Essay on 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

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.

Terrorism is an act that threatens or carries out violence with the intention to disrupt, kill or coerce against a body or nation in order to impose will. This means that a lot of groups use this method to get what they want. The groups use a variety of methods, groups such as:

Terrorism is often used in asymmetric power struggles. In this source it said terrorism is, “When a weaker person, or group, is fighting against a powerful nation-state.” Terrorist groups have begun using the internet and media to spread fear. Also, to impact public opinion with their political or social message. Terrorism has been around for a very long time. Resources of the United States and other countries have been directed toward ending terrorism in American and around the world. Two major attacks that most individuals will remember is the 9/11 attack and the Boston Marathon Bombing.

Terrorism is a word that is widely used in modern society even though most people don’t know the real definition and the meaning behind it.

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.

What is Terrorism? The FBI definition of Terrorism is the unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives. The goals and objectives of terrorism can vary. They can used terrorism to gain money and power, or control over a government, or it can be used as a form of hate crime. There goal depends on what there objects is? For example if a small group is unhappy with there government they can use terrorism to try and change the government or take control of it. Another form of terrorism is the use of force to intimidate a certain group of people for money or power. Terrorism can also be used to

The Merriam Webster dictionary defines terrorism as the use of violence, or threatened use of violence, in order to achieve a political or religious goal. Terrorism is committed by groups that view themselves as victimized by a historical wrong. These groups of people will most likely have no formal connection to the government. Terrorism comes from the Reign of Terror initiated by Maximilen Robespierre during the French Revolution. The beginning of terrorism goes all the way back to the first

Terrorism has been around since at least the First Century. Terrorism is a crime in which people or groups of people use, or say they will use, violence in order to get what they want from the government or society. A terrorist is a person who uses violence and fear to achieve political

Due to its changing nature and different political viewpoints, terrorism is hard to define. Most definitions tend to include some form of fear created through an act of violence. While violence is the tactic, the goal is fear which will serve to create a desired change as a result. However, this definition has not always been appropriate for terrorism. Take for instance the words of Edmund Burke, a British philosopher, who described the situation in France in the 18th century French Revolution as a “Reign of Terror,” (White, Jonathan. 2013. "Defining Terrorism in Modern History." In Terrorism and Homeland Security 3-27, Wadsworth Centage Learning pp 7). In this time period terrorism was a word of the people in describing the brutal tactics of the government which were meant to keep the people in line. Because one time period is looking at

Terrorism became popular in 1996 when Al- Qaeda network was formed by the late Osama Bin Laden. The network was formed by the World Islamic Front for Jihad

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.

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, then, is a type of political crime that makes use of murder and destruction or the threat of such violence in order to promote change. It is a

For example, the Andijan Events, which happened in 2005. Many innocent people were killed during the terrorists attempt to take control over the government of (maybe in) Andijan. As the President of Uzbekistan, Islam Karimov said (Uzbek Nation Will Never Depend on Others, 2005), the executors of that terror act were the members of, so-called, Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. Their primary goal was to set Caliphate in Uzbekistan, which would have made Uzbekistan an Islamic Republic and led to put dot in Uzbekistan's development, especially in economy growth. Also, there are some other reasons for terrorist acts such as: hate towards a race, nationality, or religion. The following example contains all reasons listed above. Another international terror group Al-Qaeda, number one terror group with a multimillionaire leader Osama Ben Laden, carried out a terror attack in 2001, in USA. Referring to Wikipedia.com (2006), terrorists hijacked four commercial airplanes and crashed two of them into World Trade Centre, in Manhattan. The other one crashed to US Pentagon, and fourth crashed in rural place in Pennsylvania. It took about 2,986 lives of innocent people, including 19 hijackers, and more than 40 000 people were injured.