MODERN INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM

NATHAN B. GILSON

SOUTHWEST MIDDLE SCHOOL

INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM--DEFINITION• "INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM" MEANS ACTIVITIES WITH

THE FOLLOWING THREE CHARACTERISTICS:

• INVOLVE VIOLENT ACTS OR ACTS DANGEROUS TO HUMAN LIFE THAT VIOLATE FEDERAL OR STATE LAW;

• APPEAR TO BE INTENDED (I) TO INTIMIDATE OR COERCE A CIVILIAN POPULATION; (II) TO INFLUENCE THE POLICY OF A GOVERNMENT BY INTIMIDATION OR COERCION; OR (III) TO AFFECT THE CONDUCT OF A GOVERNMENT BY MASS DESTRUCTION, ASSASSINATION, OR KIDNAPPING; AND

• OCCUR PRIMARILY 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

RADICAL ISLAM• MOST TERRORISM IN THE MODERN WORLD IS

PERPETRATED BY RADICAL ISLAMISTS

• ISLAM IS THE 2ND LARGEST RELIGION IN THE WORLD

• FOLLOWS THE TEACHINGS OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD

• MAJORITY OF MUSLIMS ARE PEACEFUL AND DO NOT AGREE WITH OR SPONSOR INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM

• THERE ARE MANY GROUPS WHICH ARE NOT ISLAMIC IN NATURE AT ALL, AND ARE TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS, BUT IN THE MODERN (POST-COLD WAR) WORLD, MOST TERRORISM EFFORTS HAVE FOCUSED ON ISLAMIC GROUPS.

CHARACTERISTICS OF ISLAMIC TERRORIST GROUPS

• CALL TO JIHAD

• JIHAD IS HOLY WAR ON ALL NON-MUSLIMS

• STRONGLY ANTI-SEMITIC

• SUICIDE ATTACKS

• THEY BELIEVE THAT IF THEY DIE IN THE FIGHT FOR ALLAH, THAT THERE IS A SPECIAL REWARD FOR THEM IN THE AFTERLIFE.

• SHARIA LAW

• LEGAL SYSTEMS BASED ON STRICT INTERPRETATION OF THE QURAN AND OTHER RELIGIOUS TEXTS

• REJECT WESTERN IDEAS OF EQUAL RIGHTS, VOTING, RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, FREEDOM OF SPEECH, ETC.

AL QAEDA• FOUNDED DURING THE AFGHANISTAN WAR TO FIGHT AGAINST THE SOVIET UNION

• SUPPORTED IN PART BY THE CIA TO PROMOTE CONTAINMENT POLICY OF THE COLD WAR

• LEADERSHIP ESTABLISHED UNDER OSAMA BIN LADEN

• ACTIVE IN EGYPT, SUDAN, AFGHANISTAN, PAKISTAN, IRAQ, YEMEN, SAUDI ARABIA, CHINA, AND LIBYA

• "THE RULING TO KILL THE AMERICANS AND THEIR ALLIES -- CIVILIANS AND MILITARY -- IS AN INDIVIDUAL DUTY FOR EVERY MUSLIM WHO CAN DO IT IN ANY COUNTRY IN WHICH IT IS POSSIBLE TO DO IT, IN ORDER TO LIBERATE THE AL-AQSA MOSQUE AND THE HOLY MOSQUE [MECCA] FROM THEIR GRIP, AND IN ORDER FOR THEIR ARMIES TO MOVE OUT OF ALL THE LANDS OF ISLAM, DEFEATED AND UNABLE TO THREATEN ANY MUSLIM."

FAMOUS AL QAEDA ATTACKS

• US EMBASSIES IN KENYA AND TANZANIA (1998)

• USS COLE (2000)

• 9/11 (2001)

• MADRID TRAIN BOMBINGS (2004)

• LONDON BOMBING (2005)

HEZBOLLAH• MAINLY BASED IN LEBANON IN RESPONSE TO ISRAELI

OCCUPATION BEGINNING IN 1980’S

• SPONSORED BY IRAN

• HAS BECOME A MAJOR MINORITY POLITICAL PARTY IN LEBANON

• SINCE IT WAS CREATED IN RESPONSE TO ISRAELI ACTION, HEZBOLLAH IS MORE TARGETED SPECIFICALLY TOWARD ISRAEL RATHER THAN WESTERN CIVILIZATION IN GENERAL

• HAS BEEN INVOLVED IN SEVERAL INTERNATIONAL BOMBINGS OF ISRAELI EMBASSIES IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES SUCH AS ENGLAND, ARGENTINA

• ALSO PROVIDED ASSISTANCE TO AL QAEDA IN 1998 US EMBASSY BOMBINGS

• STRONG SUPPORTER OF ASSAD AND THE CURRENT SYRIAN GOVERNMENT

HAMAS• ANTI-ISRAELI PALESTINIAN GROUP FORMED IN 1987

• PALESTINIAN GROUPS CO-EXIST IN ISRAELI LAND, BUT ARE NOT OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZED BY THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY AS A SOVEREIGN NATION

• THE GENERAL LACK OF REPRESENTATION AND POLITICAL POWER OF THE PALESTINIANS IN AND AROUND ISRAEL HAVE LED SOME TO DRAW ANALOGIES TO APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA

• HAMAS’ PURPOSE IS STATED TO REPLACE THE CURRENT ISRAEL DEMOCRACY WITH A PALESTINIAN STATE

• PARTICIPATED IN NUMEROUS ATTACKS, SUICIDE BOMBINGS, AND ROCKET ATTACKS AGAINST ISRAELI CIVILIANS

• CURRENTLY THE POLITICAL GROUP RESPONSIBLE FOR ADMINISTRATING AND REPRESENTING THE PALESTINIANS IN THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY.

ISIS/ISIL• ISLAMIC STATE OF IRAQ AND SYRIA (ISIS) OR

ISLAMIC STATE OF IRAQ AND LEVANT (ISIL)

• ROSE IN THE POWER VACUUM THAT WAS CREATED AFTER THE DE-STABILIZATION OF THE IRAQI BA’ATH REGIME LED BY SADAAM HUSSEIN

• GROUP HAS CLAIMED VAST TERRITORIES IN IRAQ AND SYRIA, AND THREATENED THE BORDERS OF JORDAN, TURKEY, AND IRAN.

• GROUP’S ULTIMATE GOAL IS TO ESTABLISH A CALIPHATE IN THE MIDDLE EAST

• CALIPHATE IS A THEOCRACY CONTROLLED BY A SPIRITUAL LEADER CALLED A CALIPH WHO IS A SPIRITUAL DESCENDANT OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD.

SIKES-PICOT AGREEMENT• BEFORE WW1, THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE HAD ESTABLISHED

CONTROL OVER MOST OF THE MIDDLE EAST, FROM EGYPT TO IRAN

• THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE ALLIED ITSELF WITH GERMANY, SO THE BRITISH AND FRENCH ENCOURAGED LOCAL MUSLIM GROUPS LIVING IN THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE TO PARTICIPATE IN LOCAL UPRISINGS TO DE-STABILIZE THE OTTOMANS.

• IN EXCHANGE FOR THEIR COOPERATION, THEY WERE PROMISED CONTROL OF THE LAND

• THE FRENCH, BRITISH, AND RUSSIANS HAD SECRETLY MADE A DEAL, CALLED SYKES-PICOT TO DIVIDE UP CONTROL OF ALL OF THE MIDDLE EAST TO ENSURE THEY CONTROLLED THE TRADE ROUTES THROUGH THE MIDDLE EAST.

• THE NEXT 30 YEARS WERE DEFINED BY IMPERIAL RULE IN THE REGION, WHICH FURTHER ISOLATED THE ARABS FROM THE WESTERN EUROPEAN NATIONS.

ISLAMIC STATE TACTICS

• ISIS IS WELL-KNOWN FOR PUBLISHING MANY EXECUTIONS OF CAPTURED PRISONERS OR LOCAL PEOPLE WITH HIGH-QUALITY PRODUCTION VIDEOS.

• VIDEOS ALSO SERVE TO ATTRACT NEW RECRUITS AND INCREASE VISIBILITY OF THE GROUP

• ISIS TARGETS MANY GROUPS

• MODERATE AND OPPOSING MUSLIM GROUPS

• CHRISTIANS

• HOMOSEXUALS

• WESTERNERS (EUROPEANS AND AMERICANS)

ISIS HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

• BEYOND SIMPLY MURDERING THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE, ISIS IS ALSO HEAVILY INVOLVED IN HUMAN TRAFFICKING

• WOMEN ARE SOLD AS SLAVES REGULARLY, AS YOUNG AS INFANTS

• NORMALLY, THE PRICE OF A SLAVE GOES UP THE YOUNGER THEY ARE (ABOUT $170 US FOR AN INFANT-9 YEAR OLD CHILD)

UNITED STATES’ RESPONSE TO TERRORISM• AFTER 9/11, THE UNITED STATES BEGAN TO PROACTIVELY

TRACK TERRORIST ACTIVITIES WORLDWIDE

• IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN CONFLICTS WERE INITIATED IN PART TO DEAL WITH TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS AND ACTIVITIES

• CONFLICTS HAVE BEEN EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETE DUE TO:

• LACK OF CLEAR BORDERS OF COMBATANTS

• RELATIVE SMALL SIZE OF TERRORIST CELLS, AND LOCAL COOPERATION IN HIDING GROUPS

• PATRIOT ACT HAS GIVEN THE NATIONAL SECURITY AGENCY (NSA) ACCESS TO ALL COMMUNICATIONS IN ORDER TO MONITOR FOR SUSPECTED TERRORIST ACTIVITY WITHIN THE USA.

• US IS CURRENTLY TAKING PART IN AIRSTRIKES AGAINST ISIS, BUT IS HESITANT TO DEPLOY GROUND TROUPS.

INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE TO TERRORISM

• VARIES BASED ON NATION AND GROUP

• IRAN, NORTH KOREA, AND OTHER COUNTRIES IN CONFLICT WITH THE WEST ARE OFTEN SYMPATHETIC TO, AND IN IRAN’S CASE ACTIVELY AND FINANCIALLY SUPPORT TERRORIST GROUPS

• ISRAEL, DUE TO ITS RELIGIOUS AND POLITICAL DIFFERENCES WITH THE REST OF THE MIDDLE EAST, FREQUENTLY GETS INTO ARMED CONFLICT WITH TERRORIST GROUPS

• THE UNITED STATES, EUROPEAN DEMOCRACIES, AND OTHER WESTERN NATIONS OFTEN OPPOSE TERRORIST GROUPS.

• LEVEL OF OPPOSITION CAN BE FULL MILITARY INTERVENTION, TO SANCTIONS AGAINST SYMPATHETIC NATIONS, OR EVEN IN SOME CASES RECOGNIZING THE POLITICAL LEGITIMACY OF GROUPS LIKE HAMAS AND HEZBOLLAH.

INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE TO TERRORISM

• ALSO LARGELY DEPENDS UPON THE TERRORIST GROUP

• ISIS IS NOT OPENLY SUPPORTED BY ANY NATION, AND MANY NATIONS WHICH SUPPORT OR TOLERATE OTHER TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS DUE TO THEIR FOCUS ON JIHAD AGAINST WESTERN NATIONS, VIEW ISIS AS A THREAT TO THEIR OWN POLITICAL POWER AND NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY

• GROUPS LIKE HEZBOLLAH AND HAMAS HAVE MILITARISTIC GROUPS AND POLITICAL GROUPS, AND MANY NATIONS WILL RECOGNIZE THE MISSION OF THE POLITICAL GROUP WHILE IGNORING OR CONDEMNING THE MILITARISTIC AIMS.

• MANY ISLAMIC COUNTRIES NOT NORMALLY FRIENDLY TOWARD ISRAEL ALSO SUPPORT THESE TWO GROUPS IN PARTICULAR.