Terrorism Influence - Essay Example

?TERRORISM INTRODUCTION: Terrorism is not a new term. It has been using since the time the human history is known. However, different organizations describe terrorism differently. The Department of Defense of US defines terrorism as any act which includes the use of violence or threat to use violence which is unlawful in order to cause fear or to coerce governments or societies to achieve their ideological, religious or political objectives. United Nations defined terrorism in 1992 as a method which inspires to perform the violent actions repeatedly by any organization, group or even by an individual for any personal political or criminal purposes. Another main aspect of terrorism identified in this definition is that the direct targets of the violence are not usually the main targets of such violence. But the main target is the government, organization or general public who got threatened by such acts. The definition describes all such violent acts as terrorism which causes a fear or threat in the society to achieve specific objectives. So in simple words, terrorism may be defined as the acts of inducing fear in public with the intention of achieving intended goals and objectives. CAUSES OF TERRORISM: There are many reasons for which terrorism occur. In order to devise anti-terrorism strategies, it is necessary to understand those reasons. 1. The main cause which induces the terrorists to execute terrorist activities is their dissatisfaction with social, political or government policies. The terrorist groups adopt the means which may cause violence and fear to the government and the society to change the existing position of the world and bring it into the position in which that group intended it to be. 2. Sometimes, the intended motive of the terrorists is to maximize the harshness and the time period of the fear and the psychological impact on the general public. In such a case, terrorist activities are done at public places such as busy roads, markets and public sites to affect huge population and cause great damages to the society which sometimes induces the government to accept terrorists’ demands. 3. Another reason of the terrorism is the oppression imposed upon such groups which actuated them to take steps for self-defense including armed struggle and using destructive weapons. In such a situation, a group that seems terrorist to a person may be a freedom fighter for some other person. Such groups do not think that they are performing evil acts. They believe that they are combatants fighting for their legitimate goal. AMERICAN REVOLUTION: American Revolution took place in the 18th century when thirteen colonies of North America united to get themselves free from the British Empire and named themselves as United States of America. However, the revolution was based on an ideological movement that highlighted the basic rights of Native Americans. These states rejected the authority of Great Britain Parliament and expelled royal officials. The British Empire sent combat troops to impose their direct rule over these colonies but the states defended resulting in American Revolutionary War in 1775. The war ended in 1783 with the Peace Treaty of Paris. The British call the American Revolution a series of terrorism acts. Zalman, A (2012) explained that the event of Boston Tea Party which had roots in the American Revolution was considered by the British as terrorists act. The event took place in December 1773 when 150 men entered into the three ships which were ready to take tea to other British colonies. They dumped all the 342 boxes of tea in the harbor. On the other hand, the event is termed as a reaction against the unjustified British tax law imposed upon Americans. The Americans called the revolutionists such as George Washington, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson their heroes and freedom fighters who worked tirelessly for independence as mentioned on the official website of The American Revolution Organization. RUSSIAN REVOLUTION EFFECTS ON TERRORISM IN EUROPE: Russian Revolution took place in 1917 during the period of First World War. With the start of revolution, Russia withdrew its forces from the war and signed peace treaty with Germany and freed about 50 brigades of German forces which were used by the Germany in the western front against Great Britain and France. Thus, the war which was near to end broke up again due to entrance of additional German troops in the war. The Russian revolution gave birth to the Great Soviet Union which believed in communism. Rest of the world was divided into the colonies of British, France and United States which believed in capitalism. Thus, the division of the world in two economies was a source of tension for the whole world. The greatest effect of the Russian Revolution was the encouragement to the freedom movements in British and French colonies. These colonies adopted different means to gain freedom including armed revolutions against the government. Thus, this increased the terrorists’ activities in these colonies affecting the Western World greatly. IRISH REPUBLICAN ARMY: The Irish Republican Army was formed in 1917 with the help of Irish volunteers. In 1918, an Ireland Assembly was established which assembled in Dublin in 1919 and acknowledged IRA as the army of Irish Republic. The Army started guerilla war against British in 1919 which continued till 1921. The war was properly planned by the Irish army. Initially, the Irish volunteers were prepared for this war. In 1920, IRA started attacks on police barracks throughout the country and about 16 barracks were destroyed completely within short time. The intense violence of the war may be clearly identified as acts of terrorism. In November 1920, 14 British agents were assassinated in front of their families by the Irish Republican Army. On the same day, the British army opened fire on a football crowd resulting in 14 civilians’ death. The British forces also arrested and killed two prominent members of Republican Party on the same day. The activities of terrorism continued with the destruction of a number of buildings. Many homes of Loyalists of Crown forces were also burnt by IRA in response to the burning of Republicans’ homes. Thus, the State of Ireland remained a place of fire and blood with extreme brutality and terrorism used by the both sides during the war. LEFT-WING TERRORISM AND RIGHT-WING TERRORISM: The terrorists groups have the main purpose of achieving their specific objectives. The objectives may be ideological as well as religious. If the terrorism activities are committed to achieve objectives of overthrowing capitalist system or establishing a decentralized and a sociopolitical system, the terrorism may be called a left-wing ideological terrorism. On the other hand, if the terrorists groups have performed such activities with the intention of imposing religious principles and defeating the enemies of God, the terrorism will be categorized as right-wing and religious terrorism (Monetary Institute of International Studies, 2012) The most important difference between these two is the use and extent of violence. As the religious terrorists consider the use of violence as a holy act, so the extent of such usage is very broad affecting the general public also. The religious terrorists are free from any moral or political constraints. On the other hand, the secular terrorists never attempt to kill people indiscriminately as they require the sympathies of general public to achieve their goals. Such killings may be counterproductive for them. Moreover, the ideological terrorists always attempt to keep general public in their favor by speaking on their behalf. Thus, the secular terrorists do not impose violence. On the other hand, the religious terrorists consider that the public has also been engaged in the holy war in which they are involved. Thus, anyone who is not a party of that particular religious sect is considered as an enemy of God and thus, likely to be killed which increases the extent of violence. The religious terrorists, unlike ideological terrorists, do not consider themselves as a part of the system and try to change the system completely. This sense of separation makes the religious terrorists more destructive as they consider all components of the system their enemies. All this makes right-wing religious terrorism worse than the left-wing ideological terrorism. (Cline, A. 2005) WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION: The introduction of weapons of mass destruction in the modern world has changed the techniques of wars. It is now quite easy to destroy the enemy’s base camps without the use of armed forces. Different chemical, radiological, biological and nuclear weapons may be used for mass destruction. Thus, it is necessary that the access of terrorists to these weapons and to the technology is restricted completely. It is obvious that weapons of mass destruction can be obtained only through high financing. Thus, the States must take steps to restrict terrorists’ financing. However, if the terrorists get finance through any means, the terrorists will try to obtain these weapons as the terrorists’ trend has been shifted to the weapons of mass destruction. To deny them access to these weapons, the states possessing those weapons must take reasonable steps to secure them. The use and export of material which may be used in the preparation of such destructive weapons must also be controlled. Steps should also be taken to prevent the increase in production of weapons of mass destruction. Biological weapons may also be used to cause destruction on a large scale. However, such terrorism may be controlled if the states and the scientists do not make dual use of this technology and use it for positive purposes only. MISSION OF DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY: After the terrorist attacks on World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, the mission of the Department of Homeland Security changed significantly. In the National strategy for Homeland Security issued in July 2002, the basic strategic objectives stated were related to the prevention of terrorism in United States and also minimizing the damage that may occur due to such attacks and recovering after e attacks. The report also identified six mission areas that seemed to be critical. The critical mission areas include the intelligence techniques and warnings relating to terrorism, security of the States border and the transportation, counterterrorism, protection of infrastructure, initiatives that need to be taken to protect the country from disastrous terrorism activities and measures to be taken in case of emergency and the level of preparedness to react in case of attacks. These entire critical missions are related to the terrorism by which the American Nation may be affected and about the initiatives and measured that in case of such events occurrence (Office of Homeland Security, 2002). RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN STATE, GOVERNMENT AGENCIES AND PRIVATE CORPORATIONS: It has been noted that the terrorism is increasing with the passage of time. This has restricted to some extent the capabilities of the government to deal with such activities alone with its agencies. As a result, the government has encouraged the creation of private groups providing assistance to the government in security matters. These security groups are expected to have trained personnel, equipment and other resources in the near future that are equivalent in quality to security forces of the government. Moreover, their accountability has also been restricted. They are free to acquire any information with any sources as per their desire. They also have connection with the state and government agencies and work with them collectively when required. The assistance provided by these private forces in counterterrorism field is also admirable. However, it is necessary that the relationship between the State, the government agencies and these private security groups must be strong so that they may coordinate and communicate with one another appropriately to counter the terrorist attacks. Such coordination is also necessary to ensure that no such private group is becoming a part of a terrorist group and they are performing their duties within the limits formed by the government to counter terrorism and not engaging in it. References 1. Cline, A. (2005). Religious vs. Secular Terrorism. 15 April, 2012. Retrieved from http://atheism.about.com/b/2005/08/12/religious-vs-secular-terrorism.htm 2. International Terrorism and Security Research. What is Terrorism? 13 April, 2012. Retrieved from http://www.terrorism-research.com/ 3. MonTrep. (2012). Terrorism Definition. 15 April, 2012. Retrieved from http://montrep.miis.edu/terror_def.html 4. Office of Homeland Security. 2002. National Strategy for Homeland Security. 15 April, 2012. Retrieved from http://www.ncs.gov/library/policy_docs/nat_strat_hls.pdf 5. The American Revolution. Org. important People of the American Revolution. 14 April, 2012. Retrieved from http://www.theamericanrevolution.org/people.aspx 6. The Gemini Greek. (2012). Why does Terrorism Occur? 13 April, 2012. Retrieved from http://www.thegeminigeek.com/why-does-terrorism-occur/ 7. Uniting Against Terrorism. Denying terrorists the means to carry out an attack. 15 April, 2012. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/unitingagainstterrorism/chap3.htm 8. Zalman, A. (2012). 1773: Boston Tea Party: Terrorism in the United States. 14 April, 2012. Retrieved from http://terrorism.about.com/od/originshistory/p/boston_teaparty.htm Read More