Terrorism As A Crime, Or Terrorism Essay

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'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

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).

Throughout the world, terrorism affects cultures in a myriad of ways. The United States Department of Defense defines terrorism as, “ the calculated use of violence or the threat of 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” (DOD). Terrorism has emerged in the last ten years as one of the most crucial issues governments attempt to tackle. Many movies and documents can help people better understand the major strain of terrorism. As seen by the effects of the September eleventh attacks on American security, tourism and economy, the Taliban, and Somali piracy, terrorism has had an utmost impact on the world.

What seperates domestic terrorism from mass killings? The United States have a long history of terrorism, mass terrorism and mass killings. Most of these happened in the open public and targeted a number of population to execute. Among these incidents are the bombing of twin towers in 9/11. The Oklahoma City Bombing, The Wisconsin Sikh Killings, the shooting of Congresswoman Giffors and others in Arizona, the Virginia Tech shootings, the cinema shooting during the filimng of Batman and recently the mass shooting at a church in Charleston, South Carolina. What drives the motivation to do such crime? Is It a mass spree killings or an act of domestic terrorism? In this essay we are going to analyze the whether it is a mass spree killing or domestic terrorism.

There are many differing definitions of terrorism. What is terrorism? How do we define it? Why is one man’s terrorist another man’s freedom fighter? These are just a few of the questions that face the world on a daily basis. There are many challenges that face the international community when it comes to how to define terrorism and what it constitutes. This paper will explore the challenges facing scholars when it comes to labeling terror and discuss potential ways to properly define it.

Acts of terrorism are typically political oriented and ideologically motivated, ranging from specific goals expressed in terms of the might of political nation-states to more general purposes connected to the dilemma of certain people and groups. Therefore, terrorism can result from demands made by ethnic groups to receive representation in an existing political community or have its own state be formed, while terrorism can also be part of ideological fights for the acknowledgment of diminished expressions of ideas and ways of life. Because of the essentially political ideological objectives of terrorism, the fundamental ideas of terrorism are important to consider as the inspiring forces that fuel terrorist groups and individuals.

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 can be defined and viewed in many different ways. As discussed in “Terrorism and Political Violence,” by Alex Schmid, there are multiple frameworks in which terrorism can be defined (Schmid 2010, 197). In Schmid’s article, he discusses the five ways he feels terrorism can be looked at, terrorism as/and politics, terrorism as/and crime, terrorism as/and warfare, terrorism as/and communication and terrorism as/and religious fundamentalism (Schmid 2010, 197). This is interesting because it explores the concept of terrorism in different lenses, where each has its own motives, its own background and its own participants. This is important to understand because not every act of terrorism is done in the same light and for the same purposes. Just as any other crime, there are reasons behind the act. When studying terrorism, understanding motives makes all the difference, and understanding what is at stake for the attacker or the attacked helps fully conceptualize the matter.

Terrorism is currently a major challenge that confronts the world. Terrorism is a frightening and horrifying event; It has the ability to take away your sense of security and leave us feeling vulnerable, causing the individuals and nations unease. This decade has witnessed some of the most notorious terrorist acts. In recent memory many can easily recall the attacks of 9/11, The day two 767 Boeing jets took down the world-trade centers. Despite, world-wide agreement that 9/11 was an act of terrorism, there remains much dispute on the specifics of what defines terrorism. The definitions provided in one dictionary differ in another. Lets take into example Merriam-Webster's definition, which states that terrorism is “the systematic use of

On November 9th 2016, Donald Trump was declared the president-elect of the United States. This announcement was quickly followed by mass protests in the streets. Citizens were outraged that a candidate, whose entire platform had relied on racist and misogynistic rhetoric, could win the presidency despite losing the popular vote. The protestor’s concerns are well founded. In the last year he has promised to create a Muslim registry, forcefully deport millions of people from the country, revoke citizenship rights, as well as implement other disturbing policies. There is an inherently fascistic and totalitarian element in Trump’s campaign which should influence a closer study into the history, creation, and continuation of different forms of political terror.

The word terrorism came during the French revolution of the late 1700’s to describe efforts by the revolutionary government to impose its will through widespread violence. It became defined as a “system or rule of terror.” However, the repression of populations by their own governments is usually not included in the modern definition of terrorism. (Homeland Security 260)

Terrorism is notoriously difficult to define and is often used to mean different things by pundits, politicians and the media. The problem of defining terrorism has “hindered analysis since the inception of studies in the early 1970s”. It is therefore difficult to decide whether a particular organisation is considered a terrorist group. A widely used definition by Bruce Hoffman, a political analyst in the field of terrorism and counter terrorism, states that terrorism is violence or the threat of violence, against non combatants or civilians, usually motivated by political, religious or ideological beliefs.

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.

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.