Terrorist Organization - Research Paper Example

TERRORIST ORGANIZATION …………………. College/ ………….. …………. Introduction None has so far been able to define the term‘terrorism’ in a manner that can be universally acceptable, but still, most literatures described that terrorism is an act of frightening or intimidating individuals, people or even governments. Organizations that are formed or are working under the title of terrorism do function differently, mainly being heartless and evil-minded with no perceived moral compass (Mehrotra, 2006, p. 746). This piece of research paper attempts to analyze various types of terrorist organizations and one of the most famous terror groups, namely Al-Qaeda in relation to its organizational objectives and targets based on relevant principles and theories like symbolic convergence.

Terrorist organization Terrorist organizations are generaly divided into three distinct types- namely, political terrorist organization, ideological terrorist organization and individual terrorist organization. These are working almost in similar tactics and principles but differ in its execution. Political terrorist organization: It is very difficult to define political terrorist organization because of its approaches change individually- as a phrase indicates so ‘one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter’ (Wardlaw, 1989, p. 3). IRA (Irish Republican Army), JRA (Japanese Red Army), RAF(Red Army Faction German), LTTE(Liberation Tigers of nTamil Eelam), ULFA(United Liberation Front of Asom), PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization), WUO (Weather Underground Organization) are some of the examples for political terrorism.

Ideological terrorist organization: When a small group tries to make others obey their ideals and may oppress them for the same, this terrorist approaches can be called ideological terrorism. Religious terrorism falls in this category. For eg, Islamic terrorism, Hindu terrorism, Shea terrorism etc. Al-Qaeda, one of the most widely debated terror organizations, is one of the examples for this category. Individual terrorist organization: A group of people- terrorists, focused on distracting others and working for attaining some personal targets can be considered as individual terrorists.

They also aim at drawing international attention to its troubles. Al-Qaeda as a terrorist organization Al-Qaeda has been known to be a religious or ideological terror organization for around last 10 years, led by Osama Bin Laden until very recently when he has been killed by the US. It continued to act and to maintain organizational cohesion and also to sustain and expand its movements. For this organization or terror group, terrorism is purposeful, instrumental and intended to serve a number of different political, ideological and organizational objectives (Rabasa, 2006, p. 26). As an organization, Al-Qaeda, mainly under its leadership of Bin Laden, has maintained specific objectives and organizational goals.

It has maintained specific tactics and strategies to achieve its targets. It has long kept a network and doctrinal programs in order to help build morale among its cadres and also through the propaganda that the group is always functionally active and formidable. All such facets have been contributing to Bin Laden’s long term objectives of mobilizing his followers for the promised global fights against the West (Rabasa, 2006, p. 26). Objectives of a terror organization Major Objectives of terrorist organization may be three types Strategic Objectives- Strategic objectives are very significant and that can guide the decisions making.

The leaders can guide the groups or individuals in order to attain their group goal within the organization (Keeney GL, 2009). For instance, Al-Qaeda has been attempting its best to drive out western power from Middle East. Fundamental Objectives- Fundamental objectives are those that provide direction for exact decision making that are normally made over the medium to long-term. If basic objectives are consistently achieved, it may lead to attain the strategic objectives. Al-Qaeda has been trying to impose economic cost on US and western countries.

Means objectives- Means objectives comprise the short term or day-to-day actions, which supports achieving fundamental and strategic objectives. Some means objectives directly concern to strategic objectives and also the fundamental objectives. Al-Qaeda’s strategic role to attack US personnel in Iraq and to train insurgents can be considered as one of its means objectives. Symbolic Convergence and Terrorism Bormann’s Symbolic Convergence theory has been developed based on an assumption that people are viewing reality through a specific personal set of narratives that represent the truth of how the world is (Landtsheer, 2000, p. 211). When the leader or a manager in an organization conveys a message including such narratives, and the followers share this messages among them, or one individual shares these personal narratives with the group members, these narratives would be adopted and enlarged upon the group.

When it comes to most terrorist groups, especially Al-Qaeda or LTTE, the role of symbolic convergences seems to be very clear, because message being delivered from the top of its organizational structure make greater influence among its members and helps them all form special fighting group or a way to achieve its targeted goal. Conclusion Terrorism is an extremely social issue that a good majority of population around the world fear terrors and activities of terrorist organizations. Terrorist organizations have their own specific goals and targets and they create or form certain routes to achieve their goals.

They have basically strategic, fundamental and means objectives. This paper illustrated how Al-Qaeda functions as a terror organization and how they play various roles in achieving its different goals. References Landtsheer, CD 2000, Beyond public speech and symbols: explorations in the rhetoric of politicians and the media, Illustrated edition, Greenwood Publishing Group Mehrotra, S 2006, Intelligence and security informatics: IEEE International Conference on Intelligence and Security Informatics, ISI 2006, San Diego, CA, USA, May 23-24, 2006 : proceedings, Illustrated edition, Springer Rabasa, A 2006, Beyond Al-Qaeda: The global jihadist movement, Rand Corporation Wardlaw G, 1989, Political terrorism: theory, tactics, and counter-measures, Cambridge University Press