A comparative study of extreme Islamic terrorist groups - Essay Example

? Running Head: ISLAMIC TERRORIST GROUPS A comparative study of extreme Islamic terrorist groups U.S. Homeland Insecurity name] [Date] In the modern age the entire world is shaken by Terrorism. It is difficult to define terrorism but violent activities of the terrorist groups have threatened mankind. Through Terrorism, the criminals express their anger against activities they dislike. The act of terrorism is very unpredictable and is driven by hatred. There are two major views regarding the origin of terrorism. The first view reflects that terrorism is a structure of political action and the second view reflects that terrorism is a structure of a psychic coerce. Terrorism is usually carried out by a small enemy group, without any support from any specific political sovereignty. People who carry out terrorist activities never formally do not identify themselves as opponents nor are they controlled by any political entity (Roy Long, 2004, pp. 1-4). Terrorism is categorized between ideological, national and religion. The reasons behind the terrorist attacks are political domination, religious fanaticism and divine revelation (Durmaz, 2007, p.209). The trauma of terror created by the terrorist has a huge impact on the United States. United States of America is known as a very powerful country in the world especially with respect to its military base. U.S.A has reacted very strongly against the act of terrorism and has taken all measures to prevent them. The United States faces homeland insecurity, owing to terrorism and its impact on American society. Impact of terrorism on the American Society& the homeland insecurity& analysis of specific incidents Terrorism was prevalent in the world from many decades but in a very small form. But the perception towards terrorism largely changed after the September 11 incident that occurred in United States in the year 2001. It shocked the entire world especially the people of America started suffering from homeland insecurity. United States took a drastic step in reforming laws and policies. Several government agencies were combined to build the Department of Homeland Security. Millions of dollars were spent for the formation of the U.S Patriot Act which helps in ferreting out prospective criminals and terrorist acts. Current anti terrorism laws which initiated around the world started after the September 11 incident. United States was attacked by the terrorist group called al-Qaeda. This group is mostly famous for its fanaticism and violent approach of terrorism. This group mostly acts on the basis of religious inspiration rather than political philosophy. The countries that have already experienced terrorism, mostly accuses individuals for criminal offence than politicized crime. Before 9/11, U.S.A had experienced only one terrorist attack on civilians on 15th of April 1995. Timothy Mc Veigh exploded a bomb and damaged a segment of the federal Murray Building in Oklahoma City which killed 168 people. Due to some political reasons, Veigh committed this crime. He was against the ideology of the federal government. Mc Veigh was tried for multiple criminal offences. Historically terrorism in United States was more a political expression than criminal offense. United States has employed its military to fight terrorism abroad as a sign of ‘global war’ on terrorism. According to the United States the aim of terrorism is to deteriorate the country’s safety and peace. (Beckman, 2007, pp.1-39) Measures taken to prevent further terrorist attack in United States Post 9/11, Americans and the politicians of the country, possessed minimum reservations for adopting strict measures to secure and protect the homeland from rebellions, so that peace and domestic tranquility can be maintained within the United States. Post 9/11, American police officers arrested nearly 1,200 people of Middle Eastern or South Asian origin on doubts they were terrorist. Government issued laws concerning the threat of communism. Many Americans were put on trial during the ‘red scare’ time period. College professors were also under close inspection of the FBI and if they were found preaching communism in class then they were punished. In the year 2006, the Court in Brandenburg, issued an order that if anyone found uttering any hostile words against the United States or its government will be criminalized. This order safeguards an individual’s freedom of expression which helps to protect the homeland and prevents anyone from causing harm to the United States. (Beckman, 2007, pp.1-39) In the year 1993, terrorist attack took place in the World Trade centre which was masterminded by Ramzi Yousef. Anti- Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act started in the year 1996. It was the first effort to deal with anti – terrorism. In 1996, new rules were made to prevent the operations of terrorist groups. Secretary of State had the power to appoint groups as ‘terrorist organization’, if the activities of the group threatened the peace and safety of the citizens of America or the nation itself. The law of the nation tried to restrict the financial flow on terrorist organizations by eliminating the financial investment of these institutes by individuals. United States has already implemented few preventive measures against terrorism to protect the homeland. Using CCTV cameras in places like monuments, government buildings and recreational areas is one of the preventive measures adopted by United States to safeguard from terrorism. New York City and Chicago has deployed thousands of cameras in public areas. National Security Agency (NSA) has adopted the method of recording every home to home call within U.S.A. A list of incoming and outgoing phone calls of every individual has been collected by NSA. A new feature of electronic inspection is in the process of gathering the data of citizen’s internet activities via e-mail through ‘data mining’ programs. The Government can obtain this data from private data banks where software is developed to recognize the web pages visited by people, and obtain information about the products they have purchased on-line and the articles they have read. Every citizen’s activities of America are under strong vigilance of the government of United States. United States has developed a strategy of fighting terrorism abroad than fighting it in its own soil. United States has been successful in eliminating Taliban rule in Afghanistan by disturbing al-Qaeda operations. U.S.A also attacked Iraq. It was an act of self defense. According to United States, Iraq was responsible for hiding and making weapons used for mass destruction. So the war in Iraq was justified. (Beckman, 2007, pp.1-39) Extreme terrorist Islamic group The extreme terrorist Islamic group who is the biggest enemy of United States is Osama bin Laden and the terrorist group al-Qaeda. The main ideology of al- Qaeda is Salafi- jihadism (SJ). Salafi means an Islamic renewal movement that begun in the late nineteenth century in Egypt. Jihad means ‘holy struggle’ that originated in the twentieth century in Saudi Arabia. Salafi Jihadism thinks that American policies force its foreign rules into Muslim culture that eventually oppresses Muslims. According to them the only way to tackle the Americans is by waging war against them. There are other extremist groups that threat the United States with very local issue. In case of long war, these groups might support the SJ groups directly or indirectly against U.S.A. The method of operation of the SJ groups is very planned and accurate. They first build up a process to decide how to reach their goal and secondly they decide how to execute their decision. To fulfill their goals they also take help from local Muslims. Post 9/11, America counter attacked the known government of Afghanistan. Extreme Islamic terrorist groups have increased their capabilities by the help of modern communication. They have increased the ways to forecast their message among other Muslims around the world by which they could gather lot of motivation. Through same process they could also recruit men and women for their terror operation. Muslim countries are divided into groups based on ideas and goals. This structure helps to differentiate the aggressive groups inside the Muslim world. SJ groups decline modernism and emphasizes strongly on the idea of Jihad. Al- Qaeda targets Western authority and other non- Muslims government and civilians. (Pernin, 2008, pp. 16-32) There were many other terror groups and criminals associated with Al- Qaeda, who helped in the destruction of 9/11 in United States. Aftab Ansari , a criminal who lived in Dubai, was suspected for funding for the 9/11 terrorist attack. The other group like Jamaat al Tabligh, which is a Pakistani based institute, is connected to the Muslims of America. Jamaat al Tabligh is a Muslim missionary organization. The other extreme Islamic terrorist group that was linked with the 9/11 incident was the American Dar Al Islam Movement. These terrorist groups mostly work together by the help of Information technology. Members of the terrorist groups are given training in computer software so that they may communicate through internet. According to the officials of the U.S Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), there were 36 terrorist groups who were involved in drug trafficking. DEA officials said that there is a link between war on drugs and war on terrorism. (Linden, 2007, pp. 51-52) Recommendations for prevention of terrorist attacks Previously terrorism was not a subject of study. For last few years terrorism has become an important subject of civil defense activity because the goal and aim of terrorism is mass destruction and hefty material damage. Terrorism is an illegal way of treating and creating violence against people and property. Terrorism is a global problem and special preventive measures should be adopted to protect a state and its people from any terrorist attack. A state should be more careful in gathering information regarding terrorist activities and about the products that they use, to create violence, for example the chemicals, and nuclear objects. Through this method one can easily minimize the possibility of terrorist attacks. A state should also develop appropriate legislation and a strong plan of action to fight terrorism. The forces that are used against the terrorist groups should be well trained with modern infrastructures and should be well educated. It is very important to protect inter- agency co-operation and management should be well trained. Rescue systems of any particular state should be improved. Companies that produce combustible, explosives or toxic materials should have a strong security system. The system of informing the citizens regarding their self protection should be more accurate. People should be educated about the possible threats and present threats of terrorism. Public should be made conscious of the consequences of the terrorist attack. With proper help from the citizens of a state and their timely information regarding any terrorist activities can cease the possibility to arrange terrorist actions. Terrorism causes big damage to the lives of the people, property and environment. So special measures should be adopted and proper implementation of special task to rescue the entire community should be developed. In case of any terrorist attack proper first aid should be provided to every injured person. Proper transport system should be organized to carry large number of injured people to the hospital. People who are appointed for the rescue operation should be well trained for this service. There should be proper co-ordination among the community people during the removing consequences. Proper care should be provided to the endangered population by giving them temporary lodging, food and medical aid. Media and people should be informed in time about the special incidents that have happened. Several agencies and institutes who deal with anti- terrorist activities and whose aim is to prevent terrorist activities should obtain safety procedures to a higher level. While informing the people about any possible terrorist threat, the message should be accurate, simple so that every citizen can understand the warning and reliable. The information should be given in time by the help of the media. (Prezelj, 2008, pp. 66-72) Conclusion The analysis dealt with the advent of terrorism in the United States and the terrorist attacks that occurred in U.S.A with special reference to 9/11 incident which shook the entire country and is known as a dark day in the history of United States. The discussion has also dealt with the homeland insecurities that the Americans are going through after the impact of terrorist attacks. This thesis also brings up the extreme Islamic terrorist groups and their activities. Possible recommendations encompass the preventive measures that should be adopted by the Americans. This necessitates an integrated approach of different stakeholders in the society. The paper enforces that the United States faces homeland insecurity owing to terrorism and its impact on American society has lead to the study of extreme Islamic terrorist groups. References Durmaz, H. (2007). Understanding and responding to terrorism, Amsterdam: IOS Press. Beckman, J (2007). Comparative legal approaches to homeland security and anti-terrorism, United Kingdom: Ashgate Publishing Ltd. Linden, E (2007). Focus on Terrorism, New York: Nova Publishers Pernin, C (2008). Unfolding the future of the long war: motivations, prospects, and implication for the U.S Army, California: Rand Corporation Prezelj, I (2008). The fight against terrorism and the crises management in the Western Balkans, Amsterdam: IOS Press. Roy Long, E (2004). Facing terrorism: responding as Christians, Kentucky: West Minister John Knox Press. Read More