Terrorism Awareness - Essay Example

Terrorism Awareness Osama Bin Laden strategies Bin Laden had considered the Arab Spring a “formidable eventin the modern history of Muslims” (Lahoud et al. 2012, 3). The strategies to respond to this are contained in the letters and documents recovered after Bin Laden’s death dated back to April 2011. The intention of the strategy was to respond effectively to the new political landscape in Middle East and North Africa. Osama wanted that the al-Qaida would focus on media outreach and guidance.

People who have not yet revolted and rebelled against the rulers would be guided into this by media incitement and guidance. In Afghanistan, jihadists were to continue with the fight against United States, weakening and threatening the U. S would make Muslims all over the world revolt against their rulers (Lahoud et al. 2012, 3). When the Muslims all over the world would stop fearing the Western countries invasion, they will be able to focus on building their countries and supporting their rulers.

This was considered a formidable event because such a worldwide revolt was unbeatable and strong enough to cause fear. The focus was to make the revolution as hard as possible to deal with.Relationship with the Jihadists The relationship between the leader of al-Qaida and the jihadi before his death was not friendly. Osama was known to have sidelined most of their efforts to justify their deeds and did not heed to their counsel. One such occasion was when Abu Basir suggested Anwar al-`Awlaqi to replace him as the Yemen leader of the group (Lahoud et al. 2012, 24).

Bin Laden rejected this suggestion even though Anwar al-`Awlaqi seemed, even to him an able person (Lahoud et al. 2012, 24). A similar conflict is seen when bin Laden provided a statement regarding the response to the Arab Spring. The strategy was his own without consultation of other key leaders. Weeks later, he was killed by the US military in what seemed like a betrayal attempt to sideline him (Lahoud et al. 2012, 55. He was succeeded by Ayman al-Zawahiri, a close friend to Abu Basir and Anwar al-`Awlaqi.

Radicalization processKing and Taylor describe the radicalization process as a phenomenon that leads to homegrown terrorism. The terrorists are born and raised in the same country they are willing to destroy. They, therefore, describe the process as the transformation that occurs psychologically among the Muslims who are born and raised in the Western countries, that makes them accept the legitimacy of terrorism continually and hence support the efforts of the jihadists against the Western countries (King et al.

2011, 3-4).Their study focused on homegrown jihadists because radicalization turns the citizens of a nation against the nation. The Muslims who have been born and raised in a specific country became transformed to accept terrorism and attack their own people.King’s and Taylor’s position on counter-radicalizationCounter-terrorism strategies cannot be based on models that have not been empirically validated. This position stems from the fact that a strategy so formed will be based on assumptions and not on empirical data.

For instance, counter-terrorism strategies based on the psychopathology explanations are unrealistic and risky. More research into personality characteristics, identity management and feelings of relative deprivation must be conducted (King et al. 2011, 16).It is only through this research that the known will be separated from the theorized. The narrative adopted by the jihadists that Islam is under attack is amenable to empirical research. This is because the facts presented by the jihadists can be verified through research to remove doubts and clear issues.

The argument is based on testable facts and not theories and therefore can be used to strategize counter-terrorism (King et al. 2011, 17).King and Taylor’s conclusionThe legitimacy of terrorism is accepted after a series of psychological transformations known as radicalization. Various models theorize the issue of homegrown radicalization, the principles of these models can be used to strategize counter-terrorism, however, basing strategies on non-facts is risky, empirical research into terrorism especially on the psychological basis is necessary (King et al.

2011, 17-18).Key contributors to the radicalization process that bred terrorism should be deeply researched to understand how the individuals and hence the groups are selected and how they can be compared. The characteristics and identities ought to have clear assessment prior to application of any model to strategize counter-radicalization (King et al. 2011, 17-18).