State Sponsored Terrorism Is Not Conducted By Democratic Regimes

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 can be defined different ways by different people. “Terrorism is violence- or the threat of violence used to achieve a political goal” (Terrorism 1), that was Opposing Viewpoint’s definition of terrorism. Opposing Viewpoints says that [Terrorism] “differs

The French Revolution’s aftermath during the 18th century sparked a vicious campaign against nobles who were seen as enemies of the newly formed state. The post-revolutionary government because of their series of mass executions was referred to as terror. The terror concept differs from the modern use of “terrorism” because the perpetrators are not usually governments and are instead nonstate actors (Lacquer, 2001). The word terrorism can be like the word globalism because it can be difficult to define because of the diversity of its meanings among different individuals and different groups. The continual transformation of the contexts in which the term is used causes difficulty in forming a distinctive meaning, but does not make it impossible to study the phenomenon as a distinctive form of political violence. Terrorism may differ from media outlets, governments, cultures, scholars, and readers. Examining the usage of the term thorough-out history will be a useful way to come to a conclusion as to the true meaning and definition of the term. Even though examples of terrorism can go back several millennia, studying the history of it will make it seem considerably new at this time and

Can you remember where you were on the fatal day of September 11, 2001? When people think of terrorism, the first thought is usually about that dreadful day. Terrorism is defined as, “Premeditated and unlawful acts in which groups or agents of some principal engage in a threatened or actual use of force against human or property targets” (p. G-23). Terrorists often uses violence or threat to advance their agenda or goal. Terrorism is very widespread because it can occur on a state, religious, and international level. State terrorism is known as terrorism from above, and is committed by governments against enemies of the state (p. 40). Religious terrorism is terrorism committed against anyone who poses a threat to their religion. They often commit violent acts in the name of their religion and belief if they defend their religion, they will receive paradise in the afterlife. International terrorism occurs by terrorists who are not from the country that they are attacking. Terrorism should not be justified because it kills innocent people, poses a threat to international laws, and causes terror.

The concept of terrorism as defined by Hoffman in his book, Inside Terrorism, is not easily defined. Hoffman indicates that most definitions do not give the word “terrorism” a clear definition for today (Hoffman 2006). However, according to Hoffman, the Oxford English Dictionary does provide a definition that embodies terrorism since its beginnings. “Any one who attempts to further his views by a system of coercive intimidation.” (Hoffman 2006, 3). The views that are typically political or idealogical in nature (Hoffman, 2006, 2-3).

Terrorism; it cannot be defined or determined by one single act of an individual or group. Different areas of the world have specific qualities they look for whenever a violent event happens. Terrorism is an international problem in today’s global community. Despite the efforts to end terroristic events, a terrorist attack can happen at any second. In the Twenty-First Century, Boko Haram and the Boston Bombing are examples reflecting terrorist acts. It is important to research and understand the unlawful use of force and violence against any persons; whether it be through a terrorist or an entire organization.

Terrorism is a word that can be defined in many different ways. Differences in the definition depend upon the entity defining the term, and many times the definition varies based upon who is victorious in a given conflict. Compare the simplistic definition of Walter Laqueur (1987, 1999), who defines terrorism as the illegitimate use of force to achieve a political objective by targeting innocent people, with the definition found in Title 22 of the United States Code, Section 2656f (d), which describes terrorism as “premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience.” Likewise, Alex Schmid offers a complex definition that conglomerates 13 elements common to most definitions of terrorism.

3.Terrorism is the threat of violence used to achieve a political or religious goal, it could be carried out by individuals or groups (“Briggle” 1)

There is a difficulty in defining terrorism officially due to subjective worldwide views, however the state department in the USA call it “Pre-meditated motivated violence perpetrated against civilians, usually intended to influence an audience”

Terrorism is a violent act that is planned and committed to cause terror in the people while trying to achieve political goals. In the Prologue Magazine article of John Brown the author states, “Terrorists may hope for political change, but what they often want is to simply strike back at and harm those they oppose” (Finkelman, 2011). Terrorism is something that can happen in any country because there are people who disagree with another’s beliefs or political views. Terrorists usually target civilians or “non-military folk” because they aren’t able to defend themselves against an attack. They are also not concerned with how much damage they cause; they will use anything from a bomb to guns.

To attempt to understand terrorism and pass judgment on it one must look to the origin of the word itself. The word terrorism was first used during the “Reign of Terror” that happened after the French Revolution. The French word it is based on meant “one frightens” and primarily referred to state-sponsored acts. Although the current official definition of terrorism has remained mostly unchanged for decades it does not construe the use of fear and harm to non-combatants to force change be it political or not. The international community’s inability to precisely define what terrorism is further muddies the waters. The United Nations General Assembly in 1994 did record:

In the beginning of Inside Terrorism, by Bruce Hoffman, he hopes to express how the term “terrorism” has evolved over the past two centuries and what it means today. He does not reveal a promised definitional certainty, but after a historical survey he conducted, he concludes that terrorism is “the deliberate creation and exploitation of fear through violence or the threat of violence in pursuit of political change” (43). Who gets to determine the definition of terrorism though? While this book gives us his definition, we can see a first-hand account of the clash of adversaries, much like the violent clash between the Israelis and the Palestinians, which Hoffman’s theories do little to clarify.

Terrorism is defined as a threatened use of force by a group or individual based and operating entirely within the United States or its territories without foreign direction committed against persons or property (Terrorism 2002- 2005: FBI). Terrorism has opened to numerous interpretations, most of them being from conflicting point of views. Understanding the term terrorism is often difficult from a semantic point of view. Understanding it require a holistic and sensibility and is more realistically achieve through a relative cultural, political, and historical understanding of this phenomenon. This associate itself with the complexity of understanding terrorism in the terms of its distinction of criminal activities. Townshend (2002)

The history of terrorism can be traced back as far as the French revolution. Some of these acts of terrorism only seem as distant reminders of our past, but at the same time, are not a far cry from today’s brutal acts; and although these acts seem distant, it doesn’t also mean they are no longer in the thoughts of individuals in today’s time.

The notion of terrorism and its evolution makes it doubtful of its existence as a generally accepted theoretical category and an established and universally accepted term. Bruce Hoffman argues that most of the definitions are too broad and hence, every act of violence by states, non-state actor or an individual is considered as an act of terrorism. Moreover, he claims the term, which was firstly coined during the French Revolution, has changed its meaning several times throughout the history, which makes it even more complex to create a totally accepted definition. Jeffrey Simon found 212 diverse definitions of terrorism. In my view, the term is largely overused by a variety of political actors and academics, who understand it differently. For example, Noam Chomsky argues that US policy toward Nicaragua, Haiti and Guatemala in the 1980s was a representation of a state terrorism and Robert Mugabe refers to the any democratic opposition in Zimbabwe as terrorists. However, it is highly important to define the term because in the case of global terrorism of 21st century, defining becomes a power on itself and in order to use the power of the definition, the definition must be, at least party, shared. In my opinion, two main characteristics