Terrorists and Terrorism: The 9/11 Terror Attacks

Domestic terrorism has been a major threat in the US since the catastrophic event that took place during attack on 9/11. Following the aftermath of the terrorist attack, the US intelligence services and law enforcement agencies emphasized heavily on combating terrorism on global scale as international terrorism was views as the major threat to the public security of the US which caused the issue of domestic terrorism to be overlooked. We have seen many terrorist attacks since the attack on 9/11 that were planned and executed by individuals and groups born and raised in America. Some of those attacks include the Oklahoma City bombing, the Boston marathon bombing. There has also been increasing number of mass shooting by individuals that were identified as to be radicalized by terrorist groups abroad, the most recent mass shooting that was identified as a terrorist act was in Orlando where more than 50 people were killed (Alveraz, p.1). The cases mentioned above will be discussed in detail later in the essay. Although, American law enforcement agencies are actively conducting intelligence and operational missions to prevent international terrorism, however, the US needs to develop efficient tactics to prevent the rise of domestic terrorism. Otherwise, the United States may face a danger of the unfailing growth of domestic terrorism similar to some of the European countries; such as the United Kingdom. Consequently, law enforcement agencies should concentrate on the preclusion

Terrorism has never been in the States; only in third world countries. Since 9/11-2001 is has been a reality and ongoing nightmare and hit close to home. The attack on the World Trade Centers in New York was a wakeup call. United States has been on high alert ever since, waiting for the next possible Terrorists attack. This paper will explain why terrorism is a law enforcement concern as well as how terrorism is considered a crime. At last the paper will state some recommendations that the American Criminal Justice should do, to better prepare for future crimes.

This essay will discuss whether or not the events of 9/11 presaged an era of ‘new terrorism’. The attacks created a change to the perceived level of vulnerability to terrorist attacks in North America given that 9/11 was the first time there was an act of terrorism on such a significant scale within the United States. While the evidence for both sides is very compelling it is difficult to label the era as “new” therefore the essay will conclude that the attacks lead to an evolution in terrorism and thus in the way Canada deals with terrorist threats.

Section one will provide a survey covering a span of a decade since the September 9/11 attacks. It provides an overview of Terror Trends, 40 Years’ Data on International and Domestic Terrorism and how the data provide critical information that could be utilized by agencies engaged in counterterrorism formulation of policy and possibly help enhance homeland security policies for future preventions.

Most citizens would define terrorism as using force to influence or change a political decision, “the legal definition of terrorism has very high importance” (Hodgson). This is because it determines which actions count as acts of terrorism, and hence who is regarded as a terrorist, but also because the definition of terrorism opens up a range of controversy of police and prosecutorial powers. Terrorism has always been an iffy subject to talk about and define. In its original text, terrorism was closely associated with the ideals of virtue and democracy. Terrorism now is the harming and/or killing of civilians and the damaging of property while causing economic harm for the reasons that the terrorist are trying to portray by violence. Understanding all the pieces to the puzzle the government and Americans go through on a daily basis, most would agree that terrorism is the worst thing to happen in the world, aren’t physically able to handle it, but are asked to deal with it while the government and military try to find a positive solution. Terrorism is something people in the world need to understand the true meaning of, and it means the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political point.

Terrorism is the use of violence, usually against “non-combatants” , in order to try and achieve political change. Terrorism has been extremely influential in recent decades, stemming from the post World War Two era by exploiting the new advances in the changing world arena, which has triggered states to amend their political agendas to try and focus more attention on the matter of terrorism. Using the dimensions of the world arena and how these have evolved, it is clear that terrorism reflects the changes that have been made, with terrorist groups facilitating them to the best of their ability.

What is terrorism? The conceptual literature on terrorism provides a deluge of definitions. Nonetheless, scholars agree the term terrorism should include at least two essential attributes: the use of violence and a political motive (Lake, 2002; Pape, 2003; Enders & Sandler, 2011). Controversy arises when we try to specify the perpetrators and targets of terrorism. Some researchers hold the actions of governments can be labeled “terrorism” (Nairn & James, 2005), yet conventional wisdom restricts the definition of terrorism to actions of individuals and subnational groups (Lake, 2002; Pape, 2003; Enders & Sandler, 2011). Broadening the definition of terrorism to actions of governments is not of the interests of policy makers whose primary concern is counterterrorism strategies, nor does it help to differentiate war crime from terrorism. Similarly, most scholars do not consider attacks against military targets (in a combat zone) to be terrorism. However, the term “combat zone” could be tricky. For example, Al-Qaeda claims the whole world is its combat zone while the U.S. perceives its combat zone as the battlefields in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other regions of the Middle East. In practice, the inclusion of the combat zone“ makes the definition of terrorism too political and hard to operationalize, and therefore scholars generally do not attach it to the definition of terrorism. To summarize, to strike a balance between extension and intension, I identify four attributes that are

Although terrorism has not always existed, it does come from an ancient tactic, it is ones and/or a group of individuals who believe in the same interest’s mode of communication, a special type of violence and asymmetrical warfare. Terrorism is different from regular crimes because of its strong political assets. The definition of terrorism varies from person to person, from what viewpoint they want to take it, and set for them. Individuals view this as a very sensitive subject, and their standpoints vary on what or who a “terrorist” actually is. One person’s terrorist can be another’s reason to fight for what they believe in, their supporters sometimes maybe the targeted audience.

The catastrophe that happened on September 11th was disastrous; nothing quite like it had transpired before on American soil. The tragedy not only affected the lives of those whom were directly exposed, but rather that of the entire world. The consequences of this attack haunt us to this day; however, not only negative outcomes prevailed: preventative measures were put into place as a result. This act of terrorism transformed the New York City Police Department, which, before the attack, was horribly unprepared for an assail of such a magnitude. Appropriately, structural changes of the NYPD were made, and new bureaus were created. The Intelligence Division was reorganized, JFFT expanded, and creation of the Counter - Terrorism bureau were just a few of the developments that were contrived as a response. Our sense of security was taken away, and as a result changed how we operate at all levels: local, state, and federal.

Adherents of the 9/11 Truth movement are conspiracy theorists who dispute the mainstream account of the September 11 attacks of 2001. Referred to as the "truthers", sometimes pejoratively, the group disputes the commonly accepted account that Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four airliners, crashed them into the Pentagon and New York's Twin Towers, whereupon the crisis led to the collapse of the Twin Towers. Truthers primarily focus on missed information that isn't explained in the official NIST theory, such as the collapse of World Trade Center 7. They suggest a cover-up and, at the least, complicity by insiders.They analyze evidence from the attacks, discuss different theories about how the attacks happened and call for a new investigation into the attacks..CharacteristicsName"9/11 Truth movement" is the collective name of loosely affiliated organizations and individuals that question whether the United States government, agencies of the United States or individuals within such agencies were either responsible for or purposefully complicit in the September 11 attacks. The term is also being used by the adherents of the movement, who call themselves "9/11 skeptics", "truth activists", or "9/11 Truthers", while generally rejecting the term "conspiracy theorists". "conspiracy theorists", occasionally as "9/11 deniers" and by sympathetic writers as "9/11 skeptics." Members of the movement hold diverse views on other political issues.end 'name calling' redundant

Terrorism is use of unlawful force against property or persons in aim to intimidate or coerce the civilian population, the government and any relevant segment while seeking for either social or political objectives (Awan and Blakemore, 2016). In 1980s, politics inspired terrorism, but as 1990s approached, the dramatic increase in terrorism was enthused by religious agendas. As a result there is, need to change focus from political instigated terrorism to a dominant religious terrorism of the stereotypical terrorist organization. There is therefore a need for the law enforcement communities and intelligence groups to monitor new religious and extremist groups and movements, especially when it comes to the United States Domestic terrorism threat(Juergensmeyer, 2017). For instance, terrorists with links to a radical Muslim extremist group orchestrated the dreadful attack on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon. This increase in religious terrorism is mainly due to the rise in form of militant Islamic Shiite fundamentalism.

The history of terrorism has affected governments, communities, businesses and individuals. Terrorism has been around for thousands of years but the term was not developed until the French Revolution. Underlying conditions such as corruption, poverty, and religious conflict create opportunities for terrorists to exploit and take advantage of. Some of these conditions are real and some are made-up. Through the last 200 years, the concept of terrorism has been used to as a reference to political motivations and has been used a way to obtain liberation, oppression, and international global politics (“State Of Delaware”, 2012). Since the terrorist attacks, police departments have adopted homeland security

Although the debate about terrorism has especially sparked in the past decades, terrorism is not a new phenomenon and it has been used since the beginning of recorded history. Nevertheless, it is rather difficult to define terrorism. Depending on from which side one assesses terrorism it can be defined as either a tactic or a strategy, a crime or a holy duty, a heinousness or a justified reaction to oppression. Terrorism uses coercive power with many of the advantages of military force, but with only a fraction of the cost and due to their small size covert operations, it is difficult for governments to actually deter or defend against terrorist organizations. Terrorism has thus become one of the most threatening phenomena for citizens

In order to thoroughly analyze the global fight against terrorism, it is imperative to first understand the definition of terrorism. Alex Woolf states that terrorism is the use of violence against civilians, in order to achieve political goals (Woolf 4). Such political goals include altering the government of a country, abolishing unfair laws passed by biased individuals in power, and changing the status quo of a society. As opposed to an act of war, terrorism involves excessive violence, and is generally targeted towards civilians and innocent bystanders. Smaller or weaker factions have utilized terrorism as a tactic to attract attention and attack governments (Woolf 8). Governments have also supported terrorism to suppress and control opposition groups and political parties (Woolf 8).

Terrorism represents a continuing threat to the United States. It is the most significant threat to our national security. Terrorist attacks have definitely left many concerns about the possibilities of future incidents of terrorism in the United States. Since the events of September 11, 2011,