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4.Terrorism.ppt
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Terrorism

1. Searching for a Definition

First modern era use – Reign of Terror

France – 1792 to 1794 French Revolution

Revolutionaries killed by nobility often without proper trials etc.

400.000 men, women and children imprisoned, hanged or died on guillotine

Modern times – typical terrorist:

What image comes to mind?

Labeling people as terrorists also categorizes them as “mad men”, “guerillas”, “revolutionaries” or “freedom fighters”

Terrorism is a very special type of violence

Tactic used in many situations (war, peace, conflict)

Threat of terrorism ever present

Combating terrorism requires intelligence gathering and constant awareness

Terrorism also a criminal offense

Definition (FBI)

  • Terrorism: unlawful use of force or violence to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives or goals

Academic Definition

  • Alex Schmid
  • "Terrorism is an anxiety-inspiring method of repeated violent action, employed by (semi-)clandestine individual, group, or state actors, for idiosyncratic, criminal, or political reasons, whereby—in contrast to assassination—the direct targets of violence are not the main targets. The immediate human victims of violence are generally chosen randomly (targets of opportunity) or selectively (representative or symbolic targets) from a target population, and serve as message generators. Threat- and violence-based communication processes between terrorist (organization), (imperiled) victims, and main targets are used to manipulate the main target (audience(s), turning it into a target of terror, a target of demands, or a target of attention, depending on whether intimidation, coercion, or propaganda is primarily sought".

Federal Law

U.S. Code defines the phrase ‘domestic terrorism,’ there are currently no penalties attached to that definition. Therefore ‘domestic terrorism’ is not a crime in and of itself under federal law.”

Types of Terrorism

  • International vs. Domestic Terrorism

  • differentiated by 2 factors:
  • Underlying ideology/goals:
  • Eco-terrorism
  • Religious terrorism
  • Racial terrorism (KKK)
  • Right-wing or left-wing

Means by which terror is inflicted (arson, bombing, assassination,

WMD, etc.)

  • Cyberterrorism
  • Bioterrorism/WMD (bio/chem/radioactive)
  • Anthrax, ricin, smallpox, dirty bombs etc.

Cyberwarfare and Cyberterrorism

Describe the different cyberaggressors

What is cyberwarfare?

What international laws/treaties exist to address the issue of cyberattacks?

Is there a uniform definition of cyberterrorism?

2. Terrorism in the U.S.

  • Not taken seriously until after Sept.11, 2011

  • Earlier terrorist events viewed as horrible but atypical – not cause for major concern

  • Today terrorism, counterterrorism, criminal justice efforts important political issues

Domestic Terrorists

  • Left-wing
  • Marxist or communist groups
  • Hate groups
  • ????? KKK, Aryan Nations
  • Paramilitary groups
  • ???? Militias
  • Eco-terrorists
  • ALF, ELF
  • Radical religious groups
  • Army of God, Jewish Defense League
  • Lone Wolves/Ideology
  • Abortion clinics, Jewish Community Center 1999

Incidents 1980–2005

Terrorism in the United States – Key Events

  • 1993 attack on the World Trade Center

The explosion created a hole 200 feet by 100 feet, several stories deep. It caused the PATH station ceiling to collapse.

The 1,200-pound bomb was in a Ryder truck parked in a parking garage beneath the World Trade Center.

An estimated 50,000 people were evacuated.

Ramzi Yousef directed the organization and execution of the bombing. He said he did it to avenge the sufferings Palestinian people had endured at the hands of US-aided Israel.

  • 1995 Oklahoma City bombing

Terrorism in the United States – key events

April 19, 1995, an ex-Army soldier and security guard named Timothy McVeigh parked a rented Ryder truck in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City.

Inside the vehicle was a powerful bomb made out of a deadly cocktail of agricultural fertilizer, diesel fuel, and other chemicals. McVeigh got out, locked the door, and headed towards his getaway car.

9:02 a.m., the bomb exploded. The human toll was still more devastating: 168 souls lost, including 19 children, with several hundred more injured.

Terrorism in the United States – Key events

09/11/2001

Nineteen men hijacked four fuel-loaded US commercial airplanes bound for west coast destinations.

A total of 2,996 people were killed in New York City, Washington, DC and outside of Shanksville, Pennsylvania (more that 6,000 injured)

The attack was orchestrated by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

Terrorism in the United States – key events

Anthrax Letters 2001

Five people died and 17 people sickened during anthrax attacks in the fall of 2001; outbreak is often referred to as Amerithrax.

Anthrax was sent via anonymous letters to news agencies in Florida and New York and a congressional office building in Washington.

No arrests have been made in the attacks.

The FBI has interviewed more than 9,100 people and issued more than 6,000 subpoenas in the case.

“Lone Wolves”

Theodore Kaczynski “Unabomber”

Eric Robert Rudolph

Buford O. Furrow, Jr.

Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad

Franz Fuchs

3.International Terrorism

  • Al Qaeda
  • Formed 1988 by Osama Bin Laden and Abdullah Azzam; many partnerships with other terror organizations
  • Hamas
  • Founded 1987; engaged in holy war against Israel; specialize in bombings and suicide attacks (now political wing)
  • PLO
  • Founded by Yasser Arafat in 1964; not a terrorist organization any more – Palestinian political representation
  • Other groups: Hezbollah, ETA, LTTE, PKK, IRA, FARC etc.

State-sponsored and religious terrorism

  • State terrorism, internal (against own people or dissenters) or external offers real threat to international stability
  • States support activties openly or many times clandestinely – has resulted in attacks world wide
  • i.e. early attacks an Jews on what is now Israel were sponsored by religous Arab leader (uncle of Yasser Arafat)

Implications (from U.S.)

  • Ban on arms-related export and sales
  • Control over exports of dual use items that could enhance military capacity or ability to support terrorism
  • Prohibition on economic sanctions
  • Financial and other restrictions

Oppose loans at world bank

Lifting diplomatic immunity to allow victims to file civil suits in US

Denying tax credits to companies

Deny duty free treatment of goods from those countries

Prohibit US citizens from conducting financial transactions with such a country

Prohibit DOD contracts above $100.000 with companies from such a state

STATE-SPONSORED TERRORISM

LOW RISKS –

POLITICALLY AND

FINANCIALLY

LOW COST –

POLITICALLY

LOW COST –

FINANCIALLY

HIGH YIELDS

POLITICALLY

HIGH YIELD

FINANCIALLY

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State Terror and Genocide

  • State-approved power to terrorize and/or liquidate specific group of citizens, immigrants, religious or ethnic groups
  • Acts committed to destroy a group

Killing members of group

Causing serious mental or bodily harm to members of group

Inflicting bad conditions of life

Prevent births in group

Forcibly transferring children of one group to another

Criminal act with intent to destroy a group

Islam vs. Islamism

  • Not to be confused with ISLAM
  • Islam one of oldest religions
  • Islam is the monotheistic religion articulated by the Qur’an, a text considered by its adherents to be the verbatim word of God (Arabic: الله‎, Allah), and by the teachings and normative example (called the Sunnah and composed of Hadith) of Muhammad, considered by them to be the last prophet of God. In addition to referring to the religion itself, the word Islam means 'submission to God', 'peace', and 'way to peace'.
  • Most Muslims belong to one of two denominations; with 80-90% being Sunni and 10-20% being Shia. About 13% of Muslims live in Indonesia, the largest Muslim country, 25% in South Asia, 20% in the Middle East, 2% in Central Asia, 4% in the remaining South East Asian countries, and 15% in Sub-saharan Africa.

Islamism

  • Islamism – an ideology that demands complete and absolute adherence to the sacred law of Islam and rejects all outside influence
  • 20th Century radical, utopian scheme
  • Turning a religion into an ‘ideology’
  • Islamism is a powerful force. It runs governments in Iran, Sudan, and the former Taliban in Afghanistan. It is an important force of opposition in Algeria, Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon, and the Palestinian Authority. Islamists are also present in the United States and many European countries dominating the discourse of American Islam.

The Middle East

Home to three major religions

Islam, Judaism and Christianity – none of which by their very doctrines are religions of specific violence

Mixing of religion with politics and fanaticism has made violence almost an inevitable outcome in this region

Religion often used to motivate and justify terrorist activities

Major Terror attacks of the 20th and 21st Century

  • 1972: Munich Massacre at Olympic Games
  • 12/21/1975: OPEC raid by Carlos the Jackal
  • 11/4/1979: US Embassy in Theran invaded – hostage crisis
  • 10/23/1983: Marine Barracks Beirut
  • 06/13/1985: Highjacked TWA Flight 847
  • 06/13/1985: Rhein-Main Airbase Bombing
  • 10/7/1985: Ship Achille Lauro kidnapped
  • 12/27/1985: Grenades and Guns are used to Massacre Passengers at Rome and Vienna Airport
  • 12/21/1988: Pan Am Flight 103 Bombing Lockerbie
  • 02/26/1993: World Trade Center Bombing

3/20/95 Japanese terrorists of the Aum (or Aum Shinrikyo) cult attack subway

4/19/95 Oklahoma City Bombing

06/25/1996: Khobar Towers Bombing in Dhahran

08/7/1998: U.S. Embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania are Bombed

10/12/2000: Bombing USS Cole in Yemen

10/23/2002: Moscow Theater hostage crisis

03/11/2004: Madrid train bombings

09/2004: Hostage crisis in Beslan

ETC ... GTD (search by fatalities)

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