TERRORISM & TERRORISTS

TERRORISM DEFINED

Terrorism is highly organized and conducted primarily for political or religious reasons.

The FBI defines terrorism as: The unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social goals.

WHY TERRORISM?

Terrorism is a tactic used to influence the behavior of others through intimidation.

Terrorists typically appeal to a higher moral good.

Terrorists strike at innocents because the very essence of terrorism is public intimidation.

Terrorism has an ultimate purpose. Every time terrorists gain an objective

they have sought, the rationality of terrorism in demonstrated along with its immorality.

IS THERE A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TERRORISTS & FREEDOM FIGHTERS?

Freedom fighters are fighters in wars of national liberation against foreign occupiers or against oppressive domestic regimes they seek to overthrow.

Freedom fighter activity is typically confined to third-world dictatorships or one-party states, while terrorists operate mostly against liberal Western democracies.

Table 13.2 Some Major Terrorist Groups

Group Description & Activities Ideology

Strength Funding

Abu Sayyaf Philippine radical Islamic group motivated to gain an independent Islamic state in southern Philippines. Engages in kidnapping, bombing, and other criminal activities. Has strong links with al-Qaeda.

Nationalist/Islamic

200 to 500

Self-financed via criminal activity +other Islamic groups.

Asbat al-Ansar Lebanon-based Sunni Islamic group that has assassinated Lebanese Shi’ite religious leaders and bombed symbols of Western “decadence” such as nightclubs and U.S. franchise restaurants.

Islamic About 300 International Sunni networksand al-Qaeda

Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA)

Founded in 1959 with the aim of creating an independent Basque homeland in northwest Spain and southwest France. Its activities have been aimed primarily at Spanish government officials and security forces, but French interests have also been attacked.

Nationalist and weakly Marxist

Unknown, but has many supporters in Basque regions

Primarily via criminal activity; has received training in Libya and Lebanon

Source: Department of State (2004). Patterns of Global Terrorism.

Communist Party of Philippines/New People’s Army

Military wing of the Philippine Communist Party. Carries out assassinations and kidnappings of political figures and U.S. military personnel stationed in the Philippines.

Maoist 1,000+ Criminal activity, contributions, and “revolutionary taxes” extorted from businesses

Harakat ul-Mujahidin (HUM)

Pakistani group operating primarily against Indian troops and civilians in Kashmir, territory claimed by both India and Pakistan. Has carried out airline hijackings and kidnapping of Westerners. HUM is aligned with al-Qaeda and signed bin Laden’s 1998 fatwa calling for war on the United States.

Islamic Several thousand

Donations from Saudi Arabia and other Islamic states; also donations from individuals

Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan

Coalition of a number of central Asian groups opposed to secular rule in Uzbekistan. Responsible for numerous bombing incidents and kidnapping of Westerners. Fought with the Taliban against U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan.

Islamic About 1,000

Support from other Islamic groups and patrons in the Middle East

Table 13.2 Some Major Terrorist Groups

Source: Department of State (2004). Patterns of Global Terrorism.

Jemaah Islamiya (JI)

A Southeast Asian network with links to al-Qaeda that has the goal of creating a huge Islamic state composed of Indonesia, Singapore, the southern Philippines, and southern Thailand. JI was responsible for the Bali bombing in 2002 that killed 200 and wounded 300 others.

Islamic About 5,000

Middle Eastern and Asian supporters and al-Qaeda

Kurdistan Workers Party

Composed of Turkish Kurds seeking an independent Kurdish state in Turkey. Has attacked Turkish diplomats in many countries and attempted to disrupt tourism in Turkey by bombing hotels, historical sites, and kidnapping tourists.

Marxist 4,000 to 5,000

Syria, Iraq, Iran

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)

Composed of ethnic Tamils seeking an independent Tamil state in Sri Lanka, primarily through the use of bombings and assassinations. The LTTE has refrained from targeting Western tourists for fear of drying up funds from overseas Tamils.

Nationalism

10,000 Funds from Tamil communities overseas and some drug smuggling

Table 13.2 Some Major Terrorist Groups

Source: Department of State (2004). Patterns of Global Terrorism.

Mujahedin-e Khalq

Formed in the 1960s to counter the Westernization of Iran under the Shah. It supported the overthrow of the Shah but is presently fighting against Iran’s Islamic fundamentalist regime. Carries out attacks on Iranian diplomats and Iranian property.

A mixture of Marxism and Islam

Several thousand

Contributions from Iranian expatriates

National Liberation Army

Columbian Marxist group formed by urban intellectuals inspired by Fidel Castro and legendary terrorist Che Guevara. Engages in kidnapping, bombing, and extortion. Attacks foreigners and Columbian infrastructure.

Marxist 3,000 to 5,000

Criminal activity (drug trafficking and extortion) and some aid from Cuba

Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path)

Formed in late 1960s to destroy existing Peruvian institutions and replace them with a peasant revolutionary regime. Almost all Peruvian institutions have been brutally targeted in Peru and abroad.

Marxist/ Maoist

2,000+ Mostly drug trafficking and other forms of crime

Turkish Hizballah

Kurdish Sunni Islamic group that arose in opposition to the Marxist Kurdish Workers Party’s (KWP’s) actions against Muslims. Fights against KWP and Turkish armed forces. Bombs any establishment considered anti-Islamic. Kidnapped, tortured, and murdered at least 70 businessmen and journalists in the 1990s.

Islamic A few hundred + several thousand supporters

Unknown

TERRORISM IN THE UNITED STATES

Left-wing terrorism in the United States became active during the turmoil of the 1960s.

Some left-wing terrorist groups in the United States: Weather Underground May 19 Communist Organization Revolutionary Armed Task Force Black Liberation Army

IDEOLOGICAL: RIGHT-WING

Most right-wing American groups characterized as terrorist are extremist rather than terrorist groups in that they hold views that are to the extreme right of mainstream.

Some right-wing terrorist groups in the United States: Aryan Nations

SPECIAL-ISSUE DOMESTIC TERRORISM

There are a number of groups in the United States that employ terrorist tactics that have no grand sociopolitical agenda but rather seek to resolve special issues:

Animal Liberation Front Earth Liberation Front Anti-Abortion Groups

IS THERE A TERRORIST PERSONALITY?

No study of terrorist psychology has ever produced a psychological profile leading the majority of terrorist experts to suspect that there is any such thing as a terrorist personality.

Terrorist groups live on the fringes of the host society & espouse a violently radical vision of reality.

We should look at what terrorist groups have to offer if we want to understand why individuals join them.

IS THERE A TERRORIST PERSONALITY?

The terrorist group is made up of three types of individuals.

The charismatic leader is socially alienated, narcissistic, arrogant, and intelligent.

Antisocial individuals have opportunities in terrorist groups to use force and violence to further their own personal goals.

The majority of terrorists are simple followers who see the world purely in black and white and have deep needs for acceptance.

BECOMING A TERRORIST

The bulk of terrorists are probably better characterized as crusaders convinced of the moral rightness of their cause.

The willingness to perform terrorist acts may reflect a process of moral disengagement more than a manifestation of pathological and/or criminal traits the individual brings to the terrorist group.

LAW ENFORCEMENT RESPONSE & GOVERNMENT POLICY

There are a number of ways a democracy can respond to terrorism, ranging from making concessions to military intervention.

Concessions are only likely when there is moral substance to the terrorist cause, or when such concessions are reasonable.

Military intervention may be used when the terrorist threat is too big for civilian authorities to handle.

The principle of international law obliges countries to either extradite terrorists to the country where their crimes were committed or to punish them themselves.

The mission of the Department of Homeland Security is to detect, prevent, prepare for, and recover from terrorist attacks within the United States.

Law Enforcement Response & Government Policy

The US Patriot Act grants federal agencies greater authority to track & intercept private communications, greater powers to the treasury Department to combat corruption & prevent money laundering, & creates new crimes, penalties, and procedures for use against domestic & foreign terrorists.

Law Enforcement Response & Government Policy

WHEN DID AL-QAEDA FORM?

The beginnings of al-Qaeda go back to 1979 when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan.

1979 was during the Cold War, a time when the USA was a rival to the Soviet Union. The USA wanted to help Afghans fight the Soviets.

The CIA sent stinger missiles to Afghans to shoot down Soviet helicopters.

In 1983, during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, a terrorist group bombed a Marine barracks in Lebanon.

Reagan did not retaliate. 283 killed.

DESERT STORM (GULF WAR I)

In 1990, Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein invaded the tiny, oil-rich country of Kuwait. Kuwait owed Iraq money, so Hussein wanted to secure Kuwaiti oil fields.

US AND SAUDI COALITION

The United States asked the Saudis for permission to establish military bases in their country. The Saudis have a tough choice to make. Do they allow a Christian army into the holiest country of Islam? Can the Saudis themselves stop Saddam Hussein?

SAUDI’S CHOICE Osama bin Laden was back home from

Afghanistan. He offered the Saudis the use of his soldiers to fight the Iraqi army because once America establishes a base, they won’t leave. Christian armies have no place in the land of Islam according to bin Laden.

SAUDIS CHOSE THE USA AND SNUBBED BIN LADEN.

President George H.W. Bush liberates Kuwait and pushes the Iraqi army back into Iraq.

BIN LADEN

Osama bin Laden overtly criticizes the Saudi government. Saudi Arabia banishes him; his family disowns him (officially).

Bin Laden leaves Saudi Arabia for Sudan to further build al Qaeda.

USA IN SOMALIA

Dec. 4, 1992, George H.W. Bush sends 28,000 American troops to Somalia.

Bush wanted to help the Somali people since all attempts to send food to them were intercepted by war lords.

BLACK HAWK DOWN!

In 1993, 18 Americans died when their Black Hawk helicopter was shot down over Mogadishu, Somalia.

IRAQI TERRORISM

In 1993, agents working with the full support of Saddam Hussein tried to kill former President George H.W. Bush.

President Clinton responded by destroying their intelligence center.

WORLD TRADE CENTER BOMBING

9-11 was not the first terrorist attack on the WTC. In 1993, a man rented a Ryder truck and detonated a large bomb in one of the towers hoping to knock it over onto the other tower.

RAMZI YOUSEF

He was a planner of the WTC bombing. He was a member/leader of al Qaeda.

Yousef stated, "Yes, I am a terrorist, and proud of it as long as it is against the U.S. government."

Speaks 7 languages and has college degrees in engineering and chemistry.

Currently serving a life sentence.

1993 WTC BOMBING

It killed 6 people and injured over 1000.

1995 OKLAHOMA CITY BOMBING

Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols detonated a large truck bomb at the Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City.

OKLAHOMA CITY

168 people died and many more were injured, including children in the day care on the bottom floor.

CONSPIRACY THEORISTS WILL LOVE THIS! Terry Nichols, Ramzi Yousef, and 9-11

mastermind Khalid Sheik Muhammad were in the Philippine city of Cebu on the same days. Is there a connection?

According to Richard Clarke, the main counter-terrorism czar for Clinton and GW Bush, Nichols’s bombs worked only after he returned from the Philippines

Khalid Sheik MuhhamadTerry Nichols

1996 CAR BOMBING OF KHOBAR TOWERS

The Khobar Towers provided housing for American military stationed in Saudi Arabia. 19 Americans were killed and hundreds injured. Look familiar?

FATWA

In August of 1998, Osama bin Laden and 4 of his close associates sign and distribute a statement declaring “it is the individual duty for every Muslim who can do it” to kill Americans.

KENYAN EMBASSY BOMBINGS

Two American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania were bombed simultaneously in 1998. 220 people were killed.

CLINTON RESPONDS.

President Clinton, risking “Wag the Dog” criticism during the Lewinsky scandal, decided to attack al Qaeda in response.

US ATTACKS AL QAEDA TRAINING CAMPS IN SUDAN AND AFGHANISTAN WITH TOMAHAWK MISSILES. CAMPS WERE DESTROYED. OSAMA LIVES.

MILLENNIUM ATTACKS FOILED!

Jordanian police halted 4 bombings that were to happen January 1, 2000. 16 al Qaeda members were arrested.

Four al Qaeda terrorists were arrested after one tried to cross the Canadian border with nitroglycerin in his spare tire. They set out to bomb LA International Airport.

In Yemen, a boat with explosives tried to bomb a navy ship but sank due to being overloaded!

USS COLE ATTACK OCT. 2000

In Yemen, Al Qaeda operatives sent a suicide bomber aboard a small ship near the USS Cole and detonated its bomb, blowing a large hole in the US Navy ship. 17 sailors killed.

SEPTEMBER 11, 2001

Four airplanes were hijacked by al Qaeda terrorists.

Two crashed into the 2 World Trade Center towers.

One crashed into the Pentagon, the military building of the US armed forces.

One crashed into a field in Pennsylvania, likely because passengers forced the plane down.

2819 people were killed

343 firefighters and paramedics were killed

Khalid Sheik Muhhamad was the centralPlanner of the 9/11. Most terrorists (at right)were from Saudi Arabia.

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PENTAGON

A plane crashed into the Pentagon killing hundreds.

It showed Americans that terrorism doesn’t just happen in New York and our most important buildings are vulnerable.

PENTAGON AFTER ATTACK

FLIGHT 93 CRASHED IN PENNSYLVANIA

Its target was possibly the White House or Capitol building. We think the passengers forced the plane down.

TALIBAN

Al Qaeda and the Taliban government of Afghanistan were virtually one and the same.

President George W. Bush sent a small force into Afghanistan to eliminate the government and destroy al Qaeda.

This war is still going on.

TORA BORA

Famous battle in Afghanistan where al Qaeda allegedly saved Osama bin Laden’s life and snuck him out of the area.

TERRORISM AFTER 9/11

In 2005, terrorists bombed a London subway.

They were trying to get England out of Iraq.

RICHARD REID

December 22, 2001 Now known as the “shoe bomber”, he

tried to destroy an airplane by igniting explosives hidden inside his shoes. English mother, Jamaican father. Converted to Islam in prison. Now in Colorado.

BALI NIGHTCLUB BOMBING OCT. 2002

MAY 1, 2011