This paper contains a discussion of domestic terrorism in relation to the case of the Unabomber, also renowned as Theodore Kaczynski. This paper gives a brief summary about the Unabomber and describes how he made the bombs. It also discusses how the Unabomber operated his attacks against his victims who were majorly university lecturers and airlines as he advanced his ideologies against the technological advancements, which were ongoing in America. In doing so, the paper also discusses the relationship between the character and behaviours of the Unabomber and the present day domestic terrorism.
In summary, this paper defines the meaning of domestic terrorism, its causes, and the modes of operation of the domestic terrorists. Moreover, it contains
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Also, the internet has been found to have a role to play in creating terrorists. The causes of terrorism are widespread and variable (Krieger & Meierrieks, 2011). Many school dropouts become idle and are vulnerable to be recruited to groups, which have hatred for the government, a particular section of the population or group of people.
However, others also have the desire of fulfilling their life fantasies through violence. In the case of Theodore Kaczynski the Unabomber, his decision to become a terrorist was informed by the desire to extinguish the existence of scientific development and nothing more. He was a normal person who had studied mathematics and was well educated to understand that acts of terrorism are illegal and cause injury to people. It is difficult to understand that an educated person like him could engage in killing people without justifiable reason. This particular case appeared to have been triggered by insanity. It is a good example of how brilliant brains are misused by radicalized groups to cause harm to the people and intimidate the government through terrorist attacks (Sanchez-Cuenca,
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From this scenario, it is clear that domestic terrorism is unacceptable even by family members of those who engaged in it. Theodore was not living with his family but used to send them letters some of which contained his ideas and messages of hatred to technological advancement of the United States. Family is therefore an important source and support of information against terrorists and their attacks. The government should have considered this fact during the eighteen years to help them find Theodore, the then anonymous
Ted Kaczynski, more commonly known as The Unabomber, killed 3 people and injured 23 others over a 17 year period with bombs he made himself in his secluded Montana cabin (Goldman 1 of 2). These bombings occurred between 1978 and 1995 (Ted 1 of 3). He was called the Unabomber for University and Airline Bomber, which is where he targeted the bombs. Ted sent bombs to universities and professors, and also targeted industries (Goldman 1 of 2). He was a brilliant man, at 16 he started attending Harvard, but was also quite twisted (Ted 2 of 3). Those he targeted with his bombs were innocent, he chose them randomly from research done at the library (FBI 1 of 2). Forensic linguistics, or the comparison of documents, was a major part of this case (Forensic
The biggest manhunt against a criminal in U.S. history has been to catch serial killer Theodore John Kaczynski. Ted Kaczynski, terrorized the entire country for nearly 20 years. Ted build improvised explosive devices and mailed them to universities, airlines, and various others. The FBI would later name him the “Unabomber” code word for “the UNiversity and Airline BOMbing targets involved.” (FBI, 18 May 2016). A question some have been wondering for many years is why Ted did what he did and how he chose his targets. Studies show, Teds early life events may have impacted him so greatly that it caused psychological abnormalities.
Theodore Kaczynski is the name of a man who aspired to be the perfect, anonymous killer in the United States. In 1978, he sent his first homemade bomb to a university in Chicago. He mailed or hand delivered a series of bombs over the next 17 years. The homemade bombs became more and more sophisticated over time, eventually killing three Americans and injuring 24 more. This lone wolf terrorist sowed fear and panic and even threatened to blow up airliners in flight. Thirty-seven years later, the threat still remains. Until America shifts its focus to identifying the nature of terrorism and terrorist activities and not on identifying the suspect, the United States terrorist threat will remain HIGH.
Today, domestic terrorism is one of the major threats to the national security of the US. Since 9/11, the US intelligence services and law enforcement agencies viewed international terrorism as the major threat to the public security of the US but the threat of domestic terrorism has been underestimated. At any rate, American law enforcement agencies conduct active campaigns to prevent international terrorism but domestic terrorism become a serious threat to the national security of the US. In such a way, the US needs to develop effective strategies to prevent the rise of domestic terrorism. Otherwise, the US may face a threat of the consistent growth of domestic terrorism as do some European countries, such as the UK, for instance. Therefore, law enforcement agencies should focus their attention on the prevention of domestic terrorism because, even though domestic terrorism is unseen, it may be even more dangerous than international terrorism. Domestic terrorists undermine the country from within, while international terrorists attack the US from the outside and the US can raise barriers to protect Americans from the foreign threat, while domestic terrorism needs effective work of law enforcement agencies nationwide. Therefore, domestic terrorism is a serious threat to the national security of the US and American law enforcement agencies along legislators and the public have to unite their efforts in the struggle against domestic terrorism.
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).
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
The use of terrorism started in 1795 relating to the reign of terror leaded by the French Government. The reason people become terrorist is because they see it as their only choice or is a sign for defending their religion. “The personal pathway model suggests that terrorists came from a selected, at risk population, who have suffered from early damage to their self-esteem,” (psychologist Eric D. Shaw). This explains how young adults are becoming terrorist to find themselves, also because they are not happy with who they are. Terrorist technology has changed over the course.
Walter Laqueur’s book, “The New Terrorism: Fanaticism and the Arms of Mass Destruction”, is empowering readers with the entire spectrum of terrorism. The reasons behind terrorism are not easy to understand, but Laqueur goes into great detail to try and bring the reader to an understanding of what the terrorist is thinking in order to justify the means to the end.
Terrorism is a difficult issue to understand and grasp for many people. What is even more difficult to understand is what drives an individual to become radicalized to the point of joining a terrorist organization and committing terrorist acts. While there is not specific criteria or a “cookie cutter” approach to understanding what motivates and radicalizes an individual to participate in such atrocities, there are however, several psychological and behavioral factors that have been common among these individuals. The following paper will outline some of the psychological and behavioral factors that attribute to an individual’s radicalization and eventual willingness and even perhaps
Domestic terrorism has played a major part in shaping the societies of the United States. The ideologies of individuals can become radicalized. This can lead to a movement. This movement involves the infliction of fear upon the communities, in attempt to make it a better world. It is critical to examine the events created by one man’s extreme ideologies in effort to better understand.
This paper will discuss religious terrorism in particular. Religious terrorism can be defined as “the terrorism [is] carried out based on motivations and goals that have a predominantly religious character or influences.” (“Religious Terrorism”) An example of this will be the 9/11 attacks. It was “a series of four coordinated terrorist attack launched by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda upon the United States in New York City and the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.”(“September 11 attacks”) This attack had led to a serious causality, “almost 3000 people dies in the attacks.” (“September 11 attacks”) Osama Bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, declared a “holy war against the United States” (“September 11 attacks”) In his “letter to America”, he stated the motives as follows: In opposition to western support for attacking Muslims in Somalia; supporting the Indian oppression against Muslims in Kashmir; the Jewish aggression against Muslims in Lebanon; the presence of U.S. troops in Saudi Arabia; U.S support of Israel and the sanction against Iraq. (“September 11 attacks”) The disastrous attack leads to a serious attention of re-constructing the old version of counter terrorism strategy, which had failed to protect the citizens against terrorism. However, ‘terrorism is far to complex for one solution to be effective in dealing with all the possible threats.” (Lygutas 146) Therefore, some of the measures have difficulties in balancing the rights of
There are many things can be seen in the psychology of terrorism. Unfortunately there is not good science on psychological factors of terrorism; there are theories and educated opinions (DeAngelis, 2009). The one overarching factor is the fear with which terrorism is based. By definition, terrorism is acts that cause terror by one group on to another, usually for political goals (“Terrorism”, n.d.). Why people suffer from these fears is related to their psychological behavior. Terrorist activity can be described as “fostering a sense of helplessness and hopelessness, in demonstrating the incompetence of the authorities, destroying a sense of security and safety, and in provoking inappropriate reactions from individuals and authorities.” (Alexander & Klein, 2005). Terrorists themselves are affected by psychological behavior; their own and that of others around them. They may even be affected by the behavior of victims and potential victims. Osama Bin Laden has even been known to admit that in the terrorist organization Al-Qaeda, his
The 9/11 terror attacks is one of the historical and fatal events that changed the United States of America forever, especially in relation to terrorists and terrorism. While these concepts were on the minds of very few people in America's population before the attacks, the 9/11 incident made terrorism to become one of the major concerns for the whole nation. This is despite of the fact that they were carried out in New York City, Washington, and parts of Pennsylvania. Since it was a major concern, the terror attacks dominated all kinds of media and contributed to increased security measures for average Americans. Moreover, terrorism currently provides a major threat to global security that any time in American and global history (Dyson, 2001, p.3). As a result, it has become a fundamental aspect for law enforcement agencies and their initiatives, particularly with the rapid technological advancements.
There has also been long time assumption among professionals and average citizens that terrorists are ‘mentally ill’ individuals. However, there is yet again no evidence that supports that theory. As a matter of fact, there is countless examples in history that counters that said theory of being ‘mentally ill’ and this article provides those examples; as well as, providing the avenue in which an individual can and has been radicalized. Moreover, this article articulates and lays out a method in which could be used to counter the radicalization
In both examples mentioned above, there are exact motivating factors. In both cases the motivating factors are ideology and religion. But there are also many other factors which make people become terrorists and take guns in their hands or blow themselves