DB Response

Kelly West

The modern-day form of terrorism focuses on lethal attacks on global targets that will create the most harm to a country, its citizens, infrastructure, and its economy. Capitalizing on the greatest impact and loss of life al-Qaeda and other groups focus their deadly massacres on innocent civilians and non-military groups. They make their pure hatred for Americans known and felt instead of just sharing their radical views and propaganda and desiring attention, as in the past. “Today there has been a shift form localized terrorist groups, supported by states such as the Soviet Union, to loosely organized global networks. Today the new terrorists have global motives and capabilities” (Liberty University Custom, 2024).

According to “The New Terrorism” Article in our text, there are several key hallmarks on this new form of terrorism that are more violent and advanced than terrorist groups in the past. They use modern technology such as the internet, social media, websites, and undetectable banking systems affords global terror cells an easier way to recruit and indoctrinate and allows their travel, documents, and financial transactions to go undetected. They are wealthy and have many financial resources and capitalize on both legal businesses worldwide as well as on illegal, and drug activities to fund their global crusade. (Howard & Nencheck, n.d.)

Al-Qaeda has well trained fighters and specialized training facilities with access to not just untraceable artillery and ammo but many more forms of weapons of mass destruction than groups in the past. They have books and training manuals for their systems and on how to go undetected. Instead of focusing on smaller kidnappings, or extortion plots for monetary gain, hostage exchange, or recognition of their beliefs, they now make long term plans for elaborate and sophisticated mass murder attacks that will do the gravest damage based on their Islamic religious extremism. The have well-disciplined fighters which aids in their ability to go easily undetected, and they include well-educated individuals, such as pilots, willing to sacrifice theirs lives in suicide missions to profess their allegiance to their cause or love of God. But, as stated in 1 John 4:7, “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.” (English Standard Version Bible, n.d.).

Because al-Qaeda are non-state global actors there is no way to know if their objective is complete or if the threat of terrorism will loom forever. There is no President of a country to talk to so we will be able to negotiate, we do not know who oversees this terrorist group or know who within a country is responsible to hold them accountable. There is no way to keep score, know who we need to be on the look-out for, or find a win-win solution.

Hezbollah, has similarities to al-Qaeda, such as both being Islamic terrorist groups hailing form the Middle-East, and having world-wide networks with sleeper cells in many countries (Howard & Nencheck, n.d.) They share common terrorist contacts, are both well trained, Bin Laden was interested in the Hizbollah training techniques, and they both hate America. Although they share similarities, they have different political agendas, mainly territorial, and Hizbollah follows Shiite Islam while al-Qaeda follows Sunni Islam. Hizbollah is not known to have ever pulled off a terrorist attack in America. (Liberty University Custom, 2024)  

2

Jacob Torres

The hallmarks of the "new terrorism," as described by Howard and Nencheck (n.d.), reflect a fundamental change from the secular and state-sponsored terrorism of the Cold War era to a more lethal, borderless, and ideological form of terrorism. Al-Qaeda, led by Osama bin Laden, exemplifies these eight distinguishing characteristics that define this change. The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on U.S. soil effectively ended the illusion that the U.S. homeland was secure and its geography would protect it. Unlike other terrorist groups, whose goal was to limit casualties in exchange for political concessions, al-Qaeda's goal was to achieve maximum casualties as a strategic goal. Al-Qaeda was a transnational, non-state terrorist organization with a global reach, whose financing was through its own sources and was therefore unaccountable to any state patron. Its members received formalized training in paramilitary skills, forgery, and encryption, and its organizational structure was such that infiltration was extremely difficult. The important thing to understand here is that the goal of al-Qaeda was to acquire weapons of mass destruction, and a decisive victory over such an enemy is permanently elusive, requiring a constant state of alertness from its society.

Hizballah also has these characteristics in common with al-Qaeda, and therefore, they are equally potent forces in terms of security risks to the world. Both groups have a global network of sleeper cells, extending into the United States, Europe, Africa, and Asia, giving them the power to project force beyond their geographical boundaries (Howard & Nencheck, n.d.). Both groups also use mass casualty terrorism through highly sophisticated tactical capabilities, as exemplified by the 1983 Beirut bombing campaign, which was just as lethal as any of the attacks carried out by al-Qaeda. Both groups also finance their activities through criminal means, have operatives that are immune to ideological penetration, and have shown capabilities to threaten U.S. interests abroad. The fact that these two Sunni and Shiite groups have worked together on several occasions also illustrates the pragmatic nature that is a hallmark of the new terrorism (The Transnational Dimensions of Terrorism, n.d.).

While there are similarities, there are also major structural and ideological differences between the two groups that make one a much more potent threat to U.S. interests than the other. For example, while Hizballah is still closely allied with state sponsorship, receiving direct funding, armaments, and strategic guidance from Iran's Qods Force and Syria, al-Qaeda is committed to its independence from any one patron (The Transnational Dimensions of Terrorism, n.d.). While Hizballah is dedicated to a nationalist and anti-Israeli cause, its anti-American activities are largely due to Iranian interests. Unlike Hizballah, al-Qaeda is committed to the annihilation of secular governments and Western civilization, in the hope of creating a world caliphate. Hizballah is a highly organized movement, with a command and control structure and a command center in Lebanon, while al-Qaeda is highly decentralized.

Kelly West

The modern-day form of terrorism focuses on lethal attacks on global targets that will create the most harm to a country, its citizens, infrastructure, and its economy. Capitalizing on the greatest impact and loss of life al-Qaeda and other groups focus their deadly massacres on innocent civilians and non-military groups. They make their pure hatred for Americans known and felt instead of just sharing their radical views and propaganda and desiring attention, as in the past. “Today there has been a shift form localized terrorist groups, supported by states such as the Soviet Union, to loosely organized global networks. Today the new terrorists have global motives and capabilities” (Liberty University Custom, 2024).

According to “The New Terrorism” Article in our text, there are several key hallmarks on this new form of terrorism that are more violent and advanced than terrorist groups in the past. They use modern technology such as the internet, social media, websites, and undetectable banking systems affords global terror cells an easier way to recruit and indoctrinate and allows their travel, documents, and financial transactions to go undetected. They are wealthy and have many financial resources and capitalize on both legal businesses worldwide as well as on illegal, and drug activities to fund their global crusade. (Howard & Nencheck, n.d.)

Al-Qaeda has well trained fighters and specialized training facilities with access to not just untraceable artillery and ammo but many more forms of weapons of mass destruction than groups in the past. They have books and training manuals for their systems and on how to go undetected. Instead of focusing on smaller kidnappings, or extortion plots for monetary gain, hostage exchange, or recognition of their beliefs, they now make long term plans for elaborate and sophisticated mass murder attacks that will do the gravest damage based on their Islamic religious extremism. The have well-disciplined fighters which aids in their ability to go easily undetected, and they include well-educated individuals, such as pilots, willing to sacrifice theirs lives in suicide missions to profess their allegiance to their cause or love of God. But, as stated in 1 John 4:7, “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.” (English Standard Version Bible, n.d.).

Because al-Qaeda are non-state global actors there is no way to know if their objective is complete or if the threat of terrorism will loom forever. There is no President of a country to talk to so we will be able to negotiate, we do not know who oversees this terrorist group or know who within a country is responsible to hold them accountable. There is no way to keep score, know who we need to be on the look-out for, or find a win-win solution.

Hezbollah, has similarities to al-Qaeda, such as both being Islamic terrorist groups hailing form the Middle-East, and having world-wide networks with sleeper cells in many countries (Howard & Nencheck, n.d.) They share common terrorist contacts, are both well trained, Bin Laden was interested in the Hizbollah training techniques, and they both hate America. Although they share similarities, they have different political agendas, mainly territorial, and Hizbollah follows Shiite Islam while al-Qaeda follows Sunni Islam. Hizbollah is not known to have ever pulled off a terrorist attack in America. (Liberty University Custom, 2024)