Abby Whitley
26 April 2017
Terrorism and justification
In today’s society one of the main threats that politicians and the media focus on the most is the act of terrorism. Terrorism is defined as the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political gain. A person who is considered a terrorist carries out their strategy to remedy or draw attention to an issue that they disagree with. The people who carry out these acts genuinely believe that their actions are justified based on the role that they play within a given conflict. Many terrorists operate on the assumption that there is no other way to get the public attention that they are seeking than to resort to harming others in a way that will bring advertising to their cause. Even
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Within the Model Penal Code of the United States law it says that a defendant can use justification as an affirmative defense if a person is acting in self-defense or if there was no other choice for the action to occur. Ways in which someone could not stop a crime from happening include either physically, psychology, or under a circumstance in which the defendant was ignorant of relevant facts through no fault of their own. Within these guidelines the act of terrorism is not considered to ever be justifiable.
The main event that sparked the focus on terrorism was the attack of the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. This attack inspired The War on Terror, established by President George W. Bush, which is a global effort to combat terrorist’s tactics and the countries who aid terrorists groups. This metaphor of war focused mainly on
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The people who carry out the plans of the attacks know that killing people is morally wrong but they argue that their actions are permissible because of a compensating good feature. The good feature in their actions is that they are fighting for the spread of their religion and for political gain. In June of 2016 an American citizen who pledged his alliance to the terrorist group ISIS, executed a mass shooting killing 49 people and wounding 53 people in an Orlando, Florida night club. When President Obama addressed the nation about the incident he said, “We know enough to say this was an act of terror and an act of hate.” (CNN ) This was seen as a direct assault on the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) community. This man’s moral conviction when it comes to religion and perspective regarding sexual orientation did not outweigh his act of terrorism and therefore was not justifiable. One of the worst parts about terror attacks is that innocent people lose their lives with no acknowledgement of weather they support the cause for which the event becomes a target. It may be safe to say that everyone inside the night club did in fact support the freedom of life style choices that the club promoted, however, there was no way that the terrorists could know that for certain. The scary and unjustifiable part about terrorism is that anyone can
Beneath its cloak, the infamous War on Terror garners striking similarities to WWI. The terror attack on Austria-Hungary ignited the War on Terror…nearly a century later. It was not until 1914 that a terrorist attack was utilized to provoke military response. The attack of September 11 is a modern replay of this attack. George W. Bush leapt into the war against Baghdad in 2003 with the same attitude of Woodrow Wilson in the Great War. One of Wilson’s reasons for going to war against Germany was based on his belief that his
The attack on September 11, 2001 is defined as a group of Islamic terrorist who are believed to be members of the al-Qaeda, attacking the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, also known as the Twin Towers, by hijacking four commercial airlines. Only three of the four attacks succeed. This is considered a terrorist attack to most of us. From this incident we can define terrorism as a well-planned violent attack that targets innocent people to send a political message by planting fear not just to the country or government but also to civilians. However, terrorism cannot and should not be easily defined in this way. The definition of terrorism defined above is defined in America’s point of view and not al-Qaeda’s perspective. If we put ourselves in al-Qaeda’s shoes, our definition of terrorism is going to change. Al-Qaeda declared war to America because they felt that the Muslims were threatened by the U.S. as well as their freedom. It is not to be said that the actions of al-Qaeda should be justified, but we should try to understand them before making assumptions. Al-Qaeda dealt with their situation to extreme by planning massive attacks but it could be considered as a method of protection instead of a terrorist attack.
A month after the terrorist attack in the US, a war was launched by the United States. This war was known as the “fight back” war. It was the beginning of George Bush administration’s war on terrorism. The main theme of this war was to stop terrorism and catch Osama Bin Laden. He was the main person who planned this evil attack on September 11, 2001. Bin Laden’s trained groups that were
On September 11, 2001, a series of terrorist attacks were directed for the United States by means of four hijacked planes. Two of which hit the twin towers of the World Trade Center, one hit the Pentagon, the headquarters of the Department of Defense, and the fourth crashed in a field near Pittsburg after it was meant to hit the White House. The terror spread in the United States and brought concern and fear to the citizens. The impact of these terrorist attacks caused serious and detrimental damages within the country, and their result on the people were enormous; insecurity, helplessness, and susceptibility spread. Especially after the release of a videotape in which Osama Bin Laden, head of Al-Qaeda, admitted that he was responsible for the terrorist attacks. Hence, President George W, Bush declared the “war on terror” against all terrorists in the Arab world, specifically Afghanistan and Iraq. In the following paper, we will be discussing how the war on terror was waged, its effects on the target countries, and how it was perceived by political thinkers, where some saw it as a conspiracy theory against the Arab countries, and others believed the USA was the victim.
on September 11, 2001 The American soil was once again attacked, in an act led by terrorism which also directed The United States into war but not a world war, but a war against terrorism.
On September 11th 2001, the United States was hit with a devastating blow when four commercial airplanes were hijacked by Al-Qaeda terrorist who deliberately crashed two of the planes into the World Trade Center complex, and a third plane into the Pentagon. The fourth plane, headed for Washington D.C., instead crashed in Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 lives were lost on this egregious day. In response, President George W. Bush waged the controversial “Global War on Terrorism” which turned out to be a self-inflicted wound for America, bleeding still today. Bush’s highly-criticized decision was inconsistent with the strategic principles of war.
On September 11, 2001, there was a terrorist attack against the United States. Hijackers flew a jetliner into each of New York’s World Trade Center towers. Simultaneously, a third jetliner crashed into the Pentagon in Virginia. Due to these horrific events, thousands of people were killed. In response to the attacks, the United States declared a “War on Terror.” However, the actions of the U.S. did not come without criticisms from the people of the nation.
September 11th, 2001 marked the beginning of the war against terrorism. On that fateful day, thousands of Americans were killed in an attack instigated by the Al Qaeda terrorists. The aftermath of 9/11 was a time
They elucidate that terrorism is a “premeditated, politically motivated, violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups of clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience,” (National Institute of Justice).
On September 11, 2001 the world changed. It was on this day in the United States that four planes were hijacked by 19 terrorists associated with the Islamic group al-Qaeda. These hijackers intentionally flew loaded passenger planes into the World Trade Center building in New York City, the Pentagon building, and crashed on plane into a field in Pennsylvania. In total almost 3,000 American citizens lost their lives in what was the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil (Bergen). The resulting reactions from the US government to this attack would eventually involve two foreign wars and various pieces of legislation such as the Patriot Act. This became known as the “Global War on Terror.” A the time, President Bush’s approval rating soared from under 50% before the attacks, to over 90% after 9/11
To a sizeable audience, anyone who has the audacity to justify terrorism could likely face heavy scrutinization. Events such as the attacks on 9/11 impacted American society in such a way that the thought of someone being inherently evil is directly correlated to being a terrorist. While terrorism can be inexplicable and profoundly discouraged, there seems to be only one stubborn approach to the topic. When presented with the question, “can terrorism be justified?”, audible gasps and faces of disbelief unashamedly occur. Yes, terrorism and the violence against civilians is abominable and should not be tolerated, but it truly is a travesty in its own right. The media and their eagerness to apply the word to high-tension situations stimulates a rudimentary understanding of terrorism. The intricacy of the layers of terrorism force those willing to thoroughly study the topic to come to terms with morality. Terrorism has a generally uncomfortable disposition; it compels an individual to not only respond emotionally, but to have logical understanding of the politics and motives behind the cause. The concept is so consuming of thoughts, facts, and
The world has been changed forever since the tragic attack on September 11, 2001. An observer described the atrocity by saying, "It just went 'bam,' like a bomb went off. It was like holy hell (CNN 1). " The new world will be different from what any American has known before. A new war has arisen, not against a foreign country or a major region of the world, but rather against a select group of people who have the capabilities to destroy the lives of so many. The war against terrorism which the United States is now forced to wage will not be an easily won battle. This war will not be fought solely on scattered battlefields in certain countries. It will instead permeate through every aspect of life as we
The purpose of this essay is to justify why coherence theory of justification is preferable to a foundationalist theory of justification, I will start by explaining what Coherence the theory of justification and foundationalist theory of justification is. Coherence theory of justification also known as coherentism, is a theory of epistemic justification, this theory implies that in order for a belief to be justified it must belong to a coherent system of belief, For a system of beliefs to be coherent, the beliefs that creates that system must "cohere" with one another. (Murphy, 2007)
“If the media were not there to report terrorist acts and to explain their political and social significance...terrorism as such would cease to exist” said John O'Sullivan, an editor of the Times of London.1 This is also the way many other people feel about the recent increase in terrorist activity; they feel that the media is causing it. The media is doing this by fulfilling the terrorists' need for publicity.2 Terrorists need media publicity in order to get their views spread to the public.3 Because of this need for publicity, terrorists are committing their acts of terrorism in areas where a lot of publicity will be gained; the United States and Western Europe are the most recent targets. The bombings of the federal building in
Ever since the beginning of the terrorist attacks on American soil, the War on Terror has been involved in the lives of Americans and nations near us. The War on Terror’s background originated through conflicts between warring countries in the Middle East; U.S. involvement started when a terrorist guided plane crashed into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 in New York City. The attack was suspected to be the work of the middle-eastern terrorist group Al-Qaeda. The U.S. military, under the leadership of then commander-in-chief George W. Bush, declared a “War on Terror” on the terrorist group and the fighting began.