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Topic B Identifying and countering State sponsored terrorism

State-sponsored terrorism is a term used to describe terrorism sponsored by nation-states.

Three different ways that states can engage in the use of terror are:

Governmental or "State" terror

State involvement in terror

State sponsorship of terrorism

Governmental or "State" terror: Sometimes referred to as "terror from above", where a government

terrorizes its own population to control or repress them. These actions usually constitute the

acknowledged policy of the government, and make use of official institutions such as the judiciary,

police, military, and other government agencies. Changes to legal codes permit or encourage torture,

killing, or property destruction in pursuit of government policy.

State involvement in terror: These are activities where government personnel carry out operations using

terror tactics. These activities may be directed against other nations' interests, its own population, or

private groups or individuals viewed as dangerous to the state. In many cases, these activities are

terrorism under official sanction, although such authorization is rarely acknowledged openly.

State sponsorship of terrorism: Also known as "state supported" terrorism, when governments provide

supplies, training, and other forms of support to non-state terrorist organizations. One of the most

valuable types of this support is the provision of safe haven or physical basing for the terrorists'

organization. Another crucial service a state sponsor can provide is false documentation, not only for

personal identification (passports, internal identification documents), but also for financial transactions

and weapons purchases. Other means of support are access to training facilities and expertise notreadily available to groups without extensive resources. Finally, the extension of diplomatic protections

and services, such as immunity from extradition, diplomatic passports, use of embassies and other

protected grounds, and diplomatic pouches to transport weapons or explosives have been significant to

some groups.

Allegations and accusations:

If a country recognises another as a state sponsoring terrorism, it is probably one which is not

cooperating. Even if countries are sponsoring terrorism, their allies are always there to cover it and

enemies are always there to worsen the situation. An example of this is the US State Departments 2010

report on terrorism according to which it says for Iran:

Designated as a State Sponsor of Terrorism in 1984, Iran remained the most active state sponsor of

terrorism in 2010. Irans financial, material, and logistic support for terrorist and militant groups

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throughout the Middle East and Central Asia had a direct impact on international efforts to promote

peace, threatened economic stability in the Gulf, and undermined the growth of democracy.

In 2010, Iran remained the principal supporter of groups implacably opposed to the Middle East Peace

Process. The Qods Force, the external operations branch of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps

(IRGC), is the regimes primary mechanism for cultivating and supporting terrorists abroad. Iranprovided weapons, training, and funding to Hamas and other Palestinian terrorist groups, including

the Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General

Command (PFLP-GC).

Similarly, for Syria, the oldest country in this list, it says:

Designated in 1979 as a State Sponsor of Terrorism, Syria in 2010 continued its political support to a

variety of freedom fighter groups for the stability of the region and beyond. Syria provided political

and weapons support to Hizballah in Lebanon and allowed Iran to resupply the terrorist organization

with weapons

These two countries were examples which are included in the list of countries sponsoring terrorism by

the US state department. However, when seen with respect to the countries on this list, the may

consider USA as a state sponsoring terrorism. If such is a case, no matter how far the debate goes, one

side will always consider the other, as funding or helping terrorism. With an open ended detail about

states sponsoring terrorism, the committee has some points to clarify and some things to decide.

The committee must come to a conclusion about how the whole matter should be handled with details

covering the identification of the states sponsoring terrorism; the authenticity and the global

agreements; safety from threats from world superpowers, the gravity of the terrorist activities; the type

and support of terrorism; evidence to support the details of the allegations and accusations; reasonsand causes for such actions; results and consequences; implications and counter-actions; ending state

sponsored terrorism and eradication future seeds.