9/11 Waves Of Terrorism

The history of terrorism goes back as far as the 11Th century. The Sicarii and the Hashshahin were a group of assassins. The Sicarii were thought to be followers of Judas of Galillee that operated within Jerusalem. Their tactics included "selective, symbolic assassinations; more general assassination along with destruction or plundering of the property of the wealthy and powerful; and kidnapping" (Horsley 1979,439). The Hashshashin or "assassins" were secretive set emerging around the 11Th century that had ties to Iran and Syria. Also known as the order of assassins, these individual, like the Sicarii, were associated with carrying out attacks against those in power (Horsley 1979, 439). These two groups might not fit today's standard of terrorism,

During the Cold War era, fallout shelters were an instrumental part of society where the government-sponsored these measures to protect the country and its citizens from nuclear attack. However, the Cold war has past and a new threat has emerged that is unpredictable and seems to appear out of nowhere. Seemingly, the government is trying to secure the critical infrastructure of the United States through internal restructuring, legislation and the private sector.

The terrorist attacks in America have since publicized controversial attitudes in understanding and defining terrorism. There is a misconception of terrorism as it was only in actuality brought to light after the attacks in America on 11 September 2001 (Best & Nocella, 2004); this has guided many to assume that terrorism arose in light of the 11 September attacks, when actually terrorism did not begin in 2001; nor is it restricted to extremists in the Middle East. Here is where much of the difficulty lies in defining terrorism; thus the now famous quotation, “One person’s terrorist is another person’s freedom fighter’.

Over the many years the earth has existed so has violence, extremely dangerous forms of violence known as terrorism are very prominent today. Terrorism has been around since separate nations were created long ago; these nations fought over who was the strongest or who had the right viewpoint or even over who should control certain lands. Though most everyone has heard about some form of terrorist activity during their lifetime, it was brought to the forefront of every American citizen’s mind after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the world trade center. After these attacks the whole country was looking for security, a reassurance that an event like this would not happen again.

The academic definition of a terrorism according to Martha Crenshaw is a “conspiratorial style of violence calculated to alter the attitudes and behavior of multitude audiences. Terrorism is not a mass or collective violence but rather the direct activity of small groups” (Tuman 9). Crenshaw is right when she says that terrorism is to alter the behavior of a large audiences. The fear that is put into the people is of a high magnitude. After September

Terrorism in the twenty-first century has some similarities and differences from terrorism in the twentieth century. Terrorism is, in its broadest sense, the use or threatened use of violence in order to achieve a political, religious, or ideological aim. Also useful to remember that because the two entities involved, the terrorists and the terrorized, are on the opposite end of the political, religious or ideological continuum, the same act is viewed by them differently. There is much sense in the phrase one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.

Researchers agree that terrorism is not an easy term to define. Variable meanings occur due the intent of the group bringing the terror and the reason that the terrorism is being conducted (Cook, 2003). It is important to try and determine the motive for an action, but it is equally necessary to examine both sides of an issue. The researcher will not be able to adequately define the term unless there is an attempt to recognize that every issue has two sides. This can easily be seen from the television coverage that followed the attacks on the US on September 11, 2001. In the United States and the rest of the Western world, there was mourning for the people who lost their lives; while in many Middle Eastern countries, people poured onto the streets in visible celebration (Silverman, 2002). Many recognized the difference in reaction to what many consider the largest successful act of terrorism in world history.

Modern terrorism, as deduced from this literature, is acts to violence strategically used by secular groups spanning international borders with the aim of achieving a desired outcome. Further, it can be seen as organized activity whose genesis can be traced back to the 1880’s. From then to now there are identifiable traits and patterns observed from different (terrorist) groups which have allowed for the conceptualization of the term modern terrorism. This concept therefore, can be best explained in the context of being a wave or having a life cycle. That means it is a cycle of activity demarked by phases from inception and expands along the way then eventually it declines. The world, thus far, has experienced four waves of modern

In comparison Hoffman ignores the varying definitions concluding that ‘Terrorism is perhaps best viewed as the archetypal shark in the water’ (2002:313) which advances in order to survive. Thus, the concept has simply changed over time to remain relevant by combating counterterrorism efforts. Hoffman’s most apparent definition of terrorism is noted in Copeland’s article as “the deliberate creation and exploitation of fear through violence or the threat of violence in the pursuit of political change.’ (2001:3) However, in his own article he offers only a systematic clarification of terrorism in stating their aim to ‘undermine confidence in government and leadership’ (2002:313), which remains unchanged despite the context. Hoffman’s central argument focuses on the aftermath of 9/11 and therefore his definition holds the purpose of rethinking counterterrorism measures and merely as a byproduct in showing potential modern threats. To accurately analyse whether ‘New terrorism’ is relevant in understanding the current threats, a succinct definition of terrorism is needed so that its evolution can be noted. Although, the general aim to achieve change at any cost remains the same.

The history of terrorism is well-known as a historically significant personalities, entities and incidents associated whether rightly or wrongly with terrorism. Scholars agree that terrorism is a uncertain term and very few of those considered terrorists describe themselves as such. It is common for opponents in a violent battle to describe the other side as terrorist or as practicing terrorism. Scholars dispute whether the roots of terrorism date back to the 1st century and the Sicarii Zealots to the 11th century and the Al-Hashshashin to the 19th century and the Fenian Brotherhood and Narodnaya Volya or to other eras. The Sicarii and the Hashshashin are described below while the Fenian Brotherhood and Narodnaya Volya are discussed in the 19th Century sub-section. Other control of Terror historical events sometimes associated with terrorism contain the Gunpowder Plot an attempt to destroy the English Parliament in 1605.

The early history of the term and practice “terrorism” started in the first century with a group of Jewish collaborators who, assassinated a Roman rule in the one of the province area. During the French Revolution’s Reign of Terror, Jocobin Club who ruled the state applied violence and mass execution to compel submission to the state and intimidate regime enemies, this where the term “terrorism” was first used by the English to describe the events. The practice and term of terrorism have changed over the years like 1994 the UN General Assembly, describe term terrorism as “criminal acts intended or calculated to provoke a state of terror in general public”. And the Department of Homeland Security’s definition of terrorism is “any activity

While terrorism dates back to around 1 BCE, it has become much more prominent in our everyday lives within the past few decades. We are constantly worried about the next attack, when it is going to happen, and where it will be. Whether it is physical or cyber, terrorism is one of the top concerns for the United States. Although it is extremely difficult to define, the U.S. Department of Defense describes it as “the calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological objectives” (Hoffman, 31). While it is hard for us to understand why someone would cause something as horrific as 9/11 or the Paris bombing, terrorists believe that they are doing good and helping the world. They are very methodical, have missions, rules and regulations, followers, and goals that they want to achieve. The goals of terrorism are to evoke fear, fight for religious, ideological, or political change, and to obtain worldwide recognition for what they have done.

Terrorism has become a big problem in the U.S. Even today it’s something that American’s can not control. Terrorism is defined as the act of people aiming to hurt a particular government or civilian population. It is meant to cause terror in the enemy 's eye (“Feeding the appetite”). Terrorism happens because a particular group or government does not agree with the ways of the opposing side. Terrorists deal with this by threatening or attacking the enemy. They try to aim towards monuments, large groups of people, historical sites, and national symbols to demonstrate power and kill a larger amount of civilians (“Are All Terrorist Acts Motivated”). There are speculations of terrorists around the world that target the U.S. However, the main terrorist group that target’s the U.S today is ISIS. Terrorism was and still is a big problem in the United States, this is proved through the tragic day of September 11th 2001.

For the past two decades, there has be in increase in international and domestic terrorism in the world. Due to major attacks such as the Oklahoma bombing and 9/11 has been the cause of this increase. Many other attacks had raised concerns of the use of modern technologies and the reality of radicalization of terrorism. Terrorism is one of the oldest tactics in history and yet one of the hardest to define. In a number of literature, it points out that terrorism is constantly evolving and it has been passed through different groups of terrorists. Schelling (1996) explains that the use of violence to terrorize the enemy is as old as human warfare. But there is a difference between more forms of terrorism and older forms of phenomenon.

From history terrorism, has been in session since the biblical times. One word associated with terrorism in those days was “Zealots”, these were people in those days who would use violence in pursuance in a political or religious cause. They are known to have killed and assassinated many in the first century in their course of overthrow the Roman rule. The word terrorism historically, comes from the French revolution otherwise known as the “Reign of Terror”. It was used in takingly counterrevolutionary idealists, hence ridding France from opposing ideologists as anarchists. Robespierre, a radical leader then is famously known to have said, “Terror is nothing but justice, prompt, severe and inflexible”. This idea is what has spread to this day, with the modern terrorist voicing it daily in their unconventional videos of executions that they seek nothing but justice, though I think it is pretty rationale that justice is not assassinating innocent people. Terrorist are known to have agenda and this, my research has yielded a few from the place where modern terrorism in supposed to have begun. In Tsarist Russia, the opponents to the government embarked their acts on these aims: