Should the Al- Shabaab Be Put on the EU Listing for Terrorist?

Q1. Terrorism is an act done by an individual or a group, using violence or the threat of violence to frighten people, in order to achieve a political, social or religious goal. The word “terrorism” comes from the French word terrorisme, meaning “to frighten.” Terrorism was originally referred specifically to state terrorism, which the French Government practised during the years 1793 – 1794 in the “reign of terror.” The roots and practices of terrorism can be traced back to 1st century AD in Judea where there was an assassination of Roman rulers. Terrorist ideology and aims vary from each individual and/or group. There has been over 2000 cases of terrorism driven by religious purposes. Religious terrorism is carried out due to motivations and goals in relations to religions or religious figures. An example of this are extremist groups such as Al Qaeda who justify their attacks by believing that these are commands given to them by the Koran. Political terrorists carry out violent acts to make a point with government leaders. An example of this is the assassination of Abraham Lincoln on April 15, 1865. Moral beliefs is another aim of terrorism. Moral issues such as anti-abortions have led to attacks, including abortion clinics and their staff in the late 1980’s.

For our purposes, we will use the Title 22 of the US Code, Section 2656f(d), to define terrorism. It defines terrorism as “premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents” (Central Intelligence Agency, 2013). Examples of terrorism persist on a near daily basis around the world. Unstable countries, such as Afghanistan and Syria, deal with terrorist attacks on a constant basis. The common thread of these attacks is deliberate targeting of civilian populations in order to achieve political objectives. The best known and largest example are

This article by Isabelle Duyvesteyn starts off by summarising the objectives that challenge the perspective of terrorism since the last decade of the twentieth century is fundamentally new. In this article certain questions have been debated regarding new aspects of terrorism and they are: “transnational nature of the perpetrators and their organizations, their religious inspiration, fanaticism, use of weapons of mass destruction and their indiscriminate targeting.” ("How New Is the New Terrorism?", 2017)In order to understand the depth of aspects of new terrorism the article talks about “national and territorial focus of the new terrorists, their political motivations, use of conventional weaponry and the symbolic targeting that is aimed in order to achieve a surprising effect.” ("How New Is the New Terrorism?", 2017)

During the years there were multiple types of terrorism attacks that were done for different reasons. What I mean is that terrorism started to achieve its own identity. Nationalist movements which are known as, “Efforts on the part of a group or a nation to obtain political independence and autonomy.”(Mcentire, 2008) These types of attacks started to flourish in the Middle East, and other places such as India and Ireland. (Mcentire, 2008) Anarchists are known to be those who, “oppose specific government or all governments. “(Mcentire,

Criminal activity and terrorist activity have a relationship that is closely related, with only minor differences separating the two. Terrorist activity are criminal acts that are motivated by a higher cause beyond the basic causes of crime. Terrorist attack are highly planned out, and the same can be said about criminal activity. Serial killers often plan out their acts just as much as terrorist organizations, however the same cannot be said for certain crimes like random assaults. (Newman & Clarke, 2008) The relationship between crime and terrorism is brought closer when terrorist organizations use common crime to fund their attacks. For example, a terrorist organization may resort to stealing chemical agents to make their dirty bombs. The

Curbing the supply of funds to these organizations has been a major part of past efforts to counter international terrorism. The effectiveness of existing legislations and treaties and need for and nature of further measures are issues that need to be discussed.

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).

The most common and frequently the most serious problem in legal definitions of terrorism under national laws is that they are overbroad and vague. As a basic legal principle, such laws fail to give reasonable notice of what actions are covered. Many are so broad that they cover common crimes that should not reasonably be deemed terrorist or acts that should not be considered crimes at all. “Their scope leaves them susceptible to arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement by the authorities” (In the Name of Security). Few terrorism definitions are so narrowly drawn. In general, definitions of terrorism tend to cover acts carried out for a wide variety of purposes, often with no requirement that they cause or intend to cause death or serious injury, and without specifying the level of physical property damage required to render an act terrorist. “Legal definitions of terrorism generally specify two or three basic elements: the act and purpose, or the act, intent, and purpose” (In the Name of Security). The crime of terrorism is typically characterized as an act carried out with a particular intent—for example, the intent to kill—and for a specific purpose, such as coercing or intimidating a government or population into performing or abstaining from an action. The American Civil Liberties Union

In the post Osama bin Laden era al-Qaedist ideology is flourishing across the Arab world. A significant development has been the rise of al-Qaeda offshoots in the Middle East. The Abdallah Azzam Brigades franchise has increasingly become a noteworthy actor in terrorism. On May 8th, 2012 Thomas Nides, Deputy Secretary of State designated Abdallah Azzam Brigades as a foreign terrorist organization (Nides, T.R. , 2012). Abdullah Azzam Brigades may have only recently been added as a foreign terrorist group; nevertheless the organization has deep roots, lethal capacity, and is capable of contributing to supplementary instability in the Middle East.

The act of terrorism, an unlawful use of violence and intimidation, is most commonly seen targeting civilians but can also include damage to property or injury to specific individuals. These malicious acts are used to fulfil political, religious or ideological aims in attempt of intimidating the government or society. Terrorisms’ impact reflects on the government and society extracting various responses, both legal and non-legal. The effectiveness of these responses, aimed at obtaining equal justice against terrorism, tend to vary while considering the concepts of preventing terrorist attacks while not infringing on human rights and the resolution of the ‘war against terrorism’. The evident lack of consistency in these responses has been reflected

The Al-Qaeda is the deadliest terrorist group in the world responsible for the worst attacks across the globe. The group is Wahhabi organization that was founded by Osama Bin Laden alongside Abdullah Azzam and other influential militants. When Osama Bin Laden died, it was a big drawback to the group, however, was a big setback for the prominent terrorist group, it still managed to maintain its grounds and grow stronger over the years (Bergen, 2011). Al-Qaeda is responsible for the April 2007 Ashoura massacre and also contributed to the September 11th attack on American soil. Al-Qaeda has very many training grounds spread across the globe with the largest one been the Khalden training camp located in Shorabak in Pakistan that was apparently destroyed by the American military. The core lesson taught at the training camps is the interpretation of the Muslim Sharia law. The Al-Qaeda group has one mission, vision, and objective, to form global jihad to unite all Muslims across the globe (Shahzad, 2011). The Al-Qaeda group has a characteristic way of carrying its attacks via the use suicide bombers who are sent to carry out suicide missions. Al-Qaeda also owns numerous aircraft such as Boeing 727s as well as multiple executive jets.

2a) a terrorist attack is the calculated use of violence (or the threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear.

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).

Terrorism is the act of engaging in destructive acts or causing mayhem by a group of people in order to pursue their agenda. This act of intolerance has been on the rise especially in Muslim countries. Terror groups such as the al-Qaida and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have emerged in different parts of the Asia and Africa. Their agenda is to impose the sharia law in the Muslim community. This is because they feel oppressed by the Western countries which are composing of the Christian majority (Duyvesteyn & Peeters, 2015).

Some experts and analysts were under the notion that al Shabaab was trending down. Except that merely one week ago, two events transpired that should put those misaligned prognostications to rest. First, al Shabaab recaptured the key port city of Merca, and second, they are also suspected of being responsible for an explosion aboard a Daallo Airlines flight from Mogadishu to Djibouti. The explosion tore a hole in the fuselage and sucked one man’s charred body out of the plane. These two events occurring within the span of a week suggest that al Shabaab is most certainly not trending down. Al Shabaab’s recent flexing of muscle, combined with it’s transnational capabilities to commit terrorist acts, illustrates that this terrorist group deserves an elevated importance among the US intelligence community (IC) and requires increased intelligence resources to