Can Terrorism Be Described as Organized Crime - Essay Example

Can terrorism be described as organized crime Introduction The last decades of XX and the beginning of XXI centuries are marked in the majority of the world countries by the increasing wave of acts of terrorism and the transnational organized crime. In any forms of their representation all of them threaten safety of citizens from many states, entail essential negative political, economic and moral consequences, render strong psychological influence on the large number of people, and take away the lives of the increasing number of innocent peace citizens. Difficulties in struggle both with terrorism and the transnational organized crime in many respects are determined by their variety of forms. But if concerning the organized crime there are clear enough definitions contained in the international and national legislations, the problem of terrorism from the point of view of its definition looks much more refined. The essence of an affair is that the nature of modern terrorism is poorly studied. Attempts of its revealing change from the full justification of its essence up to the unappealable condemnation from the positions of morals and right: that one calls "struggle of people for the freedom", "national-liberation movement", "revolutionary front", others call it terrorism getting character of the open opposition to the state and a society. (1) At the analysis of activity of the transnational criminal organizations we invariably meet the questions concerning the use of terror tactics and connections with the terrorist organizations. The reasons for terrorism and organized crime merge Terrorism and the organized crime act as extreme forms of social pathology and render decisive influence on the formation of a public opinion about the state of struggle against criminality. The set of articles and monographs, scientific and practical conferences are devoted to the problems of terrorism and organized crime. The technology of studying and character of recommendations testify that more often the terrorism and the organized crime are considered to be two independent problems demanding the application in struggle against them of the interdependent, but special means. Organized crime like terrorism is characterized first of all by the committing of more awful crimes representing raised public danger and being an obvious challenge to the society. (5) The criminal organizations use the terror with the purpose of creation of more favorable conditions for criminal enterprises activity. Their actions are directed against a concrete politics in the field of legality maintenance instead of against existing power structures the most part of which is already corrupt. Therefore terrorist groups pursue the political goals directed on a change of usual position at a state or an international level. (2) Terrorist groups participate in the realization of criminal activity (drug, weapon traffic), with the purpose of getting the means necessary for more effective performance of their political tasks. Though the purposes and means of the criminal and terrorist organizations are completely various, now there is a tendency to their merge: The characteristics of such tendency are: 1) Direct use of terror tactics by criminal organizations. 2) Readiness of the criminal organizations to establish direct communications with groups using tactics of mass violence for political purposes. Actually such connection represents business mutual relation in which each party uses another for the achievement of its own purposes. As is well known, the basic components for initial accumulation of the criminal capital are the traffic in arms and drugs, prostitution. (3) Practically all terrorist and extremist groupings participate in narcotic business for their activity financing. For example, in Laos and Myanmar (Burma) up to 80 % of opium manufacture supervises so-called the Burmese communist party". The left ultras extremist groupings on Philippines provide financial arrivals due to its cultivation and selling to cartels. Separatists supported by Pakistan conduct drug traffic in the Indian states Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir. Thus, they partly pay expenses on purchase of the weapon and equipment. Civil war in Afghanistan has resulted in sharp rise of drugs manufacture in this country and in the neighboring Pakistan. Means received from drug traffic were used both for purchase of arms, and for personal enrichment. (4) Any country originally presented in narcotic business plan becomes transit within 2-3 years of active consumption of drugs. Last years development of a society allowed the organized crime to arm and unit the forces for robbing the society that is a big threat for all countries. It is promoted by the following circumstances: 1) The interdiction on the goods and services was never restrained by national borders in full measure; smuggling is justly the second most ancient trade in the world. Now illicit operations are directed not only on existing tariffs and lawful production taxes evasion, but more often include forbidden goods trade; 2) High incomes of illegal drugs circulation in combination with fast expansion of the market have resulted in such position when "narcodollar" started getting the same economic value, as petrodollar" in 70th years; 3) The criminal organizations even more often expand transboundary operations not only in connection with the change of market condition but also to evade meetings with law machinery. The inequality of criminal legislation systems in different countries results in that the degree of risk for criminal elements is substantially determined by a site of the criminal organization. Therefore criminals aspire to locate in areas of the minimum risk to deliver the illegal goods and services to those markets where it is possible to get the maximal profit; 4) Criminal activity incomes go on global financial system channels, using for this purpose basically "tax refuges" and the centers of bank activity with rather soft regulation. Such activity gets significant scales that testify the occurrence of "transnational criminal organizations", i.e. the criminal groups basing in territory of one state and working in the territory of the several states with favorable market conditions. (7) One more factor conducting to the merge of the international terrorism with the organized crime is the changed international situation. The state terrorism has essentially lost the influence. The terrorist organizations face the problem of financial support on the part of the governments weakening, and they address to the criminal organizations and to criminal activity as to an alternative source of means. Experts of the United Nations mark, that one more factor promoting their merge is the technological interests. Plunder of nuclear materials and the opportunity of their use with the purpose of large-scale extortion and blackmail suggest that a distinction between such crimes as extortion and political terrorism disappears. (6) The analysis of the world biggest terrorist organization Al-Quida Lately the strengthening of terrorist organization Al-Quida basic purpose of which is the overthrow of secular modes in the Arabian countries and the establishment of theocratic regime with norms of Sheri at (the Islamic right), and in the long term - the integration of all Muslim countries in one caliphate, arise anxiety. The organization aspires to counteract the distribution of the presence of western countries, mainly the USA, both in region and worldwide, considering the western civilization to be corrupted and waning. Al-Quida puts forward the purpose of USA armed forces exile from the territory of the Persian Gulf countries (Saudi Arabia) separately from the aspiration to destroy the state Israel. Al-Quida was formed in 1988; Afghan veterans of operations against the USSR made its basis. In the beginning of 80th Ben Laden created the service Bureau for recruitment of insurgents with representation in Peshawar where militaries were engaged also in ideological preparation of volunteers for war against the USSR. Then a charitable organization "Islamic fund of rescue" which was maintained by USA expecting that this fund will resist to Iran, the old enemy of USA, was created. (9) USA promoted to creation of the organization since during the Soviet-Afghani war their purposes coincided - to expel the USSR from Afghanistan. CIA annually allocated on these purposes about 500 million dollars. It is known, that Ben Laden was among the largest addressees of American weapon. When the war was finished Ben Laden has directed his activity on the struggle with incorrect in other countries. According to the available information, secret cells of the organization operate in many countries, figures in authoritative world editions change from 35 up to 88 countries. The fortune of Ben Laden makes about 300 million dollars. Al-Quida receives the income of number of the companies scattered worldwide. Firms under Al-Quida's inspection exist in 35 countries. Except for it, firms are engaged in precious metals trade, including diamonds. Al-Quida is constructed by a principle of political party, with precise hierarchy and flexible organizational structure when in case of one head's death his place is occupied by the following according the list. The organization consists of set of the divisions headed by the people close to Ben Laden. Commanders of divisions and rank-and-file members do not know about existence of other groups, only Ben Laden and his assistants is familiar with the whole structure of the organization. In total the organization consists of from 3 up to 8 thousand people (according to the investigation - up to 40 thousand people). Ideological base of Al-Quida is based on several principles: 1) The USA is considered as the main enemy of Moslems, a source of evil and misfortunes for the Islamic world because they assist such countries as Egypt, Israel Saudi Arabia. Therefore it is necessary either to destroy the USA or to weaken its presence in Near East and in Asia; 2) Participation of the USA in war in Persian Gulf in 1991, in operations in Somalia in 1992 and 1993 considerably fixed occupation of the region by Americans. The leaders of Al-Quida consider the presence of the soldiers of the American army on the prophet Mohammed native land as the American crusade against Muslim world; 3) On Near East the management of the organization perceives conflicts exclusively through a prism of true believer struggle with infidels for historical justice restoration. With this purpose for religious substantiation Al-Quida has let out three instructions inviting true believing Moslems to destruction of USA as a basic obstacle in a way to the Muslim world prosperity. Except for it, Ben Laden calls to kill all Americans, both military, and civil, where only it is possible in order to release sacred places in Saudi Arabia and Jerusalem. In 1999 the last instruction was issued in which it was stated about the necessity to destroy each American paying taxes as, thus he helps the American military machine to struggle with Moslems. Al-Quida has several training camps on the territories of Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kenya and Somalia where some heads of terrorists from the Chechen Republic had training preparation. In summer 2001 Ben Laden called all Moslems to help in their struggle against Israelis. On September, 11, 2001 seized "Boeings" ran into towers of the World shopping center in New York. The further events are connected to activisation of special services on revealing the people involved in explosions. The basic multinational forces of Al-Quida consisting of Afghans, Arabs, Chechens, were concentrated in Afghanistan. Bombardments of the American Air Forces did not give appreciable results; therefore the decision on ground operation realization was made, however till now organizers are not detained. According to all available information, Americans have charged the Afghani armies with capture of Ben Laden but their command for the big bribe let him go out from Afghanistan. The first emissaries of Ben Laden have penetrated into the Chechen Republic in 1994, and in 1999 this aggression got visible outlines when fight against Dagestan began with a specific goal: to make the output to Caspian sea and to create jumping-off place of "Al-Quida" as "Islamic caliphate". Terrorists, grasping the theatrical centre in Moscow have hung out at theatre black banner of Al-Quida. Act of terrorism in Beslan was the action of the international terrorism as some Arabs took part in it. These acts of terrorism are the parts of the international terrorist activity in which transethnic and transboundary groupings inflicting Russia and USA, Saudi Arabia and Morocco, Spain and Iraq, Holland and Indonesia, participate. (9) The analysis of the terrorist activity in connection with organized crime The analysis of events in North Caucasian region shows that a new qualitative level of the organized crime as the criminal-state formation within the framework of the subject applying for a role of the international centre of terrorism has appeared. Thus in the Chechen Republic such kinds of crimes, as creation of the illegal armed formations, armed rebellion, capture of hostages, acts of terrorism are committed. Subjects of terrorist activity can be divided into three levels: 1. The management of criminal formations is carried out by the persons who earlier had the highest state posts. 2. Field commanders form the second level where alongside with local Chechens, the foreigners. 3. At the executive third level together with indigenous population foreign mercenaries- Arabs actively take part. Actions of professionals who had special preparation during military or special service or in the centers of preparation of terrorists and saboteurs represent special danger. Explanation of features of the criminal group organization enables to orient in the direction of search of the fact sheet necessary for disclosing of all parts of criminal activity of terrorists and all basic episodes of their activity. At the organization of terrorist acts composure in actions of criminals, high skills of conspiracy, skill to disappear completely is shown. It demands thorough training and high professionalism of executors. Thus, revealing of carriers and sources of the significant information allows to make conception of terrorists. The connection of this information with the revealed data on the mechanism and conditions of crimes fulfillment creates the new information allowing to determine a direction and methods of search and exposure of criminals i.e. to select, in view of other data, an optimum direction of the further investigation. Modern technologies gave a powerful spur not only to lawful trade, but also to criminal business activity. Wide connections of the organized crime have provided to it an establishment of contacts with partners in other countries and other continents; the modern banking has facilitated the realization of international criminal bargains and modern revolution in the field of electronics has given the criminal organizations access to new means and an opportunity to receive the huge incomes illegally. Megacities, being an integral part and peculiarity of the world economic system, play the important role in transboundary connections. These cities have undertaken functions of seaports which in the past were center of criminality and the criminal organizations, and now they are the bases for criminal operations. A world market on which consumers get an access to the information on the goods and services from any country of the world was developed. It is possible to give the vivid example. The appearance of drugs circulation can be considered as an example of world illegal market. According to the estimations, world drugs trade exceeds the scales of world petroleum trade and reaches the level of $500.000 billion per year. Other feature of the world integration process is the amplification of migration and formation of ethnic diaspore that is used by the criminal organizations with the big benefit. Areas with ethnically homogeneous population become a source of transnational criminal organization replenishment. Penetration into the criminal environment is extremely complicated; language and cultural barriers represent some kind of mechanisms of self-defense which are supported by related connections and always existing suspiciousness to authorities. For these organizations the big flexibility in management, very effective control system based on generous material stimulation and severe measures of punishment, effective prospecting activity are characteristic. The interdependence of terrorism and the organized crime After analyzing the biggest and the most famous terrorist organization we see that the essence and the reasons inducing terrorism and the organized crime have much in common. Both the terrorism and the organized crime represent serious danger to all world community. They have neither state nor national borders and many decades "accompany" the economic and cultural development of the majority of the countries in the world. It was established by researches that principal causes of growth of the organized crime and terrorism are covered in the condition of economy, sharp property stratification at the existence of the majority of countries population over the bounds of the minimal living wage, political and cultural instability of the society, legal nihilism, and imperfection of legal base. Despite of some argumentativeness, all definitions agree in one: terrorism represents an act of violence causing serious threat of safety and personal freedom or resulting in death of people. Thus, the international declarative documents precisely define terrorism as a criminal crime in its essence resisting to a society and the state. All other definitions only supplement this attribute. Thus, both terrorism, and the organized crime are recognized as the international community crimes of one, transnational level. In the world today there are more than 500 terrorist organizations cooperating with each other and with a ramified network of organized criminal groups. In this connection there is a necessity of revealing of deep connection between terrorism and separate forms of the organized crime, in particular, trade in people. Without its opening it is impossible to stop those possible troubles and problems which follow from this connection. Some scientists have already made steps in this direction: they analyzed the personalities of terrorist and criminal in order to compare them. Analysis of the terrorist's and the criminal's personality For both the organized crime and terrorism functioning complex structure of criminal formation is characteristic. Therefore the approach analyzing the hierarchy of the examined phenomenon is important for us. So, Daniel Steward marks, that in the last, there is an organizer or managing core; the certain hierarchical structure separating a management from direct executors; rather precise distribution of roles; observance of a subordination. Similar structure allows not only to carry out so-called "division of labor" raising efficiency of criminal activity; but also to distance managing core from direct crimes committers, it means that concrete participation in concrete criminal actions fulfillment and realization of organizational activity (for example, planning) do not coincide. At such criminal formation there are both vertical and horizontal connections. Authority and rights accrue in the bottom-up, and the responsibility in the top-down direction. Purpose orientation is set by the special subject - a coordinator (leader). (3) Such steady character of the organized crime activity is caused by the following of the elements compatibility principle at staff selection. Patrick Webb specifies that this principle includes: Professional compatibility which expresses a measure of professional readiness, suitability of elements for their joint activity; Psychological and physical compatibility which expresses a measure of a generality, similarities in the individuals' reactions orientation; Social and cultural compatibility, i.e. similarity of behavioral and spiritual stereotypes of individuals, their values, aims, needs; Compatibility of the personal aims and the purposes of the organization, and, finally, fidelity to the leader. (4) The personality of the organized criminal is a set of social and psychological personality characteristics causing regular committing of crimes with the establishment of the authority (the total control) in the spheres of legal and illegal activity with the purpose of the maximal illegal enrichment. Personality of a terrorist is a kind of a personality which applies violence or creates threat of application of violence with the purpose to cause a panic in the society, to weaken and even to overthrow the government and to cause political changes; its activity is directed to destabilization of the state modes, excitation at the population of concern because of the defenselessness before the person of violence, causing as a result a change of the government in the country; on realization of others political, religious or ethnic goals. Patrick Webb offers three models of the terrorist personality: 1. The person guided by own belief (religious, ideological, political) and sincerely convinced of necessity of his actions for a society. 2. The aggressive person. Frustration, caused by impossibility of satisfaction of any vital purpose, produces the tendency to fulfillment of aggressive actions. 3. The person with psycho-or socio- pathological development (it is frequently connected to abnormal relations in the family). (4) According to Rachel Ehrenfeld distinctive attributes of the complex terrorist organization are: a) presence of an organizational center which includes the duties of the organization management and hierarchical subordination inside the organization; b) system of organizational connections between various structural divisions; c) presence of the program document in which the basic directions of activity, the purposes and tasks of the organization are formulated; d) creation of the specialized structural divisions (groups) inside the organization; e) maintenance of own safety; f) worked out channels of financing and logistics; g) organizational system of selection and a criminal professional training etc. Analyzing the specificity of organized crime and terrorism interrelation on the basis of financial components, it is necessary to specify the presence of special typology of participants: 1. "Financial investor". To the given type it is possible to relate the people who, pursuing personal or clan far-reaching interests carry out serious financing of terrorist orientation crimes 2. "Distributors". The people sharing and coordinating financial streams by various kinds of organized criminal activity (including both from terrorism and for it) 3. "Inspectors". The financial experts carrying out an estimation of incorporated monetary and other resource streams efficiency. On the basis of their recommendations there can be the changes made with the purpose of the greater profit reception. 4. "Level Specialists". The given group is formed by the participants of illegal financial operations (money-laundering, corruption, other financial frauds) (11) Apparently, in the greater degree they are the representatives of white-collar criminality. Thus, it is possible to emphasize deep interrelation and appearance of new socially dangerous forms of criminal activity. Any state can not use effective means of counteraction of the interconnected organized crime and terrorism alone. The organized crime and the terrorism threaten stability of a society, economic and political bases. Process of organized crime and terrorism transnationalization is able to penetrate into rather safe countries. The criminal terrorism directed against the state and its representatives with the purpose of hindrance to the realization of severe criminal politics, investigation of the criminal cases, having a purpose of active law machinery members liquidation, compulsion of judges to pronouncement of soft sentences, intimidation or elimination of lawyers, victims, journalists, businessmen etc., now is represented as one of the most characteristic features of the organized crime. (12) Reasoning from the meaning of the word "terror" it is possible to draw a conclusion, that the stress at the estimation of a crime as an act of terrorism is transferred to consequences of criminal action that is intimidation. Other characteristic feature of acts of terrorism is harm causation to innocent people. If earlier political motivation was considered as a necessary component of terrorism, in second half of XX centuries the political substantiation of actions of terrorists lost the value. (10) Conclusion Based on the information stated above, we can make a conclusion that the organized crime and terrorism are the cooperating social phenomena demanding coordinated measures on their elimination or neutralization. It is obvious that the organized crime by its essence and internal logic of development creates preconditions for the stimulation of terrorism. At the same time the organized crime is affected by terrorism which initiates its development, expands the opportunities of mafia communities in achievement of criminal, political and economic goals. Some scientists believe that in contemporary conditions it is possible to speak about the deepening of interrelation and interaction of the organized crime and terrorism. So, in particular, it is admitted that, first, leaders and participants of the organized crime are interested in expansion of terrorism as social phenomena, accompanying it, secondly, organized crime, creating safety system, provides the terrorist formations as its element, thirdly, leaders of the organized crime, providing themselves with ideological covering, draw a line on the organization of campaigns and subversive activities against authority and law machinery bodies, paralyzing their opportunities. The criminal terrorism gives rise to fear, disbelief the strength of legitimate authority that finally results in criminalization of public consciousness. More and more clearly we see the tendency to solve disputable questions with the help of criminal structures. Thus, the organized crime has replaced law machinery bodies in many aspects of public life. The abovementioned problems do not exhaust a circle of the questions demanding deep studying. So, with a view of working out a complex of actions for neutralization and suppression of the organized crime and revelry of criminal terrorism it is necessary to make the analysis of social and psychological sources of these phenomena. The criminal environment, its sources of replenishment are subject to study. The important task is an establishment of the rigid control above the weapon in army and militarized establishments and its withdrawal from illegal possession. Restoration of institutes of social adaptation for ex-inmates is necessary. It is important to return the lost trust of the population to law-enforcement bodies. It is a practical side of the considered problem. As a theoretical conclusion it is necessary to recognize the following: the concept of the organized crime should include such obligatory attribute as committing of criminal acts with terrorist orientations. The organized crime as the social phenomenon gets features of total criminal terrorism. Comprehension of these circumstances will allow the law enforcement bodies and a society as a whole to develop and implement measures which must be not populist, but corresponding, as physicians say, "to the heaviness of illness". Bibliography (1) Cantrell, Alvin D. (2003) "Crime and Terror: A Threat to U.S. National Security" Carlisle Barracks, PA, U.S. Army War College. (2 ) Schuller, Jeffrey G. (2002) "The Military's Role in the Drug War: To Just Say No is Not Enough!" Newport, RI, Naval War College. (3) Steward, Daniel N. (2001) "Counter-terrorism Joint Task Force" Newport, RI, Naval War College (4) Webb, Patrick F. (2004) "Narcoterrorism: A Threat to the United States" Carlisle Barracks, PA, U.S. Army War College, (USAWC Military Studies Program paper) (5) Wholley, Michael C. (2003) "Military Involvement in the War on Drugs" Newport, RI, Naval War College. (6) Arbuckle, Tammy (2001) "Peru's Drug War--Vietnam-era Methods Won't Net Narco-Guerillas" International Defense Review 23:373-374 (7) Blakesley, Christopher L. (2001)" Terrorism, Drugs, International Law, and the Protection of Human Liberty" Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 16:234-236. (8) Blank, Stephen (2001) "Narcoterrorism as a Threat to International Security" World & I 16:265-281. (9) Davis, Robert B. (2003) "Changing Roles for MI in the 21st Century" Military Intelligence 16:32-35 (10) Douglass, Joseph D. (1996) "Jr. Narcotics Trafficking, Organized Crime, and Terrorism Aspects None of Us Want to Face). Conservative Review 7:4-10. (11) Ehrenfeld, Rachel (1990) "Narcoterrorism: The Soviet Connection" Defense & Diplomacy 8:11-15 (12) Filippone, Robert. Medellin Cartel (1994) "Why We Can't Win the Drug War". Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 17:323-344 Read More