Terrorism

Terrorism

February 4, 2007

"Let us all take a moment to remember the 3000 people who died in the World Trade Center on September 11th. And let us all remember that it will likely happen again. Such is the nature of revenge that this war will never be won, but instead will be fought for as long as there [are] people with revenge in their hearts. May whatever god you worship forgive us all. May God teach us forgiveness, understanding and peace." Ð'- William Jefferson Clinton (Wikipedia, 2006)

Terrorism is any violent act perpetrated to cause distress in a population. At least, that is one definition. In 1988, the United States Army did a study and found that over 100 definitions of terrorism have been used. This is why many news sources avoid using this term and instead use the terms bombers or militants. Acts of terrorism are not intended to only discriminate against or do away with those who are killed, injured or taken prisoner. It is used to frighten and persuade the societies to which they belong. Modern terrorism has come to be defined partly by the prominent power of the mass media that terrorists designate in their efforts to go into detail about and then broadcast feelings of intense fear and anger. As a sort of unusual warfare, terrorism is designed to deteriorate or replace political landscapes through submission or compliance as opposed to rebellion or direct military action. In 2004, a United Nations panel described terrorism as "any act intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants with the purpose of intimidating a population or compelling a government or an International organization to do or abstain from doing any act" (Wikipedia, 2006). Terrorist acts are usually deemed as random and executed with disregard for human life. The term terrorism is often used to declare that the political violence of an enemy is morally wrong and unfounded. According to the most common definition, terrorists are actors who do not belong to any recognized military organization or do not follow any laws of war.

Some groups of terrorists often prefer terms that reflect ideological or cultural struggle. Several examples of this are separatist, freedom fighter, liberator, revolutionary, vigilante, militant, paramilitary, guerrilla, rebel, jihad or mujaheddin. The difference between terrorist and terrorism as well as the terms mentioned above can be summed up by the saying, "One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter" (Wikipedia, 2006). This is illustrated when a group that used irregular military methods is a supporter of a state against a shared enemy, but then falls out with that state and uses the same scheme against its former ally.

There are international conventions that are set up to define counter terrorist offenses, prosecuting those suspected of acts of terrorism, extraditing those individuals upon request and providing mutual legal assistance when asked. There are two different types of conventions as well. The first of the two types are truly international terrorist conventions which are open to approval to all states. There are thirteen of these international conventions at present, but as of February, 2006 only twelve were in force. Most of these conventions provide that parties must create criminal jurisdiction over offenders. The following are the twelve conventions with a very brief summary of what they do.

1. Convention on Offenses and Certain Other Acts Committed On Board Aircraft (Tokyo Convention Ð'- safety in aviation) applies to acts involving in-flight safety. It authorizes aircraft commanders to use reasonable measures on any person that they feel has committed or is going to commit an act of terrorism.

2. Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Seizure of Aircraft (Hague Convention Ð'- aircraft hijackings) makes it an offense for anyone on an aircraft to use force or threat or any other form of intimidation to gain control of an aircraft or an attempt to do so.

3. Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Civil Aviation (Montreal Convention) applies to the acts of aviation sabotage, i.e. bombs, on board an aircraft in flight.

4. Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes Against Internationally Protected Persons Ð'- this protects senior government officials and diplomats.

5. Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material (Nuclear Materials Convention) combats unlawful taking and use of nuclear material.

6. International Convention Against the Taking of Hostages (Hostage Convention) Ð'- applies to the taking of any person or detaining any person and threatens to kill, injure or to continue to detain this person in order to force a third party, specifically a State, an international intergovernmental organization, a natural or juridical person, or a group of people, to do or keep from doing any act as a condition of the detained person's release.

7. Protocol for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts of Violence at Airports Serving International Civil Aviation (this expands and adds to the Montreal Convention).

8. Convention for the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Against the Safety of Maritime Navigation Ð'- applies to terrorist acts on and to ships.

9. Convention on the Marking of Plastic Explosives for the Purpose of Identification Ð'- this provides for chemical marking to make it easier to detect plastic explosives, to be used for aircraft bombing.

10. International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombing Ð'- develops the legal framework for international cooperation in the investigation, prosecution and the transportation of the person that engaged in the terrorist bombing.

11. International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Financing 1999 Ð'- requires parties to take steps in put a stop to and work against the financing of terrorists.

12. International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism 2005 Ð'- this is not in force yet.

There are many different terrorist targets in the United

States. There are political targets, economic targets, ecological targets, educational targets, tourist targets, and military targets. Some examples of political targets are George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, The First Lady, Mrs. Cheney, the Bush family, the Reagan family, the Cheney family, US Embassies, Embassies for other countries located in Washington D.C., The White House, The Lincoln Memorial, The Washington Monument, and Air Force One. A soft target like the Lincoln Memorial or the Washington Monument