Pejorative Use Of Terrorism

The word ‘terrorism’ can be traced back to the French Revolution and the reign of terror committed against the population of France in the 1790s. During this time, thousands of people were killed and the general population was severely oppressed. Also, some of the first instances of terrorist tactics, such as assassination and intimidation, were witnessed in the killing of prominent officials and other opponents of the Revolution. In general, terrorists aim to incite fear in the population through pre-meditated violent acts and gain publicity as a medium in achieving their goals. Such acts include taking hostages, bombings and assassinations, all of which create fear and compliance in a victim or audience. Terrorism can be distinguished from other types of political violence through its disregard for and intentional harming of innocent civilians. Also, terrorists usually adopt a state of mind where one side is always good and any opposition is bad and deserves to be punished. As a result, terrorists will always have some supporters who share the same radical thoughts as them and thus terrorism, as a whole, will always be accepted as a legitimate use of violence. This is the reasoning behind the famous phrase by Gerald Seymour, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter”(QUOTE

Terrorism is defined as an act of violence that is committed by an organization or a single person in order to be heard. Terrorist acts are usually based on a couple factors such as, historical grievances, foreign policy decision, poverty, and religion. Terrorism is not a new act amongst the world but something that has been around since the beginning. To understand a criminal you must think like a criminal, and understand why they committed a crime or a violent act, then you can prevent and conquer.

The term terrorism is used widely in present day especially in the United States. Terrorism is a double standard, the people who commit those terrorist acts, commit the acts out of beliefs and in their eyes ok. Terrorism can be described as the illegitimate use of force to achieve a political objective by targeting innocent people (Laqueur, 1987). To me the definition mention above is a great definition to describe terrorism as a crime. To aim for innocent people to prove a point which lead major injuries or death in most cases is to most people would be a crime, no questions asked. According to Martha Crenshaw (1995), “Terrorism cannot be defined unless the act, target and possibility of success are analyzed”. So to think, terrorist are people who commit these acts as a way to get their political or religious point across. If we look at the some of the most famous terrorist acts they are automatically labeled crimes. 9/11 was a crime because the persons affiliated with the act, targeted the

“Terrorism's particularly heinous but highly attractive means to achieve political objectives or even radically restructure political foundations is manifest within societies in all reaches of the world. While the practical application of terrorist methodologies comes across as a relatively straightforward craft, the conceptual and ideological understanding, and subsequent evaluation of its socio-political influence, implementation, and psychological impacts present difficult questions, and in some cases conceivably insurmountable obstacles” (Romaniuk 2014, para

As stated in our textbook, terrorism is defined as, “The use or threat of violence to create terror in others, usually for political purposes” (Ember 299). Most often, when individuals hear the word, they think of September 11, 2001, the fateful day that changed our country. Since that day, it seems as if the word “terrorism” has become a common term used by newscasters, politicians, and everyday individuals alike. The concept and fear associated with “terrorism” has seemingly dominated the lives of Americans—and other individuals—since, implying that there was a time before 2001 where terrorism wasn’t as prevalent or didn’t exist. However, this certainly is not true because terrorism is not a new concept at all. As stated by our textbook,

Growing up in post 9/11 America, terrorism seemed to be a topic on everyone’s mind and constantly a topic of media attention. The popular media made it seem as though terrorism was something that only occurred in the Middle East or by those of Middle Eastern descent. However, when I was sixteen I learned about the conflict in Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland is a first world country with many historic, cultural, and religious connections to the United States. Yet despite its first world status and Democratic form of government, Northern Ireland experienced many decades and countless deaths from many terrorists and terrorist attacks within its own boarders.

What is a terrorist? According to the F.B.I., terrorists are individuals that meet the following three characteristics: (1) they are involved in “violent acts or acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law”; (2) intend to intimidate or influence a civilian population or government through methods of mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; (3) reside“outside the territorial jurisdiction of the U.S., or transcend national boundaries in terms of the means by which they are accomplished, the persons they appear intended to intimidate or coerce, or the locale in which their perpetrators operate or seek asylum” (“Definitions of Terrorism in the U.S. Code”). Terrorists use violence as a tool to strike fear into people that

“Stairs narrow toward the top. It becomes harder to turn back with each step” (Kershaw, 2010). As said before, there is not a “cookie cutter” definition of what creates a terrorist. One thing is very evident, the radicalization process of an individual is complex, diverse, and is often comprised of idiosyncratic characteristics.

For these reasons, historians of terrorism normally work with a wide definition, and social scientists do so much of the time. But philosophers may well prefer a narrow definition. They focus on the moral standing of terrorism and need a definition that is particularly helpful in moral discourse. Morally speaking, surely there is a difference—for some, a world of difference—between planting a bomb in a government building and killing a number of highly placed officials of (what one considers) an unjust and oppressive government, and planting a bomb in a tea shop and killing a random collection of common citizens, including children. While both acts raise serious moral issues, these issues are not identical, and running them together under the same heading of “terrorism” will likely hamper, rather than help,

The Central Intelligence Agency defines terrorism as “premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents” (CIA). This term was specifically created to differentiate terrorism between other acts of violence. These doings of terrorism are not just any act but are specific acts of violence. A dominant reason behind terrorism tends to fall upon religious beliefs and culture ties.

Terrorism is referred by a criminal act which influences someone beyond the immediate victim, and commits an act of violence that draws the attention of the population, government, and the world (Terrorism research). Goodman explains that Terrorists explode the values they claim to fight. Their victims’ blood blurs and blots whatever ends were meant to justify the carnage (Goodman, 2010, p. 89) We all remember September 11, 2001 and how many innocent lives and people where effected, and that that is what they aim for. The more devastating the damage, the more inhumane, the more avidly is it sought by the strategist, ideologues, and theologians of terror (Goodman, 2010, p. 90).

Are all Muslims terrorists? Maybe, sometimes the answer is yes and sometimes no, but people will speculate. In our times, the saying, “not every Muslim is a terrorist, but every terrorist is a Muslim,” has become a cliché. Critics may note that terrorists who carry out murderous acts routinely cite Islam as their justification; that the Koran is full of brutal content; that polls have repeatedly shown alarmingly violent beliefs and attitudes in significant minorities of Muslims around the world; and that the world is long past the point where we can afford to criticize harmful religious beliefs

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.

According to the Global Terrorism Database (GTD), a terrorist attack is defined as “the threatened or actual use of illegal force and violence by a non-state actor to attain a political, economic, religious, or social goal through fear, coercion, or intimidation,” (Global Terrorism Database, 2017). More specifically, the GTD includes acts of terrorism in its database if all three of these attributes are present: 1) the incident must be intentional and calculated on the part of a perpetrator, 2) it must involve some level of violence or threat of violence, including property violence, against people, and 3) the perpetrators of the incidents must be “sub-national actors,” or people that belong to a community of common culture or interests that are not administratively independent (GTD, 2017). However, the disconnect between the definition of a terrorist attack and how the media portrays terrorism is dangerously disharmonious.

Terrorism is the use of violence to gain political aims. It is a rebellion against a government. Terrorism is many things, and there are many definitions as this word is steadily evolving, and there is not one specific one that matches it correctly. Counterterrorism is a tactic intended to prevent terrorism. Counter-terrorism combines the practice, military tactics, techniques, and plan that government, military, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or prevent terrorism. The word terrorism is loaded with politically explosive meanings and the manner in which it is defined can have consequences.