After browsing through Stephen E. Atkins book Terrorism, I soon learned many
interesting things regarding the history of terrorism. It seems this form of protest has been
around since Biblical times. Also, the main goal of a terrorist is not to do damage to
one peticular person or place, but to gain publicity for an idea they support. (page 1)
Evidence of this can be found by looking at the recent past of the United States. The
Oklahoma bombing was one man's way of expressing his dislike of the government.
The exact definition of terrorism is not a solid line, it is a very wide line that isn't
defined. The general definition of terrorism is an attack of some sort against a person or
place that involves violence and/or destruction of property and is usually politically
motivated. (Terrorism 3)
Our fight against terrorism became something the terrorists might fear in 1970, at
the Hague Convention. This United Nations convention basically defined ...hijacking as a
crime and required contracting states either to allow the extradition of hijackers to their
country of origin, or to prosecute them in the state where they were arrested. (The Terrorists
146) Atkins states that one of the reasons it took so long to do anything about terrorism is
that it is so hard to define, and therefore just as hard to enforce. He also says
Declarations and conventions from the UN have lacked effective enforcement
mechanisms, so they have been ignored by member states and have been characterized as
'largely cosmetic. Basically, the UN is doing this to satisfy the public and little else.
This lack of understanding of the meaning of terrorism has also been a hindrance when law
8:56 PM 12/14/96enforcement was actually implemented. Police aren't trained to handle terrorist type
attacks, instead they handle them like ordinary criminal attacks. (Terrorism 26-27) This gives
the terrorists exactly what they wanted, publicity for their cause.
The media is a terrorists best friend. Without the modern wide-spread media,
terrorism would be worthless. The human nature that makes us stop and look at the
horrible traffic accident is another reason why terrorism is effective. Ask someone 20
years from now what they remember about the 1996 Summer Olympics, and they will say
the terrorist bombing. This event was literally blown out of proportion by the media. It
wasn't a terrorist attack, there was no one taking credit, and no reason for doing it. Any
juvenile delinquent could have easily found this information off the Internet. According to
the infamous Jolly Rogers, homemade weapons are easy to make. He doesn't gloss over
the fact that attempting to make these weapons is usually illegal, and dangerous. There
are approximately 50 different types of illegal activities detailed in the text file, which is
over 100 pages long. This document isn't hard to find to anyone looking.
(http://space.acm.ndsu.nodak.edu/~rykramer/cookbook.html)
There are usually a few kids every year who remove fingers trying to build home
made bombs, and those kids are the lucky ones, many have died making the explosive
kitchen creations. One example is the tennis ball bomb. Supposedly, a tennis ball is cut
open and filled with broken off match heads. The only thing the article doesn't mention is
the chances of filling the tennis ball up with match heads before friction ignites the thing in
the builders hands. Another dangerous thing is the light bulb bomb. This is built by
placing black power inside a light bulb. The theory behind it is that the filament will ignite
the power, thereby sending glass fragments throughout the room. The only problem is
when the builder forgets to turn off the light switch before screwing in the explosive light
bulb. (http://space.acm.ndsu.nodak.edu/~rykramer/cookbook.html) It is also true that two high school students
built a small nuclear weapon in a chemistry lab from instructions found on the Internet.
Resources like Jolly Roger's Cookbook and the Phreak filez are easily available on the
Internet, but contrary to what most mass-media mediums would like people to believe, the
bomb making instructions do not suddenly jump up on the user's screen. The Internet
user must go out and look for the information, and if they are really that dedicated to their
terrorist cause, the will be able to find the information anywhere, not just the Internet. As
far as the modern terrorist is concerned, the Internet doesn't have any new information
that isn't already easily accessible.
Terrorist form groups to make it easier to get their message across. Atkins has a
very good list of modern terrorist groups. One group is the Arab National Youth
Organization for the Liberation of Palestine. (ANYOLP) This group was found by the
president of Libya, Qaddafi. This group isn't as active as when it started in 1972, but it
was never officially disbanded by Qaddafi. (Terrorism 102) One of the most famous groups is
the Black Panther Party. (BPP) This was founded in the United States in the 1960's, in
Alabama. This groups wasn't really a terrorist group, but more a self-defense group that
pushed the lines of self defense. Most people associate Martin Luther King Jr.'s name
when they hear this group because this was a very racially oriented group. (106) One of
the oldest terrorist groups is the Irish Republican Army. (IRA) It started during the 19th
century when Ireland was fighting for its independence. Unlike other groups, this group is
respected by many people because they are trying to unify the island of Ireland. This
group also has a more radical splinter group called the Irish Republican Army Provisional
Wing. (Terrorism 116-117)
Terrorist groups have also become very good plots for movie makers. The movie
Delta Force is based solely on a terrorist taking over an airplane. There has also been a
movie made recently which shows the Islamic Jihad group of Iran and their attack in 1983
against Marines in Beirut. (Terrorism 118) Another movie that mentions the Islamic Jihad is
"Executive Decision" This is just another example of how the media loves dramatic
stories, and why not, it sells!
I believe terrorism is a very real and very dangerous threat to the United States.
We spend millions to support a large "peace keeping" military, but yet a single terrorist
attack could easily bring our nation to it's knees. The media loves the blood and gore, so
it reports all the details. What paper would print a cover story about the recent Nobel
Peace Prize recipients instead of the recent plane that may have been bombed or the
"terrorist" attack at the Olympic games?
---------------------------------
Works Cited
Atkins, Stephen E. Terrorism: A Reference Handbook Santa Barbara, California:
ABC-CLIO, Inc., 1992.
Payne, Ronald and Dobson, Christopher. The Terrorists: Their Weapons, Leaders and
Tactics. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 1982.
No comments:
Post a Comment