What is a terrorist? Who are terrorists? In a noun perspective, terrorist is a person who uses unlawful violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in the pursuit of political aims. In other words meaning, the unlawful use or threat of violence especially against the state or the public as a politically motivated means of attack or coercion. The terms 'terrorist' and 'terrorism' have been used since the late 18th century. While several definitions agree that terrorism can or does consist in deliberately killing or trying to kill civilians, they disagree as to whether that violence should also aim at some political effect in order to qualify as 'terrorism'. The term terrorism, like globalism, is difficult to define and has a …show more content…
There were a number of prime ministers, presidents and top government officials that were killed by extreme anarchists from 1865 to 1905 (Terrorism Files Organization , 2012). A terrorist chooses to commit different terrorist acts based upon something that is important to the group like a political agenda (Charles A. Lushbaugh, 2016). One of the most committed acts is bombings. This tactic can have a big number of casualties. We saw this take place in Oklahoma City where a federal building was blown up resulting in 168 people killed and 500 injured (Charles A. Lushbaugh, 2016). Another is the hijacking of airplanes, buses, trains, and cruise ships or any other transportation that is considered to be mass transportation (Charles A. Lushbaugh, 2016). Doing this act is mainly committed for the high propaganda value that it has. Kidnapping is a big terrorist tactic where they target would target a wealthy person and hold them for a large ransom of money (Charles A. Lushbaugh, 2016). In return the terrorist use this money to support expense within their activities. Some consider the Southern Christian Leadership Conference headed by Dr. Martin Luther King to be an act of terrorism. They were a group of young southern ministers. These ministers shared a belief that the black church should play an important role in the African American civil rights movement . They
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 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:
Ever since 9/11 when both World Trade Center buildings were attacked by an Islamic Group, attacks by Islamic Terrorist on U.S. soil have been less of a threat than Domestic Terrorists. Domestic Terrorism has been shown these passed for years but yet again most of these cases have not been classified as acts of Domestic Terrorism they most likely fall into the category. Now the definition of Domestic Terrorism is basically "the committing of terrorist acts in the perpetrator 's own country against their fellow citizens". Now personally I don 't know how our government is working with these popular cases like Charlottesville, Las Vegas, and a new that just happened recently actually two but I 'll just say one, the New York attack that
Now following that train of thought I could technically claim that the Boston Tea Party (the starting point of the American Revolution) was an act of terrorism. By destroying property owned by “innocent” merchants they were trying to cause a stir in order to achieve their political and ideological goals, just as the definition of terrorism. Now of course this is not as “extreme” as most modern acts of terrorism are, but it is an interesting thought provoking example.
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,
Terrorism is an act of violence, usually done in the public sphere, which is used to incite fear in a population in order to coerce change in public opinion or a government’s position on an issue. In many parts of the world, groups wage war with their countries, either to separate from the government or to overthrow it entirely. Sometimes these people are treated unfairly by their government, and their struggles are justified. Other times, these groups use violence against both military and civilian targets, terrorizing innocent bystanders to get what they want—these groups are terrorists. Often, though, it is difficult to tell the difference.
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
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
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
What is a terrorist? According to the F.B.I., terrorists are individuals that meet the following three characteristics: (1) they are involved in “violent acts or acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law”; (2) intend to intimidate or influence a civilian population or government through methods of mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; (3) reside“outside the territorial jurisdiction of the U.S., or transcend national boundaries in terms of the means by which they are accomplished, the persons they appear intended to intimidate or coerce, or the locale in which their perpetrators operate or seek asylum” (“Definitions of Terrorism in the U.S. Code”). Terrorists use violence as a tool to strike fear into people that
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).
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines terrorism as "the unlawful use of force or violence against person or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or a segment thereof, in furtherance of political social objectives." The goals of the terrorist is to create fear, draw media attention to their cause, create destruction in areas that will effect the most people, harass and embarrass governments, actions such as these makes a government look as if they are not capable of securing their own country. (Dempsey & Forst, (2016)
Have you ever had a fear for your family, your town, your country, or your world. How about the fear to have everything taken from you, destroyed, and not caring if it has hurt you or not? What about your fear and pain is, and can be someone else’s happiness? The fear of you being terrorized? That is terrorism. Someone else bringing fear and terrorizing you. That is a terrorist’s goal. Terrorism is common and is very difficult to stop. The government promises protection for the people, and their home, but they can not give that protection if they can not stop terrorism. Terrorism needs to stop to protect the live of the people, and their country.
Think of the word terrorism. What is the first thing that comes to mind? One might think of kidnapping, assassination, bombing, or even genocide and guerrilla warfare. Because it is such a broad and complex issue, an all-encompassing definition is hard to formulate. The United States Department of Defence defines terrorism as…