Date: 2/21/2016Name: Sam BrandtTeacher: Mrs. Mateleich-HoangClass: Criminal Investigation

Terrorism

The topic I have chosen to research is terrorism, a very relatable topic as I served in the United States Marine Corps from 2009 to 2013 and deployed two times to Afghanistan. Going forward in my research I would like to specifically talk about the definition of terrorism, history of terrorism, types of terrorism acts, international terrorism group called Al Qaeda, defining weapons of mass destruction and we counter terrorism. Hopefully I can make raise awareness about terrorism and all the sub components inside of it. Terrorism is best defined as the use of unlawful violence or warning of unlawful violence to instill fear (US Army , 2007). Also it can be described as an intended to pressure or to intimidate governments or societies in the quest theyre of goals perhaps political, ideological or religious (US Army , 2007).We have had terrorism going on for centuries (Terrorism Files Organization , 2012). It has been traced has far back as 350 BC. The only thing has changed over the years is the tactics and complexity of the attacks. The Greek historian named Xenophon he wrote about the impact of terrorism has on enemy populations (Terrorism Files Organization , 2012). There have been numerous roman emperors that have used terrorism. A few of them are Tiberius who ruled from 14 AD to 37 AD and Caligula who ruled from 37 AD to 41 AD. These two used expropriation of property and execution. They hoped to discourage others from a different king (Terrorism Files Organization , 2012). The Spanish Inquisition used arrests and execution for what it viewed as religious heresy (Terrorism Files Organization , 2012). Terror was strongly supported by Robespierre to aid in support of a revolution over the French. His time of ruling was known as the Reign of Terror from 1793 to 1794 (Terrorism Files Organization , 2012). One organization that was formed after the American Civil War by obstinate Southerners called the Ku Klux Klan (Terrorism Files Organization , 2012). Their goal was to intimidate people that supported the reconstruction that was taking place in the country (Terrorism Files Organization , 2012). In the later part of the 19th century followers of anarchism embraced terrorism tactics in United States, Western Europe and Russia (Terrorism Files Organization , 2012). Their beliefs were based on the fact that if they assassinate persons with political or social change power they could stop revolutionary change (Terrorism Files Organization , 2012). There were a number of prime ministers, presidents and top government officials that were killed by extreme anarchists from 1865 to 1905 (Terrorism Files Organization , 2012). A terrorist chooses to commit different terrorist acts based upon something that is important to the group like a political agenda (Charles A. Lushbaugh, 2016). One of the most committed acts is bombings. This tactic can have a big number of casualties. We saw this take place in Oklahoma City where a federal building was blown up resulting in 168 people killed and 500 injured (Charles A. Lushbaugh, 2016). Another is the hijacking of airplanes, buses, trains, and cruise ships or any other transportation that is considered to be mass transportation (Charles A. Lushbaugh, 2016). Doing this act is mainly committed for the high propaganda value that it has. Kidnapping is a big terrorist tactic where they target would target a wealthy person and hold them for a large ransom of money (Charles A. Lushbaugh, 2016). In return the terrorist use this money to support expense within their activities. Well-known individuals that have power or sometimes a person from the media can be easy targets for terrorist (Charles A. Lushbaugh, 2016). Terrorists also use an act known as kneecapping, which was developed by the Irish Republican Army. This act involved shooting the person right behind the knee, which cripples them for life (Charles A. Lushbaugh, 2016). The person is sent on their way and in return this sends a pivotal message to people of how powerful the terrorist group is. Arson is another method of terror, which has been used by animal-rights groups. The purpose of this form of terrorist act is to ruin property instead of focusing on hurting people (Charles A. Lushbaugh, 2016). Looking back over the years this method was used when animal rights groups tried to burn down a science research lab at the University of California at Davis (Charles A. Lushbaugh, 2016). Eco terrorist is a different approach called vandalism. Their goal is to hurt the lumber business by doing damage to the logging equipment (Charles A. Lushbaugh, 2016). One of their tactics is called tree spiking this is where they drive spikes into trees in hopes of breaking the logging equipment (Charles A. Lushbaugh, 2016). Less common today but still a possible tactic are assassinations. These are methodically planned out and executed. Terrorist funding comes from using Narcoterrorism. This involves the making of opium in the Middle east and in South American they focus on the production cocaine (Charles A. Lushbaugh, 2016). Last tactic is cyber terrorism where they using hacking skills to take control of networks for communications, gas and oil. International terrorism has been a big factor for the United States to combat against (Charles A. Lushbaugh, 2016). This type of terrorism mostly takes place outside of the United States and its territories. The Unites States State Department has found and identified 36 terrorist groups with the most dangerous being Al Qaeda (Charles A. Lushbaugh, 2016). The word Al Qaeda stands the base of Allahs backing (Charles A. Lushbaugh, 2016). Osama bin Laden started Al Qaeda in the early 1980s. When the group was first started its intended purpose was the fight against the Soviet Union who invaded Afghanistan (Charles A. Lushbaugh, 2016). In 1989 the Mujahedeen who had support from the United States successfully made the Soviets retreat (Charles A. Lushbaugh, 2016). After Osama bin Ladens father passed away he inherited over 300 million dollars. This kid of money gave Osama bin Laden the opportunity to go to school and learn about engineering. He also got exposure to writing and teaching of the radical Muslim ideas. In 1990 when the United States helped Kuwait who was being invaded by Iraq, this upset Osama bin Laden (Charles A. Lushbaugh, 2016). He was furious to see Muslims fight Muslims under American leadership. These then made Osama bin Laden declare war on the United States of America. Now Osama bin laden was training members of Al Qaeda to go to war with the United States (Charles A. Lushbaugh, 2016). The Al Qaeda is responsible for many of deaths (Charles A. Lushbaugh, 2016). In 1993 in Somalia the U.S. got in a firefight against trained extremist by Al Qaeda. There were 18 U.S. soldiers killed. Another was in 2000 involving a suicide bombing of the U.S.S. Cole in Aden (Charles A. Lushbaugh, 2016). This took the lives of 17 sailors and injured 39 others. Lastly and probably the biggest carried out attack is the 2001 World Trade Center and Pentagon bombing strike. Which took the lives of 3,000 people (Charles A. Lushbaugh, 2016). Weapons of mass destruction is a term we have heard about over the years, but what are they, really? There are two key components that make up weapons of mass destruction (Reed, 2016). One is they have a threat to large-scale destruction, especially involving civilians and nature (Reed, 2016). It should be noted that there are three types primarily used weapons of mass destruction, which are biological, nuclear, and chemical warfare agents (Reed, 2016). There are many of different chemical agents that can be used some can be mustard gas, sarin, hydrogen cyanide and chorine (Charles A. Lushbaugh, 2016). We have seen biological agents used in the early 2000s one being anthrax (Charles A. Lushbaugh, 2016). This was sent to try and specifically target two U.S. senators and a news anchor. It never made it to them, however, it did kill the five personnel who handled it (Charles A. Lushbaugh, 2016). The nuclear bombs vary on type some can be the atomic bomb, hydrogen bomb and dirty bombs (PBS Organization , 2005). Atomic bombs will produce a gigantic amount of electricity and heat. The hydrogen bomb packs a heavier punch, which it gets from the nuclear fusion (PBS Organization , 2005). When this bomb goes off it can damage anything around its radius and can contaminate water, air and soil for years (PBS Organization , 2005). Lastly, dirty bombs contain radioactive material. When this bomb explodes it sends radioactive material everywhere and leaves areas inhabitable for many years (PBS Organization , 2005).The United States has been using many of tactics to counterterrorism over the years with specifically designed groups. One groups is the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) their purpose is to analyze intelligence from each military branch. A more commonly known group called the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) they conduct domestic counterterrorism efforts (Charles A. Lushbaugh, 2016). Also, they travel to U.S. embassies and collect intelligence. Another important group is the National Security Agency (NSA), which works to gather signal and communication Intel, and does code breaking activates (Charles A. Lushbaugh, 2016). Lastly, a very important group through out the United States battles has been the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) their main purpose is to abstract intelligence beyond United States borders (Charles A. Lushbaugh, 2016). They get intelligence information by the use of secret human and technology tools to get facts on terrorist operations (Charles A. Lushbaugh, 2016).As you can see from the information I gathered in this report terrorism is very complex. It has many different components that make it up. There is no best way to fight terrorism but many ways to fight each dimension of terrorism. Terrorism is nothing new it has just begun to become a very important issue over the years because it has been put on the back burner for too long. Now we find ourselves in a world that is constantly trying to find strategies to combat it. We must act now with a great zeal to destroy terrorism wherever it stems from.

BibliographyCharles A. Lushbaugh, P. B. (2016). Criminal Investigation Basic Perspectives (Vol. 13). (A. Gilfillan, Ed.) New York , New York , USA: Pearson .PBS Organization . (2005, 5 2). Types of Nuclear Bombs . Retrieved 2 17, 2016, from PBS.org: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/military-jan-june05-bombs_05-02/Reed, L. (2016, 2 15). Weapons of Mass Destruction . Retrieved 2 17, 2016, from Hampshire College: https://www.hampshire.edu/pawss/weapons-of-mass-destructionTerrorism Files Organization . (2012, 1 15). History of Terrorism . Retrieved 2 9, 2016, from Terrorism Files : http://www.terrorismfiles.org/encyclopaedia/history_of_terrorism.htmlUS Army . (2007, 8 15). A Military Guide to Terrorism in 21st Century , 1. Retrieved 2 7, 2016, from fas.org : https://fas.org/irp/threat/terrorism/guide.pdf