The Dynamic Character of Terrorism - Essay Example

Abstract This paper examines the dynamic character of terrorism in the context of the increasing number of attempted attacks against the US citizens both at home and abroad. The nature and severity of these attacks are also worsening as the enemies are ever changing to involve more and more individuals and groups. It is becoming increasingly difficult for security agents in the US and other countries to develop tactics and partnerships that will assist in preventing further attacks such as the one witnessed on September 11th 2001. The way we handle countries such as Iraq, Afghanistan and others will be crucial to the homeland security as this will either result in effective safeguards or further attacks in the future. Introduction Terrorism acts have been increasing from late 19th century and have been spreading due to a large number of reasons. Their aims are mostly to create fear and intimidation among particular groups of individuals or parts of population. These aims can broaden to involve the support of sympathizers and the intimidation of opponents who do not necessarily agree with them or their ideologies. Members of such groups are often from diverse backgrounds that have no traceable pattern. In his studies, Friedlander (2006) states that while some terrorists have been found to have college education, others have no education backgrounds. Where some are married, others have been found to be single; they could also be men or women. In essence, they come from a wide range of lifestyles and backgrounds, making it nearly impossible to pick them up from the masses.The use of terrorist acts have been ongoing for a major part of the 19th century and it is until the recent past that their actions have been seen to bring massive consequences and implications to many countries of the world. In the past, terrorists were more concerned with the withdrawal of military forces from their “homeland”. From regions such as Kashmir, Sri Lanka to Lebanon, terrorist activities were aimed at the establishment of separatist state that was to be governed by the terrorist group. Most of these acts were committed from the 1980s to late 1990s and were restricted to the country of the groups involved. Reasons for violence were mostly blamed on independence. Terrorism is constantly taking on new forms as it mutates in aims, number and composition of its members. Is it being driven by a concept or is it a virus that seeks to present itself in a new form to suit the environment at the time? Is terrorism controlled by a recognizable authoritarian apparatus or o sot being held by loose network that transcended national borders? These are just some of the few questions that psychologists, scholars and researchers into this phenomenon are asking themselves. In his book (Griset, 2007) explains that terrorism is now taking a new dimension as foreign fighters enter into the fray. Driven by a deep sense of misconstrued ideologies mixed with radical religious teachings, terrorism is threatening to spread to all countries of the world unless something serious is done about it. Forms of Terrorism There are different forms of terrorist acts and all are driven by a wide range of intentions. The number of people engaged in these acts also varies. The first category of terrorism is demonstrative terrorism.These acts are also to receive attention from third party groups or organizations that might apply pressure to the other side in order for them to respond to the demands of the terrorists. Their actions are manifested through hijack aeroplanes and other transport vehicles, explosion of key locations and hostage taking. These actions are normally preceded by an earlier announcement of notification about the actions. The main aims of these acts are to draw attention to the authorities involved, using these confidential acts. The form of terrorism is devoid of serious harm to people responsible or hostages captured as it is perceived that harm or injury will only undermine the sympathy that is being seek from the population. It is more interested with attention seeking rather than raising a high number of casualties or fatalities. Destructive terrorism: This kind of terrorism is more hostile and seeks to intimidate antagonist. This is also combined with the marshalling of support for the cause. In his research (Raymer, 2004) found out that these terrorists are bent on the infliction of death, injuries and destruction to properties. Their acts are not limited by sympathy but are driven by ulterior motives meant to create attention to their cause. As in all the other forms of terrorism, such acts still elicit sympathy although this is not the main aim of the acts. A good example of such terrorism acts is the one witnessed in the recent September 11th terrorism acts which led to the death of many innocent civilians. Terrorist organisations known to be practicing this form of terrorism are like Al Qaeda, The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) among others. Suicide terrorism: This is the most violent and mysterious forms of terrorism as it actively pursues intimidation even sometimes at the cost of the organisation’s own members and community. In his study (Griset, 2007), states that the form of terrorism is characterised by the death of the attacker in order for the mission to be successful. Examples of such acts are like the wearing of bomb jackets or crashing the aeroplanes into a high rise building. Aims or purposes of such attacks are varied one of the goals of a suicide attack are to demonstrate against the authority. The main goals of such attacks are to slaughter as many people as possible. This negates the number of sympathisers as the numbers of casualties in such attacks are many. Terrorist attacks are perpetrated by people of all sizes, races and ages. Terrorist organisations are taking a new dimension as we are currently seeing home grown groups accepting and espouse on the foreign ideals. No longer are the days that attacks were only perpetrated by foreigners. Examples of home-grown terrorist attacks are like the Tokyo subway attack where a terrorist group comprising of local citizens attempted to gas out the whole entire train station with sarin gas. In his book (Nanes, 2003) states that, at the moment the crossing of foreign militants from country to country is proving to be very hard for authorities to track thus making it easier for the terrorists to hide and commit their heinous crimes. Characteristics of Foreign Terrorists The security of U.S homeland has been threatened by continues efforts of foreign terrorists and these efforts have been manifested through successful and unsuccessful acts both in the US and in other countries as well. Terrorist organizations have been attacking America and its interests abroad through the setting up of numerous cells in the countries where the attack is going to be perpetrated. Foreign terrorist organisations are able to implement their strategies through these cells and also through individuals and groups sympathetic to them and their grievances. We have had of many terrorist acts that have been linked to foreign elements. As discussed by (Linden, 2004) foreign terrorist organisations are able to recruit sympathizers in the US by providing them with an ideology that focuses on extreme violent acts and also offering them a structure that makes it possible for them to carry out harmful acts against the public. Some American citizens are themselves plotting against their state due to perceived discontentment from the government about its policies and other issues. Most of these foreign terrorist groups thrive on the ignorance of isolated and estranged individuals. In his conclusion (Das, 2003) these individuals are used as pawn in spreading the violent acts of the terrorist organisation after a radicalization program is performed on the individual. Cases of these individuals attending training camps are not unusual. Foreign terrorist are starting to find it easier committing their acts and unleashing terror through disaffected individuals, this has led to a phenomenon whereby it is increasingly getting difficult to track individuals and their accomplices. As discussed by (Linden, 2004) from various aims such as the annihilation of the Israeli state to the establishment of separatist states the consequences of terrorist acts are devastating both the society and economies of places affected. Tactics normally employed by the groups are inhumane such as the beheading of hostages such has been the practice of organisations such as the Abu Sayyaf located in the Philippines. In some areas the organisations have resorted to exhorting the local areas under which they are claiming independence by enforcing tax regimes to fund their criminal activities. Foreign terrorist groups have been found to work in conjunction with other terrorist organisations that could be both local and international. A home grown terror group is more dangerous when affiliated with other groups as raising funds to run their operations becomes easy as also the recruitment of foreign fighters within the local organisations becomes much easier. The role international troops in the dismantling of terror organisations and their rules of engagement have been hindered by obstacles in their efforts to end terror gangs and activities that directly affect the security of other countries of the world. In her studies (Nadine, 2003) states that much has been said about their efforts and how national budgets are encountering deficits due to activities related to counterterrorism initiatives yet a very small amount can be accounted. There should be a realisation that many terror activities have been and continue to be stopped by intelligence efforts that require a lot of expenditure in terms of time and cost to maintaining operatives in the field. Research conducted on a number of foreign fighters’ elicited mixed and different results in terms of the data collected about them. In (Friedlander, 2006) it reports that foreign fighters actively seek out the other terrorist groups in order to gain membership. This study contradicted earlier thoughts that presumed that foreign fighters are recruited by any organisation. A second result was the explanation of how the terror organisations were based more on ideologies and the appeal based on a number of daring acts. In his studies (Burke, 2008) shown that it was also found that the messages propagated by these foreign groups are targeted towards the developmental requirements of the youth as prospective recruits could be currently experiencing discontentment as they try to identify themselves. (Fooner, 2004) states that the terror organisations have been found to progressive a false sense of contentment. For persons looking for revenge, the terror groups offer a channel for their aggravation, for the individuals looking for status among their peers, then the terror organisations have been found to award fame and for thrill seekers, the groups have been found to offer adventure. Prevention of Home-grown Terrorism Since it has been found those foreign terror groups rely heavily on local individuals and sympathizers for assistance or collaboration, prevention measures should be inculcated to prevent radicalization and spread of home grown terror groups within the US. So far efforts in fighting organisations and terrorist threats have been conducted on two fronts, though military and the second is through efforts to democratise nations where terror groups have found a suitable environment in which to thrive. Successes have been varied as efforts have been centre more on eradication of existing cells and terror networks. Of the concern to the terrorist has been the use of internet and other media in the recruitment and radicalisation of youth. The war against terrorism has been found to be a war against radical ideologies focused on the destruction of lives and properties for selfish or even irrational gains. Radicalisation is be described as the promotion of fanatical beliefs for the intention of aiding ideologically supported violence in order to further political, religious or social reforms. Home-grown terrorism is further described as the intentional application acts are taking place. In our cases this would be the United States. These actions are for purposes of intimidation of the civilians in the country or to pressurise the government in order to promote their political or social agenda (Friedlander, 2006). The US has taken measures against the foreign terrorists by first curtailing their ability to recruit members through their radicalisation initiatives by enacting the “Prevention of violent Radicalisation and home-grown terrorism” Act”Violent Radicalization and home-grown terrorism prevention Act of 2007.” whose purpose is to prevent home-grown terrorism. In his book (Collins, 2007) discusses on the act and finds out that it was established after it became apparently clear to the authorities that future attack on home soil are likely to be perpetrated by home-grown terrorist with collaboration with other international terrorist organisations. Collaboration may be in the form of ideology or through funding and training. Recent attempted foiled terror attacks have indicated that the terrorist undergo training in other countries such as Pakistan and Afghanistan. Since various media sources such as the internet are being used for the spread of radical ideologies, the US government in partnership with private companies that control the internet and other media such as television and radio, should be on the frontline in the dissemination of impartial and balanced information to the youth and individuals most vulnerable to radicalisation in those countries where such groups thrive. While the US military continues to wage war in countries perceived to harbor terrorist, it needs to make it completely clear that the government is targeting the terrorist and destroying cells that may endanger the security of the America and the whole world hence and not the innocent civilians in those countries (Griset, 2007). If this step is not taken, then the risk of further threats against American citizens both at home and abroad is bound to increase. Conclusion Homeland security has been under constant state of alert as the possibility and nature of threats keeps changing to take new forms. The source of these threats has come from foreign elements with most of funding and trainings being done in foreign lands. It is the duty of our security force to unite in the fight against foreign terrorism, through researching into the motivating factors being used to recruit more terrorists. The war against terrorism should concentrate more towards abolishing existing ideologies that go against humanity. Homeland security is also under threat from or own citizens who have undergone radicalization in foreign countries. Countries such as Pakistan, Yemen, Afghanistan and others are being used as training bases for both foreign citizens and also US citizens as manifested by the recent events that occurred late 2009 through the attempted Christmas day airplane attack and the NYC attempted bombing. Read More