Terrorism Essays (1502 words) - Terrorism, Fear, Violence, Behavior

Terrorism Terrorism by nature is difficult to define. Acts of terrorism conjure emotional responses in the victims as well as in the practitioners. No two writers agree on what is terrorism. Even the U.S. government cannot agree on one single definition. The old adage, "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter" is still alive and well today ("Terrorism Research Center: Definitions" 1). Although many people believe that terrorism is evil, it is merely misunderstood because there is no set definition. Terrorist are responsible to most of the freedom movements in every country. Terrorist have used violence to get their point across to the public. These acts are often necessary for the success of the movement or cause. The use of this violence can be justified in several ways. You can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs has been used by terrorist to describe their actions. Terrorism has been used by governments and against them. It has been used as part of a campaign by guerrillas who have widespread support and by small groups. Terrorism has been used in societies where grievances can be expressed freely and where free speech is suppressed. In a well organized guerrilla campaign, for example, the main goal might be to destroy the governments military forces. The violence is limited to acts which will achieve that objective. This might be destroying a factory which is making arms, or putting out of action part of the government army, or bombing an airfield so that it cannot be used by government aircraft. In some cases, the use of terrorism appears to be a reaction to the disintegration of law and order. A stable society has normally evolved peaceful ways of keeping order and handling disputes between its members without violence. Once law and order breaks down, as they do in civil wars, members of society have to defend themselves in different ways. There may be in a situation where government forces are using terrorism and guerrilla forces the same methods in return. Other groups in society start using violence to defend this right and so a climate of terror emerges. What little law and order remains is maintained solely by the strongest groups using fear (Freeman 43). Terrorism has been used by groups of the right in an attempt to uphold the established system. In Northern Ireland Protestant extremist groups have used terrorism against those fighting for a united Ireland. There have been similar groups in Italy and Latin America Fighting for the return to more authoritarian and conservative forms of government. There are many different kinds of terrorism, this makes defining the word difficult. Guerrilla warfare is used in most revolutions and is a form of terrorism, whether it is indiscriminate terrorism (example: the bombing of a public places) or terrorism aimed only upon the government. Terrorism can also be used by a government to control its people. War between countries is a place were terrorism is used immensely in order to strike fear into an enemy (The Encyclopedia America 523). Terrorism is often a weapon of last resort. Most revolutions began as guerrilla terrorism. The American Revolution started out as terrorist acts against England. The "Boston Tea Party" is a prime example of terrorism. Colonial revolutionaries sneaked aboard an English Tea Merchant Ships, where they threw hundreds if not thousands of dollars worth of tea into the Atlantic Ocean. Americans today think of that incident as a stride to freedom, but the English look at it as the beginning of countless terrorist acts. The Law and Order Maintenance Act of 1962 in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) included among its definitions of terrorist as anyone who went on strike if an essential service was put at risk as a result. These strikes led to the revolution of the Zimbabwe people from the Rhodesia (English) government (Freeman 21). In South Africa, the burning of the Identification cards and the bombing of several military bases by the A.N.C. (African National Congress) was the beginning of an independence movement against the Afrikaners. Terrorism is often the start of a revolution that makes the country and even the world a better place. The IRA (Irish Republican Army) would argue that they too are fighting a colonial government, the British government, which is continuing to occupy part of Ireland (Freeman 41). One of the most important duties of any government is to maintain law and order. It usually does this through a system of laws which are enforced by a police force ("Terrorism Research Center: Information Terrorism" 3). In democratic countries, these