Terrorism

by: Ryuji Kuroda

 

         

   Terrorism the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims. Terrorism is, in the broadest sense, the use of intentionally indiscriminate violence to create terror among masses of people; or fear to achieve a religious or political aim. It is used in this regard primarily to refer to violence during peacetime or in war against non-combatants. The terms "terrorist" and "terrorism" originated during the French Revolution of the late 18th century but gained mainstream popularity during the U.S. presidency of Ronald Reagan (1981–89) after the 1983 Beirut barracks bombings and again after the 2001 September 11 attacks and the 2002 Bali bombings. There is no commonly accepted definition of "terrorism". Being a charged term, with the connotation of something "morally wrong", it is often used, both by governments and non-state groups, to abuse or denounce opposing groups. Broad categories of political organizations have been claimed to have been involved in terrorism to further their objectives, including right-wing and left-wing political organizations, nationalist groups, religious groups, revolutionaries and ruling governments. Terrorism-related legislation has been adopted in various states, regarding "terrorism" as a crime. There is no universal agreement as to whether or not "terrorism", in some definition, should be regarded as a war crime. The Irish Republican Brotherhood was one of the earliest organizations to use modern terrorist tactics. Pictured, "The Fenian Guy Fawkes" by John Tenniel (1867). Depending on how broadly the term is defined, the roots and practice of terrorism can be traced at least to the 1st-century AD. Sicarii Zealots, though some dispute whether the group, a radical offshoot of the Zealots which was active in Judaea Province at the beginning of the 1st century AD, was in fact terrorist. According to the contemporary Jewish-Roman historian Josephus, after the Zealotry rebellion against Roman rule in Judea, when some prominent Jewish collaborators with Roman rule were killed, Judas of Galilee formed a small and more extreme offshoot of the Zealots, the Sicarii, in 6 AD. Their terror was also directed against Jewish "collaborators", including temple priests, Sadducees, Herodians, and other wealthy elites. The term "terrorism" itself was originally used to describe the actions of the Jacobin Club during the "Reign of Terror" in the French Revolution. "Terror is nothing other than justice, prompt, severe, inflexible", said Jacobin leader Maximilien Robespierre. In 1795, Edmund Burke denounced the Jacobins for letting "thousands of those hell-hounds called Terrorists ... loose on the people" of France. In January 1858, Italian patriot Felice Orsini threw three bombs in an attempt to assassinate French Emperor Napoleon III. Eight bystanders were killed and 142 injured. The incident played a crucial role as an inspiration for the development of the early terrorist groups. Arguably the first organization to utilize modern terrorist techniques was the Irish Republican Brotherhood, founded in 1858 as a revolutionary Irish nationalist group that carried out attacks in England. The group initiated the Fenian dynamite campaign in 1881, one of the first modern terror campaigns. Instead of earlier forms of terrorism based on political assassination, this campaign used modern, timed explosives with the express aim of sowing fear in the very heart of metropolitan Britain, in order to achieve political gains. Another early terrorist group was Narodnaya Volya, founded in Russia in 1878 as a revolutionary anarchist group inspired by Sergei Nechayev and "propaganda by the deed" theorist Carlo Pisacane. The group developed ideas – such as targeted killing of the 'leaders of oppression' – that were to become the hallmark of subsequent violence by small non-state groups, and they were convinced that the developing technologies of the age – such as the invention of dynamite, which they were the first anarchist group to make widespread use of – enabled them to strike directly and with discrimination. Scholars of terrorism refer to four major waves of global terrorism: "the Anarchist, the Anti-Colonial, the New Left, and the Religious. The first three have been completed and lasted around 40 years; the fourth is now in its third decade."

Motivations of terrorism

  As well as there being no one agreed definition of terrorism, there is a similar lack of consensus regarding the causes – or motivations behind – terrorism. Numerous studies have identified certain behavioral and situational characteristics that are common, and perhaps causal, to the consequence of terrorism, specific analysis of case studies have led to suggested motivations to individual historical acts.

A report conducted by Paul Gill, John Horgan and Paige Deckert on behalf of The Department of security of UK highlights the vast discrepancies between individual cases of terrorism recorded. To begin with, 43% of lone wolf terrorism is motivated by religious beliefs. The same report indicates that just less than a third (32%) have pre-existing mental health disorders, while many more are found to have these problems upon arrest. At least 37% lived alone at the time of their event planning and/or execution, a further 26% lived with others, and no data were available for the remaining cases. 40% were unemployed at the time of their arrest or terrorist event. 19% subjectively experienced being disrespected by others, while 14% experienced being the victim of verbal or physical assault.

Intimidation

Attacks on 'collaborators' are used to intimidate people from cooperating with the state in order to undermine state control. This strategy was used in Ireland, in Kenya, in Algeria and in Cyprus during their independence struggles.

International Attention

This strategy was used by Al-Qaeda in its attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in the United States on September 11, 2001. These attacks are also used to draw international attention to struggles that are otherwise unreported, such as the Palestinian airplane hijackings in 1970 and the 1975 Dutch train hostage crisis.

Local/internal social standing

Abrahm suggests that terrorist organizations do not select terrorism for its political effectiveness. Individual terrorists tend to be motivated more by a desire for social solidarity with other members of their organization than by political platforms or strategic objectives, which are often murky and undefined.

Cultural tolerance of violence

Additionally, Michael Mousseau shows possible relationships between the type of economy within a country and ideology associated with terrorism. Many terrorists have a history of domestic violence.

Perceived illegitimacy of the State

Some terrorists like Timothy McVeigh were motivated by revenge against a state for its actions against its citizens.

Religious beliefs/zealotry

According to Paul Gill, John Horgan and Paige Deckert on behalf of The Department of security of UK, 43% of lone wolf terrorism is motivated by religious beliefs. The same report indicates that Just less than a third (32%) have pre-existing mental health disorders, while many are found to have these problems upon arrest. At least 37% lived alone at the time of their event planning and/or execution, a further 26% lived with others, and no data were available for the remaining cases. 40% were unemployed at the time of their arrest or terrorist event. Many were chronically unemployed and consistently struggled to hold any form of employment for a significant amount of time. 19% subjectively experienced being disrespected by others, while 14.3% experienced being the victim of verbal or physical assault.

Mental Health

Ariel Merari, a psychologist who has studied the psychological profiles of suicide terrorists since 1983 through media reports that contained biographical details, interviews with the suicides’ families, and interviews with jailed would-be suicide attackers, concluded that they were unlikely to be psychologically abnormal. In comparison to economic theories of criminal behaviour, Scott Atran found that suicide terrorists exhibit none of the socially dysfunctional attributes – such as fatherless, friendless, jobless situations – or suicidal symptoms. By which he means, they do not kill themselves simply out of hopelessness or a sense of 'having nothing to lose'. 

Nationalism

Although a common factor in terrorism is a strong religious belief there are other factors such as cultural, social and political that wholly preclude religion. For example, the drive behind these Chechen terrorists are quite distinct and unique from others. Many of the Chechen's considered themselves secular freedom fighters, nationalist insurgents seeking to establish an independent secular state of Chechnya. Although a distinction should be made between national Chechen 

Debunk

    By all of these it is so hard to debunk this issue but for me it is also a way to hear the terrorist opinions about the political issues and the systematic problem of the government. The terrorist are just being true with themselves as of now that the government has too many issues inside the palace and the organizations and the other problem outside the government is not monitored or cared about just like no sufficient work or unemployment and lack of financial support from the government. That's why there are so many terrorist out there because of that common problem.

   Terrorist has their point to terrorize so that the people in the higher places "Government" would recognize their opinions. Maybe, not in a nice way but somehow the government will be aware of their lacks.

References:

-Wikipedia. 2010. Terrorism. [ONLINE] Available at: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism. [Accessed 24 January 2019].

-MapleLeafWeb. 2004. Terrorism. [ONLINE] Available at: mapleleafweb.com/features/ethics-government-concepts-issues-debates.html. [Accessed 24 January 2019].