Terrorism Encyclopedias and Dictionaries Define

Terrorism

Encyclopedias and dictionaries define terrorism in the easy to understand language but in reality it is a concept that is hard to grasp. In the last two decades terrorism caused more damage to the world then anything else. Especially after 9/11 the word terrorism was being redefined. Despite differing definitions terrorism, is considered a crime in most of the countries. Statutes of different countries have different version of the definition of terrorism.

Looking up a dictionary we would find the definition in the simplest form. For example, the American Heritage Dictionary defines terrorism as "The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons" (Wikipedia Encyclopedia).

Different academics have also worked on the definition of terrorism and they agreed on this definition of terrorism. "Terrorism is an anxiety-inspiring method of repeated violent action, employed by (semi-) clandestine individual, group or state actors, for idiosyncratic, criminal or political reasons, whereby - in contrast to assassination - the direct targets of violence are not the main targets. The immediate human victims of violence are generally chosen randomly (targets of opportunity) or selectively (representative or symbolic targets) from a target population, and serve as message generators. Threat- and violence-based communication processes between terrorist (organization), (imperiled) victims, and main targets are used to manipulate the main target (audience(s)), turning it into a target of terror, a target of demands, or a target of attention, depending on whether intimidation, coercion, or propaganda is primarily sought" (Schmid, 1988)" (UNODC).

Differences on Definition: The world community today disagrees on the definition of terrorism. A conference for Iraqi reconciliation was sponsored by the Arab League in Cairo in which Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish leaders participated. The debate was also made on the definition of Iraq and according to the communique the definition of terrorism included 'resistance' as a 'legitimate right.' The term resistance got fierce criticism from the West which called it a right only to kill soldiers in Iraq but also innocent people belonging to rival sects. Critics in U.S. accused the convention to exclude U.S. soldiers from their list of protected people while attacking citizens and humanitarian, civil, government institutions, national resources and houses of worship were considered the act of terrorism.

The differences on the definition of terrorism were again seen at the occasion of Barcelona Euro-Mediterranean Summit. Here European Union leaders and Arab representatives disagreed on the matter of definition. European Union leaders refused to recognize a definition which by any means endorsed killings in the name of resistance.

The attempts by UN, Euro and even Arabs to arrive at a concise and acceptable definition failed miserably. In times when no place in the world whether it be Islamic or Western is safe from the menace of terrorism. It is hard to define and fathom yet efforts are needed to be made to stop this spate of violence that has engulfed the planet earth and its inhabitants. All nations and UN condemns terrorism but the consensus on the definition is hard to achieve.

UN Stance on Definition: Definition of terrorism at United Nations became a cause of conflict. United States and its key allies including UK wanted organizations like Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad to be included in the definition of terror for the U.N. Comprehensive Anti-Terror Convention. On the other hand Arab States represented by Organization for Islamic Conference wanted UN to recognize some outfits running freedom movement against Israel not as terrorists. The debate and differences on the definition of terrorism started at the start of the 60th anniversary session of the U.N. General Assembly. The definition of terrorism is important because a consensus of different nations and world bodies on its definition would eventually facilitate the co-operation in fight against terrorism. In the absence of a consensus on definition some countries would adopt a different definition and it might provide some violent groups the freedom to operate and work on their hidden agendas. In the presence of the conflict in the Middle East and now in Iraq organizations like OIC support what they call struggle against foreign occupation and colonialist and racist regimes by all means, including armed struggle to liberate their territories. "According to Victor Comras - a career diplomat who served as a top aide to Secretary of States Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell - the OIC is putting forward such language in an effort to get itself "wiggle room" to continue to support terrorism when convenient - particularly against Israel. The same language can also be used to legitimize violence by Abu Musab Zarqawi against U.S. forces in Iraq" (The Washington times 2006). United States therefore has a stern position and is not willing to accept any definition of terrorism at UN level that has OIC perspective in it. They are warning UN not to allow any loopholes in the definition to give leeway to violent movements in different countries

Not only does the definition of terrorism change from time to time but even the people's status changes as time evolves. Osama Bin Laden was once the CIA supported activist fighting for U.S. In its war against Russia. Sean McBride, Menachem Begin, Yassir Arafat, and Nelson Mandela who are considered heroes today were once referred as terrorist. The changing times change the course events. Terrorism is one of the biggest issues facing the world today and the consensus on definition is yet to be achieved but the fight against it has been started in the form of 'War on Terror'.

Purpose of Terrorism

Terrorizing seems to be the obvious purpose of terrorism but things are not as simple as they appear to be. There could be different motives behind terrorism. Sometimes terrorism is used to advance political goals. Sometimes world dominance seems to be the agenda of terrorism. Initially terrorists used the tactics of killing a few to let others become fearful. However, very recently madly and blindly killing innocent people have become the modus operandi. Terrorists while terrorizing a select group or general group want the sympathy of another group. Hence, mostly terrorists are looking for a certain kind of reaction.

For instance, certain terrorist groups are trying to incite Muslims world over against West through their actions. 9/11 attacks showed to the world that even the safest and place and tallest building is not safe. They also foresaw that U.S. would make a quick move in reaction to 9/11 attacks which they did in the war in Afghanistan. They therefore used the move of west to portray a picture of West as an imperialist invader. They also wanted to attack the concepts of liberty, freedom, tolerance and virtue that U.S. upholds and is always proud of. Whther they succeeded in their mission is debatable. The terrorists ivolved in the 9/11 attacks would have ideally wanted a reaction in Middle East but instead Bush administartion went for Afhganistan and tried to portray their attack as an attempt to free Afghans from the tyranny of Taliban.

When Japan attacked at Pearl Harbor their purpose was to incite U.S. into full scale war which they thought they would win but instead they ended up losing. Sometimes the actions made by terrorists become counterproductive. So, sometimes the purpose behind an act of terror or act of invasion could be military rather than political.

Terror acts are also made to cause damage to the unity of a group. Separatist groups like Tamil Tigers in Srilanka or violent religious groups carry out their own terror acts to propagate their own hate agenda. The situation in Ireland and now in Iraq points to the purpose of terrorism to disunite a country or a nation. Terrorism exists in this world in different forms and manifestations and is backed by different ideologies. "While there are terrorist organizations that operate across borders (giving them an 'international' dimension), they are all unique groups that have to be understood in terms of their own history, ideology, and social and political contexts. It is, in fact, a misnomer to assume that Palestinian 'terrorism', Irish 'terrorism', Basque 'terrorism', Tamil 'terrorism', Islamic 'terrorism', 'narco-terrorism' or anti-abortion 'terrorism' in the United States have anything more than superficial similarities. Similarly, it is mistaken to assume that there is no difference between revolutionary terrorism and nationalist terrorism or between ideological terrorism and religious terrorism" (Jackson 2002).

State sponsored terrorism can not be forgotten when discussing purposes of terrorist. There have been many glaring examples in which state machinery or secret service has been involved in or has supported acts of terrorism. Lebanon, Nicaragua, Mozambique and even Ireland are some of the countries where the so-called super powers of the world have allegedly sponsored terrorist groups. So there are agendas at the states level to support terrorism one way or the other.

Most of the time terrorist actions are meant to incite some group to make a violent, vengeful and forceful reaction. At times terrorist succeed and at times they fail. Some times they have larger and long-term goal and some times they have short-term aims. For example, a group hijacking a plane wanted some immediate results like release of the prisoners or financial gain but blowing a plane into a building would definitely mean that terrorists wanted something big out of it. Sometimes terrorists want to just cause panic and fear. They attack to make people realize that they are vulnerable. They just want people to become fearful & terrified to go about their usual and routine activities.

War on Terror

War on Terror' is the phrase that has been used and abused since Americans were attacked on their soil on September 11 in New York's Twin Towers. Today America's foreign policy is defined by the term 'War on Terror'. The attack on twin towers made America vulnerable and they had to wage a war against unknown and hidden enemies. The war on terror was started and to support the objectives allies were gathered. The war has become so ingrained in American policy and psyche that it would stay in American policies for years to come. The extent and expansion of war far and wide is seen by some as necessity while some criticize it fiercely. Despite the fact that war on terror required patience, diplomacy, military and non-military efforts on America's part, the start of war on terror was inevitable for America. "Sustaining a massive diplomatic-military-humanitarian-political offensive across the world and across the decades won't be easy, but it could be the difference between success and failure in the war on terror. At first glance, passing this strange, new war from one administration to another, one political party to another, one generation to another, seems an impossible task. However, America is surprisingly well suited for waging such a war" (Dowd 2002).

War on terror started on all fronts and formally started with the attack on Afghanistan. The afghan war can be considered a successful attempt by the U.S. And its Allies as they succeeded in rooting out the Taliban regime. The real test of war on terror started as America decided to go on war in Iraq. Critics claim that it was one of the biggest mistakes of the Bush Administration. Instead of controlling Al-Qaeda and its network worldwide the administration entangled itself in the tricky situation in Iraq. The brouhaha created by the administration regarding the weapons of mass destruction fizzled out and a civil war tied U.S. resources in Iraq. It is not just United States that has been facing this war but United Kingdom has also faced it I the form of London bombings. Even Muslim countries today are waging a war as we know that countries that are considered a hub of terrorists are also key partners in the war on terror. U.S. alone cannot win this war as all countries have to combine their efforts.

Terrorists Groups in U.S.

There are terrorist groups that are present worldwide but within United States one can also find patterns of terrorism. There are groups within Untied States that spread their own messages of hatred. Their anti-Semitic groups operating actively and have been involved in hate crimes against Jews. Racial crimes against the black population are not hidden from anyone. Even black people in retaliation have made organized groups to counter any crime against them. Some organizations don't appear to be like typical terrorist organizations but their actions can not be considered peaceful. Their tactics to achieve their goals mar their reputation.

Today mostly Alqeada or other Muslim groups have been targeted for their involvement in terrorism but bombing, hijacking, kidnapping and other such activities have also been carried out by homegrown white or African-Americans. The scale and impact of these terrorist activities have also been varied but after 9/11 all such activities though still present got the back seat de to media coverage of the war on terror.

There are many terror acts carried out by certain groups if they have some grievances against the Federal or State government. The general perception is that such groups exist in Western States. There may be more incidences of terror acts in Western States but the fact is non- western states have also been involved in acts of terror. Antigovernment plots have been uncovered in states like Georgia & West Virginia. It is on the record that in 1996 that a plot was weaved to bomb FBI fingerprint center in Clarksburg. "Some domestic U.S. terrorist groups, including the Aryan Nation and the Phineas Priesthood, and some militia members are also religiously motivated in addition to being driven by a hatred of the federal government. Indeed, hostility to the federal government is at an all-time high in many western U.S. states. This animosity can be seen in numerous bombings and assaults directed against federal agencies and personnel. But such activities are not necessarily restricted to western states" (Leader 1997).

Loss of Liberties

Safety from terrorism requires American to give up on some of their liberties. At times safety requires some intrusion into the private lives of the citizens. Citizens are also willing to co-operate but only to an extent that their freedom granted by the Law is not affected. Most Americans are repelled by unnecessary & repressive restrictions and surveillance by authorities. Now modern and high tech gadgets are being used to protect the citizens from any unforeseen terrorist act. These gadgets are meant to detect any weapons or other terror tool but at the same time they give out personal information belonging to people. "A major test will occur as the million-dollar-plus "Total Recall"-type X-ray machines are pressed into general service in airports across the nation and later at public gathering places (stadiums, coliseums, fairgrounds) and government complexes (courthouses, administrative buildings, post offices). While these devices can spot any weapons or contraband (from razor blades to plastic bags of cocaine) right down to the bone, they also show the size and shape of body parts for security personnel and possibly others to see and evaluate" (Stephens 2003).

The loss of privacy can be particularly seen in case of Internet use. In order to detect the identity of surfers and users of cyberspace the anonymity aspect is no more there. People who think that they can log on to cyberspace and will not be detected are no longer living in the world of reality as using biometric identification systems fingerprints and voice verification to keystroke and DNA analysis can be done. Also to control financial dealings to support terrorism the transactions can also be checked and so the monetary dealings of the common citizen can also be on the scrutiny.

The presence of security cameras everywhere is also a curb on the freedom of citizens going about their daily activities. Powers given to police and security officials also become hassle for the common citizens. The glaring example of extra security and trouble for citizens is the new processes and systems installed at the airports in the United States and European countries. Also the use advanced technologies like facial recognition, universal DNA banks, micromanipulations etc. can be considered intrusive.

The problem of civil liberties is so grave that even United Nations has taken notice of measures incompatible with the fundamental freedoms. United Nations has even issued guiding principles to help States hit a balance between human rights and their fight for terrorism. General Assembly, Security Council and Commission on Human Rights have passed a number of resolutions in this regard. The situation became graver after 9/11 and even organizations like UN condemn highhandedness of authorities in dealing with terrorism. The organizations like Commission on Human Rights draw the attention of governments to International Covenant on Civil and Political Right which protect human rights even in the times of war and emergency.

Profits from War on Terror

Media portrays a picture that U.S. is losing its war in Iraq and insurgents are winning this battle. Another aspect of this war portrayed by an alternative media or an alternative view point is that U.S. is making money and getting benefits out of this war on terror. Critics claim that U.S. organizations have benefited them in the form of reconstruction contract for rebuilding in Iraq and Afghanistan. The conspiracy theories of going to war for oil are now known to everyone. "The hidden agenda of the U.S. government in Iraq has been three -- fold. Firstly, to take control of the world's second largest oil reserves, thereby seizing one of the key oil spigots of competitors like Japan, China and the EU. Secondly, to prevent the dollar -- based world oil market from transacting in Euros, something Iran, Iraq and Venezuela were attempting since 2002, when the Euro was launched. Thirdly, the establishment of permanent U.S. military bases in the strategic heart of the world" (Shrivastava 2006).

Iraq war in particular has faced criticism when there have been evidences of people at high level being involved in federal contracts and other financial opportunities. U.S. companies are now involved in different contracts and prominent personalities involved with CIA have been linked with such contracts. People even take names of personal interests Vice president Dick Cheney. Some Iraqi officials have also been touted to have gotten support in return to their guidance regarding winning business in Iraq. "Former CIA Director R. James Woolsey is a prominent example of the phenomenon, mixing his business interests with what he contend are the country's strategic interests. He left the CIA in 1995, but he remains a senior government advisor on intelligence and national security issues, including Iraq. Meanwhile, he works for two private companies that do business in Iraq and is a partner in a company that invests in firms that provide security and anti-terrorism services" (Roche Jr. & Ken Silverstein 2004).

Globalization of Terrorism

No place in the world has been spared by the terrorists today. Anywhere you choose to go whether it is Spain or France in Europe, or Indonesia or Pakistan in Muslim world, terrorist threat looms large. With the new tools of communication we witnessed the phenomenon of globalization. Terrorism and terrorist activities today are also not limited and hidden in a particular part of the world. Terrorism is now globalized.

Terrorist today not just hijack planes but they also hijack or hack the websites. They retaliate using computer viruses, "worms" and "logic bombs" that can destroy hard drives. They can use radio signal and computers to explode a bomb any where in the world because cyberspace has virtually shrunk the borders. Computer viruses are another way to target government, business or private parties. Besides, availability of fast emails and direct video or audio connectivity through computers has also helped terrorist networks in spreading fear and panic. Different websites propagate the agenda of different terrorist organizations.

As the terror went global the war against it also expanded worldwide. The U.S. is trying to rope in as many states in its war through out the world. The war is being fought on all fronts. Middle East, South Asia, Pacific, Europe Africa and Americas, both terror and war on terror now encompass the all the continents.

Middle East & Issue of Terrorism