The Threat of Terrorism in the United States - Essay Example

Abstract

Terrorism is a worldwide problem that affects all global countries. The United States has not been left behind when it comes to this problem of terrorists causing harm to economy of the country and injury to the citizens. CSIS report indicates that the most significant threats come from though anarchists, white supremacists, and religious extremists such as the Islamic State. The country has been targeted by both foreign and domestic terrorist groups. Even with the intelligence that the place of origin of terrorism in the U.S is in the Islamic States, it is not enough to end the threat because it is a problem that is majorly internal and within the U.S boundaries. Terrorism is not only limited to Islam and Muslims, but it is a domestic problem too. The current paper examines the terrorism in the United States in light that it is not only a foreign-caused problem rather an internal issue of America.

Keywords: Terrorism, Islamic, foreign, and domestic

Terrorism in the U.S

The United States is one of the world’s biggest countries that have increasingly been faced with the threat of terrorism. The country was last to hit the hardest 16 years ago with the data from CSIS show that the U.S has been having many incidents of terrorist attacks. The report indicates that the most significant threats come from though anarchists, white supremacists, and religious extremists such as the Islamic State. Therefore, it remains from the report that for America, foreign terrorist organizations remain at the lead intending to strike the country through directed attacks or inspiring individuals that are susceptive living in the country. However, even with the intelligence that the place of origin of terrorism in the U.S is in the Islamic States, it is not enough to end the threat. This because terrorism is not only limited to Islam and Muslims, but it is a domestic problem too. It can be our own neighbors committing horrific crimes against our nation or the people within the U.S borders, and any effective solution should not only focus on across the border but also within the country. The current paper examines the terrorism in the U.S since is not just a foreign-caused problem by Islamic states but also a major issue within the boundaries of America.

Terrorism from the international perspective describes the criminal and violent acts the individuals or groups perform. These groups or individuals are inspired or associated with foreign nations or designated terrorist organizations that are both foreign and local. This means that terrorism can also be defined from the domestic perspective where groups or individuals who want to further their ideological goals of religion, politics, and racial nature engage in violent and criminal acts (Golder & George, 2004). From a domestic perspective, the non-state actors get involved with the intent to achieve some political goals and cause a significant psychological impact. Therefore, from the reports, when talking about terrorism in America, it is both seen as an international perspective and a domestic perspective depending on the groups or the individuals involved and the reason behind their actions.

Whenever domestic terrorism occurs, it involves groups of the perpetrators within the boundaries of America who threaten to use unlawful and violent means. There is no commitment of any form by the foreign groups against any person or property located in the U.S; thus, it purely remained within the boundaries. International terrorism, on the other hand, involves those acts that are dangerous and tend to risk the lives of people hence violating the criminal laws of the country. Though over the decade, there have been changes in the way terrorism occurs, much data shows that the significant terrorism activities are planned and executed domestically.

The U.S has faced with the threat of terrorism that is based on domestic and international fronts, and this evolution is attributed to many factors. One of the noted factors is lone offenders, which is seen as the new way of conducting terrorism. Lone offenders are as a result of the evolution from large group conspiracies in which attacks are no longer undertaken in groups but rather a single individual (Golder & George, 2004). Lone offenders who have undergone radicalization through the online platform are often trained to mobilize to criminal activity quickly. It is often a challenge manage lone offenders even with the FBI without the help of the public to provide tips. Another factor is the advancement in the international and social media platforms. Through the availability and use of the internet and digital platforms such as messaging, this has seen an increase in domestic and international terrorism (Elbein, 2020). This has also been supported by online things such as publications, videos, and images. The platforms make it easier for the groups to renew their ability to radicalize and recruit people who are ready to listen and incorporate the messaging by extremists. It is also easy through the use of social media that terrorists are the international and domestic levels are able to gain unprecedented access to people in the U.S to attack them.

Enough evidence is documented to support terrorism in the U.S. Since 1994, data shows the events of terrorism in the U.S. These events include both attacks and plots that later turned out foiled. The perpetrators are often left-wing, right-wing, religious, and ethno-nationalism. Overall these years, the country’s religious attacks were plotted and executed by terrorist groups subscribing to a Salafi-jihadist ideology. Over the past two decades, there have been over 800 hundred terrorist attacks in the U.S. For example, in 2001, in Pennsylvania and New York City, America, and its allies were attacked.

The 2001 terrorism attack considered one of the worst that Americans suffered in the hands of the terrorists. Experts have considered it as the landmark that escalated the destructive terrorist attacks. Though, this was classified among the international terrorist actions where civilians were the people who suffered most (Hoxha, 2019). In an attempt to support the idea of the dominance of domestic terrorism in the U.S, researchers into the 2001 terrorism activity are presented as the first-ever known case of a suicide attack in which the international terrorists were involved (Golder & George, 2004). This means that majority of the prior-attacks and even what continue to be experienced in plenty are domestically motivated activities.

Multiple terrorist organizations have continuously been plotting against the U.S. However, the homeland department has remained vigilant to prevent any other catastrophic attack, such as the one that happened in 2011. The terrorist organizations are both foreign and homegrown violent extremists that draw their influence and power from foreign terrorist organizations (Golder & George, 2004). Today, America is more affected by terrorism by individuals who are motivated by domestic terrorist ideologies. The ideologies include ethnically and racially motivated extremism, such as anti-authority extremism, extremism based on white supremacists, and anti-governmental authorities.

Due to the flexibility of the terrorist threat, there is a strong interconnection between the terrorist organizations that operate in the U.S. These organizations have achieved the transnational network structure which has been made easier with the help of modern technology and the loose interconnectivity with and among groups (Hoxha, 2019). The interconnection between terrorists is to facilitate them to work together by sharing intelligence, funding, task execution, logistical training, and planning their activities. Thus, working together and the interconnections by the terrorist organizations make it possible for them to conduct their activities as far as their job is concerned.

In the U.S, terrorists and their organizations operate on three levels. The initial level involves terrorists that operate only in the U.S. This means that where they can reach and what they can do is limited. However, considering the extent of their impact, the actions of the first-level organizations influence the international consequences. The groups have the opportunity to geographic expansion depending on the ambitions, and the capabilities are no checked. Other terrorist organizations that are interconnected in the U.S include the regional-level and global-level organizations.