Terrorism Asymmetric Warfare and Weapons of Mass Destruction - Research Paper Example

Terrorist Attacks against America Terrorism and terror attacks on American soil have been ongoing for a long time, and in the last decade, it has dominated both domestic and international political discourse. Previously, terrorism was mainly linked to foreign states and governments carrying out violent attacks against American installations and citizens in order to further apolitical objective. However, there has been an upsurge in the number of religiously motivated terror attacks targeting America. The terror attacks have claimed many American lives both at home and in foreign soils, increasing the need for the country to improve its defense against these threats. Terrorism and terror attacks on American soil have been ongoing for a long time, and in the last decade, it has dominated both domestic and international political discourse. However, the historical aspect of terrorism especially on American soil has only gained interest from historians following the September 11, 2001 attacks, addressing the issue from its 19th century origins to the present, and examining its implications on national development and identity. Acts of terror in the past were predominantly foreign state-sponsored activities fueled by political motives and acts of sabotage by rogue extremist groups. These political acts were mainly a spectacular means of communicating some sort of greater cause to audiences that might be geographically distant from the target itself. However, over the last four decades, the old paradigm of terrorism has been largely replaced by a new wave of religiously motivated acts of terror, with no affiliation to or sponsorship by any sovereign state (Juergensmeyer, 2005). The old terrorism made it difficult to have a clear definition of terrorism since it was not easy to differentiate between terror attacks and guerilla warfare. The new paradigm of terrorism is much clearer with most of the organizations involved in acts of terror openly coming out to claim responsibility. The causes of this ‘new’ terrorism are varied and cannot be attributed to one single cause or individual, however, the face of religious terrorism in the twenty first century has been Osama bin Laden until his death by American forces in 2012. Unlike in the past when terrorist attacks were of relatively small scale, terrorism has taken a new angle with the intent to cause massive casualties using advanced weapons. The United States has experienced several terror attacks especially beginning in early 1990s to date, which culminated with the attacks of September 11, 2001. This paper seeks to examine terrorist attacks against America, how it has evolved and the major terror attacks that Americans were faced with especially during the last decade. However, before examining the dynamics of terrorist attacks against America, it is important to first give a summary timeline of the major terror attacks that have occurred since the early 1990s. Timeline of Terrorist attacks against Americans and American facilities Terrorism, unlike ordinary crime, entails religious or politically motivated acts directed at a target population or government to either intimidate or destroy lives and property. Although there is still considerable debate on the definition of terrorism, the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation classifies terrorism depending on the origin, base, and intentions of those involved in the terror acts. The Bureau defines terrorism as unlawful acts by a groups or individuals against property, populations or governments aimed at intimidating or coercing the targets, with the ultimate purpose of furthering political, social or religious objectives (Cordesman, 2002). The origin of terrorist attacks against America and Americans can be domestic where groups or individuals operating within the U.S. or its territories are involved in such acts aimed at intimidating or harming the population or destroying property in order to further a certain objective. On the other hand, international terrorism involves violent acts committed outside the United States and its territories in order to influence policies by coercing or intimidating population or governments, or simply cripple government activities. Although groups have been known to commit terrorist acts against America for a long time, the most prominent attacks occurred in last decades with the advent of religiously motivated terrorism. At the beginning of the 1900s, the most devastating terrorist attack on American soil occurred on September 16th, 1920 when bombs planted in Wall Street, New York, exploded, killing thirty five people and injuring many others (Larabee, 2003). Although the origin and objectives of the attackers was never solved, it was widely believed that Bolshevist group was responsible for the attack. The next major terrorist attack occurred fifty-five years later on January 24th, 1975 when a bomb set off at Fraunces Tavern in the same city exploded, killing four people and causing serious injuries to more than fifty others. However, the responsibility for this attack, unlike the previous one, was claimed by the Puerto Rican nationalist movement (FALN). The attack, like most other similar attacks during this period, was intended to influence American foreign policy on Puerto Rica (McCann, 2006). On November, 4, 1979, another politically motivated act of terrorism occurred on an American facility outside the United States, at the country’s embassy in Tehran. Radical Iranian students took control over the embassy, taking sixty-six American officials hostage (Farber, 2005). Although all the hostages were later released after more than a year in captivity, the event would come to define American-Iranian relations to date. The intensity and number of casualties of terrorist attacks increased significantly in the 1980s, with terrorists using more lethal weapons and targeting larger populations. The Lebanon-based Hezbollah terrorist group kidnapped 30 nationals of America and other Western countries in Lebanon. The kidnapped hostages were held for almost a decade from 1982 to 1991, with others either being killed, dying during their captivity, or eventually being released. A year after the kidnapping of Western nationals, the U.S. embassy was destroyed in a car bomb attack killing sixty-three American, among them seventeen Americans. The Islamic Jihad group claimed responsibility for this terror attack that occurred in the same country’s capital of Beirut on April, 18, 1983. On October 23 in the same year and city, 241 American marines were killed when suicide bombers exploded a truck outside the United States military barracks. Another attack was to happen in the same year on American embassy based in Kuwait, killing five and injuring eighty others (McCann, 2006). Attacks on Americans in Lebanon did not seize when in 1984, two more attacks took place, the first on September 20 when a truck bomb exploded outside the American embassy killing twenty four people, among them two American soldiers. The second attack occurred on December 3 when Pakistan bound Kuwaiti Flight 221 was hijacked and diverted to Iran that ended with the killing of two Americans nationals. The following year, four major attacks happened mainly outside the U.S. that resulted in the deaths of seven Americans. The attacks mainly targeted facilities associated with Americans and the West, for example, the attack by gunmen on an Italian cruise ship that claimed the life of one American tourist, and the execution of a U.S. navy diver kidnapped when a Rome bound plane was hijacked by Hezbollah terrorists. On December 21, 1988, the deadliest yet terrorist attack brought down a plane bound for New York when an in flight bomb exploded, killing all 259 passengers on board. The Libyan government later on admitted responsibility for the attack that crashed the plane into Lockerbie, Scotland (McCann, 2006). The 1990s saw the increase in the number of religiously motivated terrorists’ attacks against America, particularly originating from Islamic fundamentalist groups. On February 26, 1993, a bomb exploded in World Trade Center building, New York, killing six people and injuring over one thousand others. The Al Qaeda terrorist group, which was taking root during this period, was suspected of being behind the attack. Although the last two decades have been littered with various terrorist attacks against America and its citizens, the most notable ones included the car bombing of federal office building in Oklahoma on April 19, 1995, that resulted in the deaths of one hundred and sixty-eight people (Kellner, 2008). The other attack that saw Osama bin Laden listed by the American FBI as one of the top ten wanted persons in the world occurred on August 1998 outside American soil. The twin attacks on American embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salam, East Africa, killed a total of 224 people. Three years later, the terrorist attack that shaped American policies forever, and brought to the forefront the fight against terrorism occurred on American soil on September11, 2001 when terrorist crashed two commercial planes into the WTC, and two more jets into the Pentagon, killing 2,992 people. State Sponsorship of terrorism The United States currently designates various countries as sponsors of terrorism by financing terrorist operations against America or providing safe havens for terrorist groups in their soils, the countries currently listed are Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Libya as state sponsors of terrorism, and North Korea and Cuba as providing safe havens for terrorist groups (Richardson, 2013). The most serious terrorist threats are currently originating from Al Qaeda, which has been responsible for several attacks on both America and America facilities, and other foreign countries. The Hezbollah terrorist group in Lebanon is also notorious for conducting various terror attacks across the world. Sudan is also believed to provide safe haven to Hezbollah and Hamas, and over the years has been involved in the production of chemical weapons for use by terrorists. Iran still poses serious terrorism threat especially to the U.S. with its ability to carry out surveillance of the country’s installations and personnel. The political motive behind Iranian financing, training, and equipping of Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihadist (PIJ) is to derail the Middle East peace process, and is mainly aimed by their attempt to ‘annihilate and destroy’ Israel. Religion and its lethality Following the numerous religiously motivated attacks on U.S. facilities and its citizens especially during the last two decades, successive governments have prioritized the fight against both domestic and global terrorism. The religious attacks have become more massive with increased lethality of attacks, advance in technological and operational competence of terrorists, and demonstrated desire of terrorists to acquire weapons of mass destruction. According to terrorism expert Bruce Hoffman, terrorist groups putting political objectives in a religious context were responsible for most of the attacks during the 1990s and 2000s (Hoffman, 2006). Although there are other religious organizations that have been involved in acts of terror, the most serious threat to U.S. security is posed by Jihadist groups. The jihadists are organized, have spectacular operational competencies, technical and training skills, and are experienced in combat. Moreover, they have the capacity to reach most parts of the world through legitimate cover operations. The religious, unlike the secular terrorist groups intend to cause massive loss of life and destruction, and to achieve this, they have demonstrated a desire to acquire weapons of mass destruction including chemical, biological and even nuclear weapons. In order to counter terrorism and thwart terrorism attempts, The U.S. government has made the fight against terrorism a top priority, with the appreciation that the global nature of terrorism calls for cooperation with other governments. Conclusion Terrorism against America and its citizens remains a reality especially with the increased emergence of non-state actors in the form of religious terrorist groups. Given the new conditions, it is crucial to ensure increased efforts aimed at addressing vulnerabilities of security systems since new terrorism threats may be of a nature hitherto unanticipated, making it difficult to prevent. Moreover, there is need to increase the countries budgets on sectors dealing with national security especially in intelligence, military, and law enforcement programs. America alone cannot possibly eliminate the deep-rooted causes of religiously motivated terrorism. Religious terrorist groups perceive America as the source of profound threat, forcing the country to play defense against terrorism for quite some time in the future. References Cordesman, A. H. (2002). Terrorism, asymmetric warfare, and weapons of mass destruction: Defending the U.S. homeland. Westport, CT: Praeger. Farber, D. R. (2005). Taken hostage: The Iran hostage crisis and America's first encounter with radical Islam. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. Hoffman, B. (2006). Inside terrorism. New York: Columbia University Press. Juergensmeyer, M. (2000). Terror in the mind of God: The global rise of religious violence. Berkeley: University of California Press. Kellner, D. (2008). Guys and guns amok: Domestic terrorism and school shootings from the Oklahoma City bombing to the Virginia Tech massacre. Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers. Larabee, A. (March 01, 2003). A brief history of terrorism in the United States. Knowledge, Technology & Policy, 16, 1, 21-38. McCann, J. T. (2006). Terrorism on American soil: A concise history of plots and perpetrators from the famous to the forgotten. Boulder, CO: Sentient Publications. Richardson, L. (2013). The roots of terrorism. New York: Routledge. Read More