wing and each wing does have a version of terrorism.
To explain the difference between each wing on must first understand what the
ideology to each is. Keep in mind that the terms are used as they are
used in the America. The right wing is often described as the category
and includes social conservations. The right wing is often referred to or
identified as the Republican Party. It is often identified with the
Republican Party because of the strong Christian beliefs and free market
liberals. The right wing is set to imply a commitment to the conservation
of Christian values supports a strong tradition of family values and supports a
free-market system. Right-wing terrorist groups, as described by the FBI,
are motivated by notions of hatred (FBI). Examples of right wing
terrorist beliefs are white racial supremacy as well as anti-government and
anti-regulatory beliefs. Also include Christian extremist groups such as the
Westboro Baptist Church and their Pastor Fred Phelps. The militia movement of
the 1990s is also a perfect example of the right wing, an example of this would
be the Minutemen (FBI). The right wing groups are integrated by a mistrust of,
or hatred for, the federal government, often joined with a conspiratorial view
of history and politics. Examples of terrorist acts by the right wing include
the Oklahoma bombing, and Joseph A. Stack who crashed his plane into the IRS to
show anger toward the IRS.
The left wing is often related or identified with the Democratic Party.
The left wing in short implies a loyalty to egalitarianism, support for social
policies that favor the working class, and multiculturalism (Political
Spectrum). The FBI states that the left wing is not significant and
special interest terrorism has tended to be obscured (FBI). The death
toll is much smaller on the left wing side but is not without incidents that
have claimed lives and loss of property.
Types of Terrorism
The
different types of terrorism are broken down into the following categories:
State Terrorism, Bioterrorism, Cyber-terrorism, Eco terrorism, nuclear
terrorism, and Narco terrorism. Each of these types of terrorist
has taken on the actions that will bring them the best results, but the main
mission is to strike fear in those that oppose there viewpoints or the mission
that they are trying to accomplish. The most dangerous and most
destructive form of terrorism would have to be nuclear terrorism, followed by
bio terrorism.
With the introduction of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) into the art of war
by civilized nations, it would only be a matter of time before terrorist
organizations would attempt to get their hands on them. Weapons of mass
destruction are weapons designed to release a toxic or poisonous chemical or any
weapon designed to deliver a biological agent, or any weapon intended to
release radiation or radioactivity at a level dangerous to human life (Absolute
astronomy). Examples of such weapons are nuclear bombs or toxic agents
such as anthrax. In the hands of civilized nations these weapons are
dangerous but not as dangerous as they can be in the hands of terrorist
organizations.
As the world has evolved and countries have risen to
power and others have fallen the availability of WMD are greater than ever.
The end of the cold war and the fall of Russia have flooded the black market
with WMD. Terrorist organizations that have purchased or attempting to
develop such weapons have made it very difficult for law enforcement to track
their activities. The main reason behind this is that most organizations
that have WMD are typically hiding them in remote dessert or mountainous
reigns. This is what makes detecting them so difficult and the
methodologies of fighting the war on terrorism are changing as law enforcement
attempts to keep up with the threats.
Terrorism vs. DHS.
The United States of America always has had a zero tolerance policy concerning
to dealing with terrorist. The United States of America has
been prepared to tackle terrorist attacks abroad but not so well when it came
to the securing the home front. Modern terrorism has reshaped the manner
in which the United States of America has had to deal with terrorism. The
events of 911 forced the United States to take a different look at how they
deal with Terrorism. After the events of 911 the United States of America
was forced to create and fund the Department of Homeland Security.
The DHS is not really a new department, but rather a consolidation of
22 other agencies that where brought together under the Bush
administration. “The Bush administration has taken a number of steps
since the Sept. 11 attacks to beef up security across the country, including
stricter security procedures in the nation's airports and the deployment of
more than 50,000 trained airport screeners and thousands of air marshals and a
nearly 40 percent increase in the number of FBI counter terrorism agents” (Government
Executive).
The modern trend in terrorism has been a blessing in disguise for the
security of the nation. The relationships and communication levels
between the law enforcement agencies at the federal, state, and local levels
pre 911 attack to say the least were nonexistent. Post 911 attack the
creation and consolidation of DHS, and the levels of communication between all
levels of law enforcement are at levels never seen before. There has been
an increase in the amount of information shared among the different levels
of law enforcement and security providers. The funding and
opening of Fusion Centers in all major jurisdictions has been of
great help as the officers on the field obtain information in real time.
Information sharing is the priority of the agencies as they attempt to work as
one unit fighting the war against terror. The key factor in the war on
terror is to remember that the secret weapon against terror is not who has the
biggest guns, or the biggest budgets, but rather who has the best intelligence.
Intelligence is communication and the side that is better able to communicate
the mission at hand is the side that will win the war against
terror.
No matter what way one looks at terrorism is a criminal act.
Victimizing the innocent in an attempt to strike fear in others is a criminal
injustice no matter if it is done under a dictatorship or a democracy.
The meaning or the mission behind terrorism has not changed much over the
years, the so-called reasons or beliefs however have. Some might use it
as a tool in a Holy War, others as a form of forcing a policy change, and other
for the mere pleasure of instilling fear. One thing is for sure the
tactics used to cause terror have evolved through out time. Terror
organizations use to threaten or carry out actions by shooting or beheading,
today they employ the use of WMD’s, or attack innocent unsuspecting bystanders
such as the attack that took place on 911 to get the point across.
Another thing that is certain and ever evolving are the tactics and
methodologies used by law enforcement and security agencies in the United
States to combat the war on terror. As the terrorist become more blazing
so do the actions of those fighting the war against it.
Reference
Absolute astronomy; Weapons of mass Destruction;
defined; http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Weapons_of_mass_destruction;
extracted July 26, 2012
American Heritage Dictionary; Terrorism; extracted
July 2012
Ballard, Tanya; Government Executive Magazine;
Homeland security department absorbs agencies; February 28, 2003
Cross, Paul (Commander); Types of Terrorism; El Paso
County Sheriff’s Office; UTEP Professor; July 2012
Ellis, Richard J. The Dark Side of the Left:
Illiberal Egalitarianism in America.Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas,
1998.
Ortiz, Frank; El Paso County Sheriff’s Office
Homeland Security Commander; July 2012
Terrorism-Research; Terrorist behavior and
evolution; http://www.terrorism-research.com/;
extracted July 2012
Terrorism-Research; What is Terrorism; http://www.terrorism-research.com/,
extracted July 2012
Watson, D; FBI: The terrorist threat confronting the
United States; Feb 6, 2002; http://www.fbi.gov;
extracted July 25, 2012
