Factors Motivating Terrorists to Commit Acts of Violence - Essay Example

?Introduction Terrorism refers to the use of unlawful violence and threats to intimi governments and the society at large so that unpopular ideologies can be recognized (Hoffman, 2003). Terrorist activities have continued to claim the lives of innocent civilians, especially due to the fact that such criminals are always brutal when it comes to executing their plans to the extent of committing suicide in the process. To them, success is when a maximum number of casualties are recorded in a single strike as they view this as a positive development towards convincing their targets, who may be forced to soften their stand on the issue in dispute so as to protect life. This paper is a critical evaluation of terrorism and the factors that motivate terrorists to commit acts of violence. Terrorism There are various factors which motivate terrorist groups to embark on violent missions towards innocent civilians. To begin with, revenge is one of the key motivations especially by a community which has suffered real or perceived injustices under an administration or a dominant society. For example, the US foreign policy towards the Arab countries in the Middle East has been perceived by terrorists as harsh towards people of Islamic faith (Hoffman, 2003). The country, being a super power, has in the past engaged its military in violent warfare in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq among others which has been viewed by critics as a show of disrespect on the sovereignty of these Muslim nations. Consequently, movements such as the Al-Qaida are a culmination of such thought, which has planted the seed of hatred towards the Americans in general. It is for this reason among others that the US has continued to fall prey to terrorist attacks such as those of September 11, 2001, among others such as the twin bombing of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 whereby more than 200 people lost their lives (Hoffman, 2003). It may be interesting to find that Osama bin Laden was once an ally of the US during the fight against the Soviet Union’s invasion in Afghanistan but the American government did the mistake of invading Iraq during its war with Kuwait instead of letting the Arab nations find a solution for themselves. According to Osama, this indicated that the US did not have respect for the Muslim community and therefore had to be punished by declaring Jihad against it (Abbas, 2004). The need for revenge has led to formation of other terrorist groups such as the Black September Organization. The motivation behind the formation of this organization was to punish the then King Hussein of Jordan, who commissioned the killing and forced eviction of Palestinians by his army in 1970. The organization conducted series of attacks including that of the Munich massacre in 1972, which was supposed to make the world know of the plight of the Palestinians. They also hijacked aero planes for example the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) flight in September 1970 from which they freed the hostages and then blew it up in the full glare of the media (David, 2007). From this perspective, it may also be true to say that terrorism may also arise as a violent way of communication. This is due to the fact that most of the terrorists after committing an attack, they usually send signals through the media indicating their involvement and the reasons as to why they have taken such an action. The Islamic Jihad Union for example has constantly made it clear through the media that they are opposed to American’s interference with the affairs of the Arab world and to drive the point home, series of attacks have been directed at the US both as a revenge and a show of discontent (National Counter Terrorism Center, 2011). Violent communication in this context has been as a result of under reporting or not reporting at all the plight of marginalized groups and communities. The media has been noted as always being ready to report events that are of great magnitude especially those involving violence and giving little attention to these groups. As a result, terrorist groups end up hurting innocent people just to bring in the attention of the media and therefore the whole society. This may be well explained by the South Moluccan hostage crisis of 1975, which took place in Netherlands. Apparently, the government had promised these people that they would be given an independent state where they would be responsible for their own affairs (Hoffman, 2003). On the contrary, the government instead of fulfilling its promise subjected these people to approximately 25 years of poor living conditions and poverty, a factor that angered the young Moluccan generation. As a way of showing their discontent and their desire to be noticed, they opted to use violence and it is under these circumstances that they hijacked a train carrying more than 50 passengers as well as taking hostage of the Indonesian consulate which was based in Amsterdam (Hoffman, 2003). Ironically, reports indicate that the events of these activities have facilitated the shooting of a movie in 2008 which means that the whole world would be made aware of the occurrences and in general, the terrorists will have reached their goal though most of them were apprehended after surrendering. Religion has also been considered as one of the key underlying factors that motivates terrorists. Islam for example has been noted as promoting extremist ideas such as Jihad, which has been interpreted by terrorists as a way of serving Allah through self sacrifice and martyrdom. It is believed that this has contributed to the mushrooming of suicide bombers, who in most cases are people who are brainwashed and fed with this idea while they are in their tender age in order to plant the see of hatred against non Muslims and collaborators, who digress from what is thought to be the mainstream Islam, to accommodate western lifestyles and ideologies. They are made to believe that killing such people brings honor to one’s memory as well as that of his or her family and also gains them with a direct ticket to heaven (Stern, 2004). However, this should not be interpreted to mean that all Muslims are terrorists as becoming a terrorist is basically the choice of an individual. Politics have also been noted as a key motivation factor towards terrorist activities. In this context, the leadership in a country may be unpopular with the citizens especially due to ideological differences, which may put extremists against the way they are governed. In places such as Uzbekistan, terrorist groups such as the Islamic Jihad Union have issues with the government, which practices secular rule and which is highly opposed to division along religious lines. As a show of dissidence, this group has opted to use violence in the way of bombing state offices and killing of state officers such as policemen (National Counter terrorism Center, 2011). Heir main aim for doing this is to destabilize the government and probably force the leaders to step down to pave way for a more radical Islamic government. In response, the government has continued to be vigilant in apprehending members of these groups through torture and imprisonment and also requesting for assistance from countries such as US and China. Conclusion Terrorism is the deliberate use of violence and threats by organized groups as a method of achieving goals. There are various motivation factors that promote terrorism which include and not limited to; religious extremism, revenge, and politics. Religious extremism especially the Islamic perspective promotes hatred towards those of different beliefs. Scriptures are used to support violent behaviors such as suicide bombing for one to become a martyr. Revenge generates from past transgressions committed against the terrorists whether in their personal capacity or affiliation. Political terrorism may arise as a result of divergent views on the leadership style used by those in government. If the government is not willing to change and accommodate dissent voices, these dissents may opt to use violence to destabilize the government. Bibliography Abbas, H. (2004). Pakistan's Drift into Extremism: Allah, then Army, and America's War Terror, M.E. Sharpe David, R. (2007). Terror in Black September, New York: Palgrave Macmillan Hoffman, B. (2003). Inside Terrorism, Columbia University Press National Counter Terrorism Center (2011). ‘Islamic Jihad Union (IJU),’ [Online] Available at: http://www.nctc.gov/site/groups/iju.html (Accessed 6 July 2011) Stern, J. (2004).Terror in the Name of God: Why Religious Militants Kill, Harper Perennial Read More