Terrorism can be seen as a way to intimidate another by using direct threats of violence to make rise for political advantage. Terrorism can be carried out by individuals or groups, in our own countries and internationally. It seems to be an ongoing war that has only began to expand in our recent times. With terrorism on the rise, governments must take immense measures to protect their citizens. Using knowledge and intel from local and outside governments.
The start of trans international terrorism began in 1968 when Palestinian groups began to assault and take over airplanes to kidnap passengers. “This skyjacking was motivated by the intention of the PFLP terrorist to trade its hostages for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.” (Sandler, pg. 06). This time period was just the beginning of future terrorist attacks. Instead of it just being localized attacks, it began the focal point to international terrorism. These transnational attacks have changed things in our world immensely. And terrorist attacks have only seemed to escalate due to a massive amount of eradication that terrorists have employed currently compared to past terrorists. With this continuous destruction is seem that they are accomplishing what they are striving to do. For example, 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center carried out by Al, Guida was to create a divide between us and Muslims. “Of course, if groups are successful in dividing a population or alienating a group against the government, they have enhanced their chances of achieving their long-term political objectives.” (Lutz, pg. 17)
Furthermore, terrorism attacks have changed immensely over the ages. For example, terrorism can be seen when people or groups would use religion against others, with acts of violence or threat of it. Forcing individuals to side with their religion or belief. Another example can be seen “as early as 400 B.C.E., Greek sailors set ships on fire and steered them into enemy forces, a tactic that has become so common throughout history that it inspired the coining of the term ‘fireship.” (Harmon, pars. 1) Terrorism has now escalated to individuals or groups committing suicide to justify their demands.
127 our experts are availableright now
In addition to all this, people may wonder who would want to join in terrorism? Well there are many reasons for someone to join a terrorist group. But to join a terrorist group they must be given a chance to and most terrorists groups are selective when recruiting. For example, it easiest to recruit younger individuals because they can be easily manipulated when it comes to beliefs, wanting to follow their friends or family. Youth can even join because terrorism is so well known that they may find it appealing and may make them feel well known when they have always felt alone. But terrorists don’t just go after the young and vulnerable. Terrorist groups look for educated and prominent people to join as well so that they can advance their plans or have a more political advantage. Recruitment though is not always voluntary, as terrorists groups also force individuals to join their cause. Another recruitment method for terrorism is also social media. Using the internet has made recruitment faster and allowed a larger scale of access to people and groups. “Today, nearly every group that is identified as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States Department of State has an online presence” (Cibra ,pg. 6)
As I had previously stated religion can be used as a mean to terrorism. Terrorism and religion do coincide, but they have for decades not just through Islamic terrorists. When trying to discuss religion and terrorism, the two can be a hard topic to discuss because religion is of our own individual beliefs and reasoning. But with that said I can see why people may take radical measures to protect their beliefs and that is due to our immense belief in them. For instance, think about the placebo effect. You take two groups to test out a new drug. One group takes the new drug that helps you quit smoking and the other group unknowingly take the placebo. Well the group that unknowingly takes the placebo starts thinking they have lost the urge to smoke and surprisingly quits. Our beliefs can become our realities and there are studies proving that. But our religious beliefs are not the only reason for terrorism. Terrorists use religion as a reason to justify their crimes, but they are not the only ones that do this. So, it can’t be just pointed at them alone. Religion has been used for centuries as way to justify violence, crime, hate, and, even death.
With Islamic terrorism though it isn’t just about religion it is also about politics as they are not considered separate matters to them. Islamic terrorist during their recruitment process look for people who are prominent as I have previously stated. And that goes all they way up the ladder. So its not unlikely that terrorist would take the advantage of having political adversaries to help them with their cause.
