History and Motivators of Terrorism - Essay Example

History & Motivators of Terrorism Introduction: Terrorist attacks are the greatest threat of the modern world that challenges the peaceful existence of people. The 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in East African capital cities of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya are the best examples of terrorism towering over the world. It was on 7th August, 1998 the U.S. embassies in these countries were attacked. The explosion outside the U.S. embassy in Nairobi, Kenya took place at 10:30 a.m. in the form of a massive truck explosion. Another truck bomb exploded outside the U.S. embassy in Dar es Salaam, the capital of neighbouring Tanzania. "In Nairobi, where the US Embassy was located in a congested downtown area, the attack killed 291 persons and wounded about 5,000. The bombing in Dar es Salaam killed 10 persons and wounded 77." (Homeland security: Attacks on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, 2009). The death rate shows the intensity of the attack and the cruel mentality of the terrorists in killing the poor innocent people. When analysing these explosions, it is understood that those explosions were aimed at the Americans, working in the U.S. Embassies. The terrorists select different nations to execute their heinous mass killing by presenting lame excuses as comparing their activities to 'holy war'. It was with the U.S. embassy attacks the American Federal Bureau of Investigation began to suspect the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Osama Bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri as the master planners of these attacks. It is after this attack, American Investigative agency placed Osama bin Laden on its Ten Most Wanted list. Followed with the embassy bombings, world identified many terrorist attacks including the 1996 attack in Saudi Arabia and World Trade Centre attack in September 11, 2001. The proposed paper is an attempt to find out whether the attacks of the different terrorist groups in different parts of the world are justifiable and to analyze the reality behind these attacks. It also analyses their claim, 'holy war'- whether their actions go with their motto. The U.S. security forces have identified the reason for the attack as the revenge of the terrorist groups for the American involvement in the banishment, and alleged torture, of four members of Egyptian Islamic Jihad who had conducted attacks in Egypt and were arrested in Albania. It was after this incident; some of the militant leaders were also arrested and send out of Egypt. These arrests caused for rousing a grudge of the militants against the Americans, and they waited for a response that ended in the U.S. Embassy attacks in East Africa and Kenya. "The Nairobi operation was named after the Holy Kaaba in Mecca; the Dar es Salaam bombing was called al-Aqsa, after the mosque in Jerusalem." (Al Qaeda's 1998 attacks on Africa, 2008). From their way of naming the attacks, it is identical of the importance they attribute those attacks. Their method of attack also shows the prominence in their planning and executing the attack. Most of the investigations reveal that the real aim of bin Laden was to tempt America to Afghanistan, as he was aware of the disagreement between America and the Taliban. Though one can justify the terrorism, as an effective tactic of the weaker to attain their needs through conflict, terrorism in the modern sense is contrary that it keeps its eye only in attacks. It is the secretive nature and the small size of the terrorist groups often prevents the security forces from taking proper action against terrorists. It is the same privilege that Laden and his followers enjoy, after different attacks and the killings of many innocent people. When actions are taken to prevent terrorism, it leads to conflict, making it a criminal activity. The so- called freedom fighters- terrorist groups mainly stood for the religious cause. They claimed that their race or the community should be the only community existing in the world; other religions should be rooted out. The same mentality is seen in the terrorists of the 1998 U.S. embassy attacks. America accused Osama bin Laden, who is suspected to be the master planner of the international terrorism against America. It was on this suspicion the then U.S. president, Bill Clinton ordered to attack bin Laden's training camps in Afghanistan on August 20 of the same year. It is said that America got evidence of the Al-Qaeda's different attacks in America and other nations. Though Al-Qaeda was the main terrorist group that attacked the different institutions of U.S., different investigative agencies have identified the role of many other terrorist groups working against the existing institutions. Back ground and common aims of these groups: Before executing a terrorist attack the concerned group will have set certain goals and motivations. The goals and motivations may vary according to the groups. There are mainly two types of goals-political and religious. The ideology and motivation will have a strong influence on the objectives of each terrorist operation especially the rate of casualty. After a detailed study of terrorist attack one can find ideology and motivation will influence the objectives planning of every terrorist operations. The most important and declared aim of all Muslim terrorist groups mainly Al-Qaeda is the amalgamation of Muslims to fight the United States and its allies. Large number of Muslims moved from Eastern countries and concentrated in Afghanistan to join with the native people in a fragmentary war against Soviet Union in 1979. During the 1980s Osama Bin Laden materialized as the coordinator of these groups. Osama directed these groups with enough financial help and recruited individuals against non- Islamic countries. Under the supervision of Osama - Bin- Laden many regional terrorist groups have joined together and taken to the path of terrorism. Al Qadr, International Islamic Front for Jihad against Jews and Crusaders, Group for the Preservation of the Holy Sites, Islamic Army for the Liberation of the Holy Places, Islamic Army for the Liberation of Holy Shrines are the subsidiary groups of Al Qaeda. Al-Qaeda turned its attention to the United States in early 1992 and attacked the US because of perceived increasing influence of America among the Arab countries. Today the group has grown and expanded as an organization through the effective monitoring and structuring. Primarily all these terrorists groups have enjoyed the advantage of developmental issues. The following statement gives a clear cut idea about the back grounds of terrorist activities. It sys: "In places where people suffer from the effects of poverty, these groups attract followers by promising education, employment and the opportunity to serve a powerful political or religious cause. Essentially, these organizations claim to offer people a better life." This is the best way for terrorist groups to plan and direct their operations. Terrorists find justifications for their activities through these backward people or communities. (Multinational terrorist groups, 2006, p.2). The well planned structure of this group is helpful for the coordination and operation of various terrorist attacks. Bin-Laden established training camps and set up weapons in Sudan to support Al-Qaeda. A large number of young people have worked as employees in Laden's business to acquire materials such as weapons, explosives, and technical facilities for their operations. Money transfers for all these activities are based on various financial systems all over the world. Major money transactions include charity funds, various banking networks, and a number of informal institutions. All these terrorist groups kill not only their target people but also a number of civilians all over the world. Al-Qaeda and all such terrorist groups concentrate not only on the physical achievements but a number of ideological beliefs that created cooperation and support. Almost all terrorist groups concentrate on conquering non-Islamic Governments and banishing Westerners and non- Muslims from Muslim countries. Most of these Islamic terrorist groups receive financial, weapons, explosives, training, diplomatic, and organizational helps from Iran, Syria, and Pakistan. The powerful teachings about their beliefs and ideologies persuade the members of these groups and provoke them to commit violence and crime against innocent people. The ultimate goal of all these groups is the formation of an absolute Islamic order throughout the world through their holy war 'jihad'. The online article titled Background Information on Terrorist Groups says: "Its ultimate goal is the establishment of a pan-Islamic caliphate throughout the world." (Background information on terrorist groups, 2009). The supporters of these terrorist groups continue to design and direct attacks worldwide. Al-Qaeda and its supporting groups declared that Terrorism is the serious responsibility of each man who believes in Islam.. They continue their unending war against Americans and Jews. The primary aim of all terrorist attacks is the collapsing of economic stability of targeted countries. Terrorist attack in Mumbai on September 11 and recent terrorist attacks in Karachi etc. are based on the above mentioned aim. The news report entitled Militants burn NATO fuel tankers in Pakistan reports "Islamabad - Dozens of militants armed with guns and gasoline bombs attacked a truck terminal in north western Pakistan on Thursday and burned five tanker trucks carrying fuel to NATO troops in Afghanistan, police said." (Ahmad, 2009). Based on this news report one can find that terrorist attacks have concentrated on the destruction of essential services of the country. The leaders of Al-Qaeda declared that the groups strictly follow its own ideology and specific goals. 'Jihadism' is considered as the specific ideology of almost all Muslim terrorist groups. Like Al-Qaeda and other Islamic terrorist groups other groups have their own declared aims and ideologies. Somali Extremists have a similar goal like Al-Qaeda. LTTE in Sri Lanka has the aim to form a Tamil nation. Afro- Asian and other regional terrorist groups have their on aims and have planned operations for achieving their aim. The PLO affiliated groups confined their international attacks only on Israel and these groups launched suicide strikes within Israel, killing number of US militia.. The strict structure of division of labour and planned specialization which exists in the group will help them to reach their proposed aims. The targets and aims of these terrorist groups are highly symbolic. They establish close relationship with government offices, educational institutions, banks and other financial institutions, national airlines, and multinational organizations. These groups conduct attacks on persons who are purpotedly associated with social injustice and political repression. The online article rightly comments about the operational system of Terrorist groups. It says: "There also is a tendency to add religiously affiliated individuals, such as missionaries, and religious activities, such as worship services, to the targeting equation." (Goals and motivations of terrorists. (n.d)). Through these activities terrorist groups justify their actions. After the Cold War a number of Western terrorist groups were established and they had worked against the supremacy of The United States. More than these declared aims various terrorist groups indented to form an unquestioned administrative system that preserves their own ideologies and objectives. How ever, all these terrorist groups are harmful for international peace and cooperation. Even The United States also bounded with terrorist threat. In their collaborative effort Mark Sauter, James Jay Carafano gives the comments about the seriousness of terrorism. They say: "These traditions proved unable to protect America from the attackers of 9/11 and the modern terrorist threat." (Thomas, 2005, p.3). To conclude, Terrorist groups in any region have their own instructed aims and ideologies. All terrorist operations are based on these specific aims and ideologies. Outcome of the incidents: The 1998 U.S. embassy attacks have had tremendous impacts on the followed terrorist attacks and counter attacks. It was after the embassy attack, the World Trade Centre attack in 2001, and the Afghan attack in search of Laden, etc. occurred. American attack in Afghanistan was a counter attack of the World Trade Centre attack that caused the lives of many people. The outcome of these terrorist attacks can be seen in different parts of the world but one cannot assert that almost all the nations of the world are under the threat of terrorist groups. An analysis of the terrorist attacks will reveal the reality that the majority of the attacks are located in countries like France, India, Iraq, Israel, Russia, Spain, Sri Lanka and the UK and U.S. But the recent attacks of the Islamic terrorist groups are mainly focused in London, Madrid, and New York City, as well as numerous other cities in Europe, Asia and North America. Terrorism has affected the world nations in different ways but majority of the impacts are the same, including the U.S. embassy attacks. The general outcome of every terrorist attack is the death of many innocent people and the loss of public wealth and institutions. The 1998 U.S. embassy attack marked the death of hundreds of people and many were seriously injured, destined its impacts all through their lives. The impacts of terrorism do not limit to physical suffering, but the mental strain and psychiatric issues caused with these attacks are many. Even individuals residing far away from the real incident are seemed to be affected with many psychological problems as an after effect of the attack. It is evident in the attacks of the U.S. embassies in 1998 and the world trade centre attack on 11 September 2001. "Studies conducted in representative samples of the general population following terrorist events can be divided into those that have investigated the prevalence of substantial stresses (the presence of a predetermined level of psychological symptoms) and those that have attempted to estimate the prevalence of diagnosable psychiatric disorders." (Whalley, & Brewin, 2007). There is not much study conducted on the effect of terrorist attacks among the children who witnessed the 1998 U.S. embassy attack. But the available studies point to the fact that even after one year of the terrorist attack, most of the children are haunted with the terror of the attacks and it is said that children are the main victims of these attacks as they are shocked and depressed after witnessing these attacks. The impact of the incident are extremely high in the first days of the attack and are tended to decline in the first two weeks and by 6-8 weeks had fallen by two thirds. "The data on rates of probable acute stress disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) show a similar pattern. Rates of PTSD in the general population attributable to single attacks may be as high as 11-13% in the first 6 weeks but decline sharply with time, with most studies indicating rates below 3% 2 months after the incident." (Whalley, & Brewin, 2007). The given data is capable of providing an understanding on the impact of terrorism in the people. Regarding the mental health of those who have the direct experience of a terrorist attack, it is seen that majority among them are subjected to depression and different studies in this field reveals that the reaction includes traumatic grief, panic, phobias, generalized anxiety disorder and substance misuses. From the above analysis, it is assumed that the impact of terrorism has had wider implications and it is difficult for one to get rid of its effect easily. Justification of the Terrorist Groups: Each and every terrorist group has its own justification for their deeds. Religion plays a very crucial role in the formation and growth of terrorism. For example the Muslim religion justifies terrorism on the religious ground. The terrorist group that conducted the 1998 attack had their own justification. They claim that Islam is the religion of tolerance; they hold every human soul in high esteem and consider any of the attack against innocent human beings as sombre sin. When regarding the view points of the terrorists, DiPietro Renee et al views that "The whole saying that one man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist is true. But the real point is, there is a choice. Man has a choice to see his freedom fighter as a terrorist or not." (One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter, 2006). Many movements have come into force setting the goal to promote Islamism and Salafi is one among them. The Salafis focus on personal piety and spreading proper Islam. A large number of Salafis believe that it is the responsibility of the religious leaders known as the Ulma to advise the leaders about Islamic religion and legislation but they prefer to do it in private. Yet another group of the Salafi believes that it is the duty of Muslims to openly speak out against the anti-Islamic actions decisions and public policies. A small group of the Salafi community, known as Jihadis argues that it is their duty to use violence to remove leaders who do not follow or enforce Islam. Al-Qaeda is part of this group. There are two types of jihad namely defensive and offensive. The offensive jihad stands for the spread of Islam. The defensive jihad is widely accepted as it is similar to international norms of self-defence and Judeo-Christian just-war theory. They claim that it is their duty to wage jihad to protect the faithful Muslims. They consider mutual protection as the religious obligation intended to ensure the survival of the entire Muslim community. Thousands of Muslims flocked to Afghanistan to fulfil their religious duty in the 1980s. Terrorists as freedom fighters: Most of the terrorists justify themselves as freedom fighters though their claim is entirely incorrect with regard to the authoritative international law. As any attack upon non-combatants is always considered as illegal they cannot be justified at any cost. The point to be noted is that any terrorist who is executing his plan does it intentionally disregarding any kind of consideration. The explosion may burn innocent women and children at a shopping mall or wedding ceremony or at lunch or even at their prayer. How can it be justified So, one can find that their claim is facile and shallow. In his article titled, Terrorists Are Not "Freedom Fighters", Professor Louis Rene Beres firmly states that: "The ends CAN NEVER justify the means. As in the case of war between states, every use of force by insurgents must be judged twice, once with regard to the justness of the objective (in this case, a Palestinian state built upon the charred ruins of a dismembered Israel) and once with regard to the justness of the means used in pursuit of that objective." (Beres, 2004). Conclusion: While arriving at the conclusion after analyzing the various elements connected with the 1998 U.S. embassy bombing, it is understood that terrorism is a real threat to the modern world and it should be rooted out. The evaluation of the terrorist groups discloses that most of the terrorist groups claim for a world based on Islam by driving out the non-Islamic. There are some others like the L.T.T.E. of Sri Lanka, Maoists of China and India, who claim for their own country based language and racial ethics and a new economic and political order. The ultimate aim of all these groups is to attain power by using the most vicious ways. The study of the U.S. embassy attacks reveals that terrorism has had far reaching impacts and it is even capable of preventing the growth of a country by affecting the smooth flow of human life. U.S. embassy bombing in East Africa and Kenya constitute the best examples of it. The U.S. World Trade Centre attack shook the strong belief of the people that their country is safe; though they recovered from its shock later. It is to be noted that the aim of these terrorist groups at the beginning was, to an extent, for a better cause, but later they turned from professed lofty ideals to extremism and violence, costing the lives of many innocent people. These terrorist groups justify their activities by calling their fight as 'Jihad'- 'the holy war' and attempting the reverse. They also claim that their fighting is for a noble cause and so they should be regarded as freedom fighters. But any sensible person will be aware of the reality that there is not anything justifiable in their claim and terrorism must be rooted out as it is a threat to peaceful life of the world. Reference Ahmad, Munir. (2009). Militants burn NATO fuel tankers in Pakistan. Yahoo News. Retrieved April 30, 2009, from http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090423/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan_17 Al Qaeda's 1998 attacks on Africa. (2008). Baldilocks. Retrieved April 30, 2009, from http://www.luoamerican.com/baldilocks/2008/08/al-qaedas-1998.html Background information on terrorist groups: Description. (2009). Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved April 30, 2009, from http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Terrorism/terror_report_orgs.html Beres, Louis. (2004). The difference between murderers and freedom fighters. Likoed Nederland. Retrieved April 30, 2009, from http://www.likud.nl/press313.html Goals and motivations of terrorists. (n.d). Terrorism Research. 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Editorials: Mental health following terrorist attacks: Mental health of the general population. The British Journal Psychiatry, 190, 94-96. Retrieved April 30, 2009, from http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/190/2/94 Read More