Terrorism: Opposing Viewpoint's Definition 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

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

There are many different definitions of terrorism. Encyclopedia.com defines it very broadly as “the use of violence to further a political or social cause”. (2003). Another source states “Terrorism has been described variously as both a tactic and strategy; a crime and a holy duty; a justified reaction to oppression and an inexcusable abomination” (Terrorism Research, n.d.). Our unit one lecture reminded us of the adage “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter” and pondered whether the Boston Tea Party could be viewed as an act of terrorism (Bethel University, 2017). Regardless of the exact definition one chooses to use, our nation faces a wide range of threats from those who intend to do us harm. The individuals and organizations who threaten us are as

In fact, it appears as if every few months there is a new tragedy that has taken place in the name of terror. For example, in the past year alone major attacks have taken place in Paris, Belgium, Germany, Iraq, Afghanistan, and so on and so forth. However, according to an article written by Margot Sanger-Katz titled, “Is Terrorism Getting Worse? In the West, Yes. In the World, No,” published on the New York Times website, statistically speaking, terrorism is not on the rise overall. According to the article, the number of deaths in Western countries that are a result of terrorism have seen an increase, as seen by the fact that, “the number of people who died in terror attacks in North American and Western Europe rose markedly in 2015, claiming more than 200 lives” (Sanger-Katz). Furthermore, interestingly enough, there were far more fatalities in western countries as a result of terrorism between the 1970s and 1980s, averaging between 400-600 deaths per year (Sanger-Katz). However, overall, terrorism itself isn’t as common in western countries as it is in other areas of the world. In fact, “More than three-quarters of all terrorism fatalities over the last five years took place in six countries: Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Pakistan, Syria and Yemen” (Sanger-Katz), according to the Global Terrorism Database. However, between 2014 and

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

Terrorism is a frightening reality that all people in today’s world must face. While some areas of the world are facing terrorism more than others nearly are regions and all people are facing the violence and devastating effects of terrorism in one form or another.

Research into terrorism is another challenge in defining terrorism. According to James Rinehart, “those who write about terrorism, tend to possess a preconceived bias of a ‘problem-solution’ orientation in which he or she is simply attempting to justify a set of counterterrorist prescriptive” (4). This research is unreliable at best because as mentioned previously, preconceived biases and stereotypes tend to become involved. Furthermore, there is little research into the why of terrorism, and also very little research into the psychology of terrorists by actual psychologists. The scarcity of primary, first-hand research and due to the private nature of data that is out there, the challenge to defining

Terrorism has been creating havoc across the globe for the entirety of recorded history. Today, with the invention of the Internet and different computer programs, these radical groups that enact these deadly attacks are able to change the way they operate through the use of technological advances to further their onslaught on humanity. The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation defines terrorism as “the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.” (International vs. Domestic Terrorism). Every person on the planet can be affected by terrorism, regardless of religion, gender, or race. Throughout history radical groups who become obsessed with their own opinions and beliefs try to force others to believe in their views through displays of violence and terror. Contrary to modern beliefs that terrorists are only radical Islam groups like Al Qaeda and Isis, but in reality almost every group of people from Christians to even environmentalists have enacted radical terrorist attacks. Terrorism, like technology, is not exclusive to industrialized nations or countries but is available to anyone with the right resources. These technologies are used throughout the world to connect average people to others and is almost always used for good. Terrorist organizations take advantage of new found communications

In the past, terrorism is something that has always had a presence in the world be live in, whether it be from racial/ethnic supremacists, radical nationalists, religious zealots, or anarchists. Regardless of which group it was that claimed responsibility for a heinous act of violence, people did not live in fear of being a victim of a terrorist attack, because the attacks were either so infrequent or small in scale, it just registered as an unfortunate tragedy. Now all of that has changed, if a person were to ask, “Where was it that fifteen people were killed in that ISIS attack last year?” They would most likely be asked, “Which one?” It

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

Furthermore, the term "terrorism" is defined by the Federal Bureau of Investigations in the code of Federal Regulations as “the unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social segment thereof in furtherance of political or social objectives” (Maniscalco, Christen, 2011).

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:

Terrorism, which has been around for as long as people can remember, has been on the rise for the past ten years. Terrorists usually use murdering, kidnapping, hi-jacking and bombings to achieve their political purpose. For instance, according to Wikipedia.com (2006), in 1985 816 deaths, then in 2003, more than 1,000 people died by terorist acts around the world. In recent years, terrorism seems to be at a new height and attacks are much more violent than in the past. Unfortunately, in spite of many anti-terror campaigns, projects and organizations are being created for prevention (to prevent) terrorism, the number of terrorists only is increasing. These days terrorism is all over the world.