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Overview of Terrorism | ||||
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Terrorists & Freedom Fighters: Terrorism & War | ||||
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History of Terrorism | ||||
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Terrorist Attacks | ||||
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1886, The Haymarket Square Bombing & Riots | ||||
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1983, Beirut Marine Barracks Truck Bomb Attack | ||||
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1988, Pan Am Flight 103 Bombing | ||||
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1993, The WTC Bombing | ||||
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1995, Oklahoma City Bombing | ||||
1996, Khobar Tower Bombing | |||||
2000, USS Cole Bombing | |||||
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2001, 9 / 11 Attack |
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Terrorist Organizations | |||||
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The IRA | ||||
al Qaeda | |||||
The PLO, al Fatah, Hamas | |||||
Hezbollah | |||||
Left & Right Wing Extremism in the US | |||||
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There are FOUR Types of Terrorism | ||||
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a. Vigilante Terrorism | ||||
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The KKK | ||||
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b. Insurgent Terrorism | ||||
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The Molly Maguires | ||||
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c. Transnational Terrorism | ||||
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d. State Terrorism | ||||
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Govts & Terrorism | ||||
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Causes of Terrorism -- Theories | ||||
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a. Psychological Causes of Terrorism | ||||
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b. Structural Causes of Terrorism | ||||
Other Topics on Terrorism | |||||
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Media's Coverage of Terrorism | ||||
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Gender & Terrorism | ||||
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Countering Terrorism |
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Collective violence is any violence done by groups of people to advance or impede the goal of social change | |||||
The types of collective violence include: war, riots, revolution, terrorism, lynching, & vigilantism | |||||
Terrorism is the use of violence & threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes |
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Terrorism is the use of unexpected violence to intimidate or coerce people in the pursuit of political or social objectives (Ted Robert Gurr, 1989b, p. 201) |
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War is conflict carried on by force of arms, as btwn states or btwn parties w/in a state; war is a general conflict | |||||
Lao Tsu said that war is politics by other means | |||||
Terrorism is war by other means | |||||
War first developed as total war: a war among armies & the "innocent public," who was killed when possible | |||||
There were no "rules of war;" mass slaughter, rape, torture, burning towns to the ground, etc. was common | |||||
Over the ages, some rules of war developed among some nations or even for just one battle | |||||
War evolved into gentlemen's war in the Europe in the middle ages, where the major nations all followed strict codes of honor | |||||
Guerilla war evolved at the end of the middle ages & was seen as unhonorable | |||||
War evolved back into total war & included civilians in WW 2 in that both side relentlessly bombed & fire bombed civilian targets such as cities | |||||
The industrialization of war created the capacity for genocide against the Jews et al, & for the mass destruction of civilians, cities & countrysides | |||||
Today international law allows for warring parties to destroy each others civilian population | |||||
Many scholars & ethicists ask, "Is the bombing of Dresden or Hiroshima, Bosnia, N Vietnam, etc. terrorism?" | |||||
The concept of terrorism highlights the fact that anyone, including innocent people, are often the target of terrorists | |||||
Philosopher Loren E. Lomasky (1991, p. 107) observes that terrorists, unlike Robin Hood, typically don't distinguish btwn the guilty & the innocent; btwn justifiable victims & unjustifiable victims | |||||
Lomasky notes that, "The enemy is only incidentally particular individuals who cross the terrorist's path; more fundamentally it is the civil order." | |||||
One major reason for the confusion btwn terrorism & war is that the media often offers a simplistic or unexamined view of the nature of terrorism |
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Govts, the US govt & many other govts, often offer a simplistic definition or depiction of terrorism that serves their own political interests & denies the interests of other groups, & paints terrorism as being something other than war |
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Terrorism is often confused w/ "terror" & terrorize" which connote the threat of the violence & stems from the Latin "to frighten" |
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The term "terrorism" originated from the Reign of Terror that characterized the French Revolution |
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The origins of the concept of terrorism thus lie in the vicious acts
of a common criminal against a terrorized victim:
- a violent street gang terrorized a whole neighborhood - a stalker forces a woman to live in terror of attack |
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These acts involve the common, tragic acts that involve the fear that terror & terrorism connote, but they do not involve the essential political activity that lies at the heart of most definitions of terrorism |
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But some analysts would include terrorism as being political acts, but w/o a state | |||||
Terrorism often is synonymous w/ hideous, irrational acts of violence committed by slovenly, immoral individuals in an attempt to de-politicize it |
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The major difference btwn war & terrorism is that the latter focuses on killing civilians while the former focuses on killing military personnel & civilians |
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One persons terrorist is another's freedom fighter |
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Many people in Northern Ireland & many Irish American in the US view the IRA as heroes struggling against the British govt |
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Others see the IRA's bombings & other tactics as illegal, immoral terrorism |
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Many in the mid East view the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) & other groups as freedom fighters |
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The US & Israel as view the PLO as terrorists |
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Cheychnan rebels... |
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Sandanistas, contras, etc. |
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Grant Wardlaw (1989) summarizes these definitional problems by saying that terrorism is, at heart, a "moral problem" |
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By labeling certain behaviors as terrorism & the people who commit them as terrorist, we implicitly condemn both the acts & the actors |
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By not labeling certain, similar behaviors as terrorism / terrorists, we implicitly condone both the acts & the actors | |||||
Terrorism includes acts of violence that are more random than war, war is more systematic than terrorism | |||||
Jack P. Gibbs (1989, p. 329) holds that any definition of terrorism "may reflect ideological or political bias" | |||||
Terrorism encompasses the act or the threat of violence, fear & political change | |||||
The term political terrorism is redundant, but does emphasize the political nature of terrorism | |||||
Are workplace, school shootings, wilding, etc. political? Are they terrorism? | |||||
2001: President GW Bush denies the terrorist/freedom fighter dichotomy by saying that nations are either on the side of terrorism or on the side against terrorism | |||||
This "Bush Doctrine" has been criticized by Republicans in his own party in that Bush still negotiates w/ terrorists such as the PLO's Yasser Arafat | |||||
Terrorism is difficult to define because there are many types of terrorism |
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What is now considered to be terrorist behavior is as old as humanity, though these acts were considered neither terrorist nor abnormal |
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Terrorist tactics have been used for millennia | |||||
In the early days, the customs of armies depended on might, rather than right & there were no laws of war as we know them today | |||||
Prisoners of war were slain or made slaves & captured towns & cities were sacked, ravished, & burned & the conqueror's will was supreme | |||||
Over the centuries, civilization brought ameliorating changes & proper treatment of prisoners, the sick & wounded, & the civil population became recognized sometimes by special agreement or conventions btwn belligerents or local commanders, sometimes because of a more civilized influence of the victory | |||||
Ancient Greek, Assyrian, & Roman soldiers used carcasses of animals that had died of anthrax to poison wells | |||||
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Sparticus pillaged the Roman countryside & slaughtered 10's of thousands of solders who had surrendered & Rome responded in kind & then crucified over 6,000 of the insurgents |
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Atilla the Hun would command a city to surrender, & if they did not he would have everyone killed |
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When laying siege to a castle or city, attackers would catapult anthrax bearing animals, or diseased human over the walls to infect the population | |||||
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Political assassination, ambushes, guerilla warfare, torture, mass murder, etc. all were common |
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It was not until the middle ages when some limited rules of war were developed that some behaviors became unacceptable |
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It was not until the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution, 1789, that the term terrorism came to have its modern meaning as a crime, a war crime |
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The US revolutionary army including the Minute Men all who utilized guerilla war tactics were considered terrorists by the British who preferred the "field of honor" battlefield |
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During the Indian wars, British & Am soldiers & intentionally infected Native Americans w/ measles | |||||
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The Molly McGuires were inspired by a group of insurgent terrorists in Ireland in the 1840s who in the 1860s & later engaged in terrorism in the coal fields to win worker rights |
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The coal companies responded in kind & all the Mollies were killed or executed | |||||
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See Also: Molly Maguires | ||||
An Am grp, the Ku Klux Klan, used violence to terrorize blacks & their sympathizers in the late 1800s & the 1900s | |||||
For many, slavery itself, as well as the methods used to maintain it are a form of terrorism | |||||
From 1885 to 1900, over 2,500 lynchings of blacks occurred | |||||
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In 1886 the Haymarket Square riot was instigated by a terrorist bomb |
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The perpetrator of the Haymarket bombing will be forever one of history's mysteries but he/she was either a low level Labor advocate, an anarchist, or some official (of the police or govt) who wanted to instigate trouble in order to blame Labor or the anarchists |
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See Also: Haymarket Square | ||||
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In 1910, union activists bombed the Los Angeles Times newspaper, killing 21 |
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In 1914, a Serbian national assassinated the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, providing the spark that started WW 1 |
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In the 1930's, the dictators Adolf Hitler of Germany, BenitoMussolini of Italy, and Joseph Stalin of the Soviet Union used state terrorism to discourage opposition to their governments |
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After centuries of conflict w/ Britain, in 1920, Ireland was divided into Ireland & Northern Ireland, & guerilla war broke out |
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Terrorist bombing by Irish Catholics, & military domination by British soldiers continues today, but in the 2000s there has been a lengthy truce | |||||
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Operations of war by civilized countries are governed by rules known as the Laws of War | ||||
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Some of the Laws of War, like the British or Am common law, are unwritten, although generally recognized while others are set in treaties & conventions to which many nations are parties | ||||
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The bases of the laws of war are military necessity, humanity, & chivalry | ||||
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Many of the important written laws of war are contained in the Hague conventions of 1899 & 1907 which deal w/ the opening of hostilities, the laws & customs of war on land, the duties & rights of neutrals, submarine mines, bombardment by naval forces, & projectiles from balloons, & the Geneva conventions of 1929 on the treatment of prisoners | ||||
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Violations of the Hague & Geneva conventions by sneak attacks & other terrorist methodologies are considered to be war crimes | ||||
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During WW 2, the fire bombing of London, Dresden, Germany, Tokyo, etc. were considered by some to be terrorist acts since they were attacks on civilian centers, while others maintained that since civilians were now an integral part of the Military Industrial Congressional Complex, such attacks were justified | ||||
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After WW 2, the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg was composed of one Am, Brit, Fr, & Russian judge | ||||
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Nuremberg confirmed older policies that there is a distinction btwn just & unjust war in that the unjust war is a war of aggression or a war which violates a peace treaty while just war is one that defends or responds to an attack on an ally | ||||
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Nuremberg also developed the concept of crimes against humanity which include murder, extermination, deportation, torture, & other mass atrocities, persecutions of entire racial, religious, & political groups provided such crimes are committed w/ crimes against peace, i.e. during a war of aggression | ||||
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Nuremberg thus left open the question of whether the complicity of govt against entire groups of its own population constitutes a crime against humanity | ||||
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Many terrorist acts can be considered war crimes as in crimes against peace & the more massive terrorist attacks could be considered as crimes against humanity | ||||
Before the independence of Israel in 1948, a Jewish group used terror to speed the end of British rule in Palestine and create a Jewish homeland | |||||
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As recently as the 1950s, terrorism in the form of lynchings of Blacks continued in the US |
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Another wave of terrorism began in the 1960's which had operations in many western nations & was politically inspired | |||||
Terrorist groups included the Red Brigades in Italy, which was active until the late 1980's, and the Red Army Faction in West Germany, which was active until the early 1990's | |||||
Both the Italian Red Brigade & the German Red Army Faction sought the destruction of the political & econ systems in their home countries & the development of new systems | |||||
Since 1960, Palestinian groups, including Hamas & Hezbollah, have carried out campaigns of terrorism aimed at establishing an independent Palestinian state | |||||
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In 1972, Palestinian terrorists murdered Israeli Olympians |
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Since the inception of Israel, terrorism has become a method of war of Arab groups against Israelis | ||||
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In the 1970s, "DB Cooper" developed the innovation of airline hijacking & since then it has become an important terrorist weapon | ||||
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Recent Terrorist Acts Against the US: | ||||
198?: Bomb in German nightclub kills Am servicemen | |||||
198?: Truck bomb in Lebanon against Am barracks | |||||
1993: Bombing of Airliner over Lockerbee, Scotland | |||||
1993: Truck Bomb attack on the WTC by Mideasterners. A bomb exploded in the parking garage of the World Trade Center in New York City. The next year, a federal court convicted four men, including two Palestinians, of planning the bombing | |||||
1995: Truck bomb attack on the Murrah Fed building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma by Am anti federalists, w/ 168 fatalities | |||||
1995: Members of Aum Shinrikyo kill 12 Japanese w/ a release of sarin gas on a subway | |||||
1996: Package bomb attack at Atlanta's Olympic Centennial Park by an Am | |||||
1996: Khonar Towers in Saudi Arabia are bombed, killing 19 US service members & 1 Saudi | |||||
1998: Bombing of a US embassy in Kenya & Tanzania, Africa, w/ 224 fatalities | |||||
2000: Small boat, suicide bomb on the USS Cole in Yemen by Mideasterners | |||||
2001: Airliner attacks succeed against the WTC & Pentagon, fail against the Capital Bldg, by Mideasterners, w/ over 3,000 fatalities | |||||
Khonar Towers in Saudi Arabia
the Sarin release in the Tokyo Subway |
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- Supplement: List of Terrorist Attach: Wikipedia |
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- Project: Terrorist Attacks, Types, & Counter Measures |
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TERRORIST ATTACKS AGAINST THE US OR US PERSONNEL |
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1886, The Haymarket Square Bombing & Riot killed 7 police & 4 workers & over 100 were injured | |||||
On April 18, 1983 a car bomb at the US Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, kills 17 | |||||
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On October 23, 1983 the bombing of the US Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, kills 241 | ||||
On September 20, 1984 a bombing at the US Embassy annex in Beirut, Lebanon, kills 16 & injures the US ambassador | |||||
On June 14, 1985 Shiite Muslim gunmen hijack a TWA jet carrying 153 passengers & crew, mostly Americans, shortly after takeoff from Athens, Greece. A US serviceman, Robert Dean Stethem, 23, was killed & his body was thrown on the tarmac at the airport in Beirut, Lebanon & thirty nine others were held hostage for 17 days before being released | |||||
On September 5, 1986 hijackers take over a Pan Am jet at Karachi Airport in Pakistan where twenty people are killed when security forces storm the plane | |||||
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On December 21, 1988: The bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, kills 270, mostly Americans | ||||
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On February 26, 1993: Terrorist bombers strike the World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000 others | ||||
During 1993- 2007 there were more than 20 terrorist acts against abortion clinics, including murders, bombings, threats, etc. | |||||
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On April 19, 1995 a truck bomb at the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, kills 168 & wounds more than 500 others | ||||
On November 13, 1995 a bomb at US military headquarters in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, kills five US service personnel | |||||
On 1996, a bomb at the Atlanta, Olympic Centential Park Bombing killed 2 & injured 111 to protest abortion | |||||
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On June 1996 a bomb at the US barracks at the Khobar Tower Hotel in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, kills 19 Americans & injures 500 people |
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On August 7, 1998 the twin bombings at the US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, & Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, kill 224 people & wound thousands of others | |||||
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On October 12, 2000 a suicide bomb attack on the USS Cole in Yemen's Aden harbor kills 17 American sailors & wounds 39 others |
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On 2001, Sept 9, aka 9 / 11, airplanes flow by suicide attacker crash into the WTC in NYC & the Pentagon in Washington DC killing almost 3,000 | ||||
CNN: America Under Attack: Recent terrorism attacks targeting the United States, Sept. 2001 | |||||
OTHER TERRORIST ATTACKS | |||||
During the 1789 French Revolution thousands are executed during the Reign of Terror: | |||||
In 1972 during the Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage by the Palestinian militant group Black September, a group with ties to Yasser Arafat’s Fatah organization, killing 11 Israilis & 1 W German police officer & the attackers | |||||
In 1996 in Japan a subway is attacked w/ sarin gas killing 12 wounding 50 | |||||
In 2004 in Madrid, Spain a train bombing killed 191 & wounded 2,050, aka Spains 3 - 11 | |||||
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In 2005 London train & buses are bombed | ||||
In 2007, in the UK, Glasgow Scotland, a car bomb kills no one but the bombers |
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The strike that precipitated the Haymarket Square bombing & riot was at the McCormick Harvester plant strike which took place in Chicago, IL |
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The strike that precipitated the Haymarket Square bombing & riot was taking place w/in the militant Chicago movement for an 8 hour working day | |||||
The 8 Hour Movement was frequently accompanied by conflict btwn strikers & police | |||||
In protest against the shooting of several workmen, August Spies, editor of the semi anarchist Arbeiter Zeitung, issued circulars demanding revenge & announcing a mass meeting the Haymarket | |||||
The police expected trouble & so had a large presence | |||||
Mayor Harrison attended & found the Haymarket protest to be innocent enough | |||||
Despite his advice, 180 police advanced on the meeting at Haymarket Square & ordered the crowd to disperse | |||||
As the peaceful meeting dispersed, a bomb was thrown into the police | |||||
The Haymarket Square Riot involved a bombing for which no one was conclusively determined to be responsible | |||||
7 police & 4 workers were killed; over 100 were injured |
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The Knights of Labor (KOL) were blamed for the Haymarket Square bombing & ensuing riot, though history has since vindicated them |
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Fears of a general anarchist plot made an impartial investigation impossible | |||||
Many believe anarchists to be responsible |
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The investigation & trial ordered seven to be hanged, & one imprisoned, but only four were hanged, & historical review indicates they were all innocent of the bombing & drawn into the ensuing riot |
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Governor Altgeld pardoned the three surviving prisoners in 1893, declaring the trial a farce, charging the press w/ poisoning public opinion, praising organized Labor | |||||
The Haymarket Square bombing & riot still one of "history's mysteries" in that conclusive evidence as to the causes of the bombing are largely unknown, though it is clear that those convicted were innocent |
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The aftermath of the Haymarket Square decimated unions & the Labor Mvmt in general because the publicity had such an anti union bias |
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The 8 Hour Mvmt collapsed, & the KOL lost influence & also eventually failed |
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Lebanon was Phoenician, Assyrian, etc. until the rise of Christianity circa the 300s, AD |
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Muslims converted & conquered Christians circa 600 AD & today about 90% of the people are Arab, about 60 % are Muslim, about 40 % are Christian |
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The Muslims are Sunni or Shiah & the Christians are Maronite, which is an Eastern Catholic Church |
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In 1922, France took over Lebanon's political affairs & started to prepare Lebanon for independence |
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The French united the Christians in the Mount Lebanon & the Muslims along the coast under one govt & also helped write Lebanon's Constitution |
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Lebanon became completely independent in 1943 when Christian & Muslim leaders agreed to share power in the govt |
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Following independence, Lebanon prospered more than ever as a center of trade & finance & retained strong ties w/ the West |
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The country remained peaceful until 1958, when some Lebanese, largely Muslims, rebelled against the govt |
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In July 1958, the US sent thousands of marines to Lebanon at the request of the country's president helping restore peace, & leaving in October |
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In 1969, the activities of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) led to fighting in Lebanon |
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The PLO, whose chief goal is to establish a Palestinian state for the Arab people of Palestine, raided targets in Israel from bases in southern Lebanon. & the Israelis, in turn, attacked PLO forces in Lebanon |
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In the 1970s, conflict btwn Lebanese Christian & Muslim groups flared up because the Christians opposed, & the Muslims supported, the presence of armed PLO members in the country |
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In 1975, a civil war broke out btwn Christians & the Muslim-PLO alliance & full scale fighting in Lebanon ended in late 1976 | |||||
The UN sent a peacekeeping force to Lebanon in 1978, but fighting continued to break out | |||||
However, periodic fighting took place btwn Christians & the Muslim-PLO alliance & also, both Christian groups & Muslim groups began fighting among themselves | |||||
Battles also broke out btwn Christians & Syrian troops in Lebanon | |||||
In 1979, large scale fighting broke out btwn Christians & Syrians in Beirut & resulted in extensive damage to the city. | |||||
In June 1982, a large Israeli force invaded Lebanon & drove the PLO forces out | |||||
Israeli forces were aware that members of the Lebanese Christian militia killed hundreds of unarmed Palestinian & Lebanese civilians in the Sabra & Shatila refugee camps in the Israeli occupied part of western Beirut & yet the Israelis chose not to intervene | |||||
The Israelis were positioned to totally wipe out the PLO & Arafat, but because such a much would have launched the entire middle east into war, the US, France, & Italy sent troops to Lebanon to help ensure that the PLO forces could leave the country safely | |||||
In late 1983, foreign troops in Lebanon became victims of terrorist bombings | |||||
On Oct 23, a suicide terrorist crashed a truck loaded w/ explosives into US Marine headquarters at the Beirut airport killing 241 US troops | |||||
At about the same time, a similar attack killed 54 French troops in a nearby building | |||||
On Nov 4, an attack at the Israeli military headquarters in Tyre killed 28 Israelis | |||||
In early Feb 1984, Druse forces & Shiite Muslims, members of the Shiah branch of Islam, took control of part of Beirut from the Lebanese govt | |||||
The US, the UK, France, & Italy removed their troops from Lebanon following this take over | |||||
In 1985, Israel withdrew its troops from all of Lebanon except a security zone along the country's Israeli border | |||||
Conflict, terrorism, war have continued in Lebanon, but today it is essentially so weak, & so isolated that it is not considered a threat to any nation, unless it becomes a haven for terrorists or a platform for launching terrorist attacks | |||||
The US & other nations attempted to retaliate, but had no clear course of action against the indigenous, terrorist groups who were fighting for their own national interests | |||||
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The Marines barracks bombing was considered one of the great failures of the Reagan administration & it caused the US to w/draw its troops, making it appear as a victory to US foes throughout the Mideast | ||||
The bombing of the Marine barracks is an example of indigenous people responding to foreign forces in their country |
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- Supplement: CIA Confident Iran Behind Jet Bombing. by David B. Ottaway & Laura Parker. Washington Post Staff Writers. Thursday, May 11, 1989; Page A01 |
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Summary: In 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 was blown up over Lockerbie Scotland by Libyan intelligence operatives as retaliation for the US bombing of Libya |
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The Berbers are believed to be the earliest inhabitants of Libya. In the 600s BC, Greek colonists settled in the northeastern part of the region | |||||
The Romans destroyed Carthage in 146 BC, & Tripolitania became part of the Roman province of Africa Nova | |||||
A Germanic tribe called the Vandals captured the region in AD 431, but in the 500s, Byzantine forces conquered the region | |||||
Rebellions by Berber tribes created instability that aided Arab entry into the region in the 600s, spreading their new religion of Islam, entering Cyrenaica in 642 & occupying Tripoli in 643 | |||||
In 1551, the Ottomans captured Tripoli & from the 1500s to the early 1800s, private ships commanded by Barbary corsairs (sea raiders) preyed on European & US shipping in the Mediterranean | |||||
The US fought a war against the corsairs in the early 1800s inspiring the founding of the US Marines | |||||
Italy invaded the coastal regions in 1911 & took control of the three provinces in 1912 | |||||
During World War II, members of the Sanusi brotherhood cooperated w/ the British in Egypt against Italy, their common enemy | |||||
In 1942, the UK estbed a military administration in the north & the French forces took control of the Fezzan | |||||
In Dec 1951, the UN called for the independence of all of Libya | |||||
A federal state came into being, w/ Muhammad Idris al Mahdi as-Sanusi, leader of the Sanusi resistance, as king | |||||
The discovery of oil in Libya in 1959 transformed the country from a poverty stricken nation into one of the wealthiest in the world, but widespread discontent resulted, because the ruling class controlled the wealth | |||||
QADHAFI & CONFLICT W/ THE WEST | |||||
In Sept 1969, a group of officers known as the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) overthrew King Idris & seized power | |||||
Colonel Muammar Muhammad al-Qadhafi, who led the revolution, became the head of Libya's govt & took control of most economic activities | |||||
Qadhafi tried to forge unions w/ a number of Arab states, but none of these efforts succeeded for more than a brief period | |||||
Libya supported a number of political mvmts throughout the world, particularly the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) & the Polisario Front, in W Sahara | |||||
Libya backed a rebellion in Chad & also supported Iran's declaration of an Islamic republic in 1979 | |||||
The leaders of many nations have denounced Qadhafi for interfering in the affairs of other nations | |||||
During the 1980s, bitter antagonism surfaced btwn Libya & the US | |||||
The US accused Qadhafi of aiding terrorists & Libya, in turn, charged that the US was attempting to overthrow its govt | |||||
In Jan 1986, US Pres Reagan broke all economic ties w/ Libya & in March, Libya fired missiles on US military aircraft over the Gulf of Sidra | |||||
In 1986 it was suspected that Libyan operatives had bombed a Berlin night club, killing 2 US soldiers | |||||
Reagan claimed to have evidence that linked Libya to the bombing of a West Berlin nightclub, in which an Am serviceman was killed & many were injured | |||||
Pres Reagan ordered a bombing raid on Libya in response to the bombing of the Berlin night club | |||||
In April, Reagan ordered US planes to bomb military installations at Tripoli & Benghazi | |||||
The US bombing raid almost killed Kadafi, & did kill some of his children | |||||
Conflict again erupted in early 1989, when two Am aircraft downed two Libyan jets over the Mediterranean who the American airmen claimed were armed & aggressively heading toward them | |||||
THE PAN AM BOMBING | |||||
It is believed that the Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed over Lockerbee, Scotland in retaliation for Reagan bombing Libya | |||||
Flight 103 was a 747 flying from Europe to NYC | |||||
In December of 1988 Pan American Flight 103 was blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 259 passengers, crew (189 Americans), & 11 people on the ground as it crashed into a school | |||||
Reagan was President & Bush Sr. was President Elect | |||||
A bomb was smuggled in by the girlfriend of a terrorist & authorities believe that she did not know she was carrying the bomb: blind mule | |||||
This is where the question at airports began "Have you had control of your bags at all times? Has anyone asked you to carry anything on the airplane for them?" | |||||
AFTERMATH | |||||
Libyan agents are also suspected of a 1989 bombing of a French plane over Niger, killing 171 people | |||||
The US & Britain accused to Libyan intelligence agents | |||||
In April 1992 & December 1993, the UN imposed sanctions on Libya for refusing to turn over Libyans suspected of placing bombs aboard an American civilian airliner that exploded over Scotland in 1988 & a French civilian airliner that blew up over West Africa in 1989 | |||||
Sanctions included the cancellation of intl air service to Libya, the suspension of military sales, & the reduction of Libya's diplomatic corps abroad | |||||
In 1999, Libya turned over to UN officials two men suspected of planting the bomb on the Am airliner | |||||
The UN suspended its sanctions on Libya after the men were in custody | |||||
In May 2000, a special Scottish court set up in the Netherlands began its trial of the two suspects | |||||
The court announced its verdicts in Jan 2001, convicting one of the suspects, Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, of murder & sentenced him to life imprisonment while acquitting the other suspect, Lamen Khalifa Fhimah |
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Summary: In 1993, radical Arab Muslims drove a truck bomb into the basement parking garage of the World Trade Center (WTC) in NYC killing 6, injuring 1,000 & destroying many floors |
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Ramzi Yousef, born in Kuwait, began in 1991 to plan a bombing attack w/in the US | |||||
Yousef entered the US w/ a false Iraqi passport in 1992 but since his travel partner had bomb making instructions in his luggage both were arrested; however Yousef was released because he claimed political asylum & the INS cells were full | |||||
Yousef set up residence in Jersey City, NJ, traveled around NYC & New Jersey & called Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman | |||||
When one of the Sheikh's confidants killed another, dozens of Arabic bomb making manuals & documents related to terrorist plots were found in his apartment, w/ manuals from Army Special Warfare Center at Fort Bragg, NC, secret memos linked to Joint Chiefs of Staff, & 1440 rounds of ammunition | |||||
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In Feb, 1993, a propane truck bomb destroyed several of the basement floors of the WTC in NYC |
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6 people were killed & over 1,000 were injured & caused more than $300 million in damage to the WTC |
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The propane truck bomb was intended to devastate the foundation of the North Tower, causing it to collapse onto its twin | |||||
During the trial, the WTC's architect testified that if the van had been left closer to the poured concrete foundations, the plan would have succeeded & the tower would have toppled | |||||
The WTC bombing was the work of radical Arab, Muslims |
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It is believed that most of the perpetrators to the 1993 WTC bombing are now in custody |
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Four men, including Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, an Egyptian Muslim cleric, were convicted of the bombing & sent to prison |
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In Oct 1995, the militant Islamist & blind cleric Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman, was sentenced to life imprisonment for masterminding the bombing. . | |||||
In 1998, Ramzi Yousef was convicted of "seditious conspiracy" to bomb the towers | |||||
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In all, ten militant Islamist conspirators were convicted for their part in the bombing, each receiving prison sentences of a maximum of 240 years |
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The WTC bombing & the terrorist acts planned for Oct were in retaliation against US policy in the Mid East |
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According to the journalist Steve Coll, Yousef mailed letters to various NYC newspapers in which he claimed he belonged to the 'Liberation Army, Fifth Battalion' which made 3 demands, including: | |||||
- an end to all US aid to Israel | |||||
- an end to US diplomatic relations w/ Israel | |||||
- a demand for a pledge by the US to end interference w/ any of the Middle East country's interior affairs | |||||
Yousef believed the WTC bombing was an act of terrorism, but that this was justified because of the terrorist act that Israel practices, which America supports | |||||
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These groups had plotted to assassinate political leaders, bomb the UN, the GW Bridge, the Lincoln & Holland tunnels, & more |
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Summary: In 1995 two white, Americans of European descent, who were anti federalist radicals, truck bombed the Murrah Federal Bldg in OK City because they feared the growing power of the Federal govt |
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On April 19, 1995 a rental truck was loaded w/ a home-made bomb, primarily w/ the fertilizer ammonium nitrate |
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One or more terrorists put a bomb in a truck in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in the downtown area & set it off | |||||
The bomb killed 168 people, including 19 children at the Murrah Federal Bldg in OK City & destroyed the building |
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Before 9 / 11, the OK City Bombing was by far the worst act of terrorism on US soil in US history |
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This was considered a terrorist act in that the perpetrators did not know the victims, they held no personal grudge against them |
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The Ok City Bombing is believed to be the work of radical White, American, anti federalist militia types: one, who was executed & the other, who is in prison |
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At first many American jumped to the conclusion that radical Muslims has perpetrated the act |
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Many people believe that the Fed Govt attack on the Branch Davidean Complex in Waco, TX on April 19, 1993 was a precipitating event for the two terrorists |
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Charges were made against the two men who made the bomb, & that one brought the truck to the building & set off the bomb |
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It was noted at the trial that the two men had expressed strong opposition to the fed govt |
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A third male American citizen was charged w/ aiding the first two |
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The third man plead guilty, agreed to be a witness in the trials of the two other men, & was sentenced to 23 years in prison |
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The first terrorist was convicted of murder & conspiracy & sentenced to death while the second was convicted of conspiracy & involuntary manslaughter, & he was sentenced to life in prison w/o parole |
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In 2004, because of the work of the Ok City Survivors Group, the second terrorist was being tried in state court w/ the chance that he might get the death penalty |
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The Oklahoma City National Memorial, on the site of the destroyed building, was dedicated in 2000 |
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ENGL & IRELAND FOUGHT FOR CENTURIES & IN THE 1600s THE ENGL PROTESTANTS CONQUERED & COLONIZED CATHOLIC IRELAND |
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The history of Northern Ireland can be traced back to the 17th century, when the English subdued the island |
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The Protestants colonized & settled lands on the northern side of the island |
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Protestant colonization set Ulster somewhat apart from the rest of Ireland, which was predominantly Catholic |
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As industry rose in the north, this created a rift economically from the rest of Ireland |
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The Irish Catholics felt oppressed by the increasing ties to Britain |
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With the Act of Union passing in 1800, this created the union of Ireland & England, & later, an independent Irish govt was set up |
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By passing the Govt of Ireland Act 1920, the island of Ireland was separated, thus creating Ireland & Northern Ireland |
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The northern counties accepted the act, but factions in the south fought British troops (Spindlove & Simonsen, 2010) |
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The southern counties were composed primarily of Irish, who were called Republicans while the Protestants who were in the north of Northern Ireland were known as the Loyalists |
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Certain historical differences separated Northern Ireland from Ireland, esp the fact that Ireland is mainly Catholic while Northern Ireland is Protestant |
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Religion separates people today just as it did in the past in these two areas of Ireland & No Ireland |
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Some Northern Ireland Catholics identify only w/ each other & not Irish Catholics due to differences based on their rule of govt & social experiences through the years |
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The political landscape in Northern Ireland was set up to limit the power of the Catholic minority | |||||
While never legally segregating the Irish community, the power structure was set up in such a way as to keep the status quo, that being the Protestant majority in control | |||||
Laws were created from the beginning which would fight the emerging Republican paramilitary presence (Katz & Tushaus, 2008) | |||||
With Protestant control of the govt came the control of the court systems & the police |
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Jurors favored the Protestants & made up the voter lists & some of the greatest depravations of rights occurred during legislative acts |
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The Special Powers Act was passed to fight against the Republican para militaries, fighting to succeed from Britain (Kats & Tushaus, 2008) | |||||
This law gave great power to the Police to intern individuals w/o a trial for unspecified periods of time which included the broad powers of warrantless search & seizure & powers of censorship | |||||
The two peoples never integrated; the Catholics see themselves as native to Ireland & they view the Protestants as squatters & robbers of their lands | |||||
The Protestants viewed the Irish as uncivilized due to their different culture & language | |||||
As the two groups grew, the Protestants grew politically & economically | |||||
They were able to subdue the Irish politically & economically w/ England supporting them | |||||
THE IRA IS A PARA MILITARY TERRORIST GROUP WHO AIMS TO ELIMINATE UK & PROTESTANT RULE OF IRELAND | |||||
Sein Fein is the political arm of the IRA much like the PLO is the political arm of al Fatah & Hamas | |||||
The IRA was formed in 1919 as an unofficial military force that aimed to gain independence for Ireland. | |||||
At that time, present day Ireland & Northern Ireland made up a single country ruled by the British | |||||
The British govt had proposed that Ireland remain united w/ the UK but take control of its own domestic affairs. | |||||
Most of the Protestants in the northeastern province of Ulster opposed the plan for Irish rule because they did not want to be a minority in a Catholic nation | |||||
In 1919, the IRA began a guerrilla war for independence from British rule & harassed the police & military w/ ambushes & sudden raids | |||||
In 1920, the British govt passed the Govt of Ireland Act which divided Ireland into two states, each w/ limited powers of self govt | |||||
Under the Govt of Ireland Act, the six northeastern counties were separated from the rest of Ireland & became Northern Ireland while the southern Catholic majority rejected the act & demanded a single, united Irish republic | |||||
The guerrilla war continued until July 1921, when British & Irish leaders declared a truce & agreed to the Anglo Irish Treaty which was signed on Dec. 6, 1921, making southern Ireland a dominion, that is, a self governing country, called the Irish Free State, owing allegiance to the British Crown | |||||
THE IRA SPLINTERED INTO TWO GROUPS AS A RESULT OF DISAGREEMENT OVER LEVELS OF INDEPENDENCE & SELF GOVERNANCE FROM THE UK | |||||
The Anglo Irish treaty split the IRA wherein one group, led by Michael Collins, accepted the treaty & became part of the army of the Irish Free State while the other group, led by Eamon de Valera & called the Irregulars, rejected the treaty because it did not provide complete independence from the UK & union w/ Northern Ireland. | |||||
Early in 1922, civil war broke out & the Irregulars were defeated in 1923 but continued as an underground org | |||||
In 1937, the Irish Free State adopted a new constitution & changed its name to Eire | |||||
In 1949, Eire renounced its dominion status & declared itself an independent republic called Ireland | |||||
Northern Ireland remained united w/ the UK & from 1956 to 1962, the IRA periodically raided British installations in Northern Ireland, trying to reunite Ireland & Northern Ireland & embarrass both the British & the Irish govts | |||||
In the late 1960's, Catholics in Northern Ireland began to protest against discrimination by the Protestant govt & fighting broke out between Catholics & Protestants, & the IRA took up the cause of the Catholics | |||||
During the 60s Catholic Protestant skirmishes, the UK sent troops to restore order, & the IRA & British soldiers were soon fighting each other | |||||
THE IRA SPLINTERED OVER STRAT & TACTICS; W/ SOME FAVORING MORE VIOLENCE WHILE OTHERS FAVORED NEGOTIATIONS | |||||
During 1969 & 1970, another deep split developed w/in the IRA over strategy & tactics. | |||||
The dominant group was called the Provisional IRA while the other group became known as the Official IRA | |||||
The Provisional IRA has young, aggressive members. The Provisionals have carried out many bombings, ambushes, & assassinations in Ireland & the UK | |||||
The Official IRA consists of nonviolent older members chiefly committed to social change | |||||
PEACE BEGAN TO TAKE HOLD IN THE LATE 90s & CONTINUES TO THE PRESENT EXCEPT FOR SPORADIC VIOLENCE FROM SPLINTER GRPS | |||||
In July 1997, the IRA declared a cease-fire, & then in Sept of that year, peace talks on Northern Ireland began in which all parties were represented, including Sinn Fein | |||||
The 1967 talks concluded in an agreement that was approved by voters in Ireland & Northern Ireland | |||||
The agreement committed the parties to using peaceful means to resolve political differences | |||||
Implementation of the accord required many months of negotiations between the IRA & the Protestant Ulster Unionists | |||||
In 1998, following a ceasefire by the Provisional IRA and multi-party talks, the Belfast Agreement was concluded and ratified by referendum across the entire island. | |||||
Full implementation began at the end of 1999 & in early 2000, however, the agreement was suspended when the Protestants w/drew to protest a lack of disarmament by the IRA | |||||
Negotiations on the issues of self govt & disarmament continued & another peace accord was singed in 2005 | |||||
The Agreement restored self government to Northern Ireland on the basis of power sharing between the two communities. | |||||
Violence decreased greatly after the signing of the accord and in 2005 the Provisional IRA announced the end of its armed campaign and an independent commission supervised its disarmament | |||||
The power sharing assembly was suspended several times but was restored again in 2007 | |||||
In that year, the British government officially ended its military support of the police in Northern Ireland and began withdrawing troops | |||||
This peace agreement has largely held, but there have been sporadic bombings & attacks by splinters of the old IRA | |||||
The Irish British peace agreement indicates that in relation to war & terrorism: | |||||
a. European Westerners have fought each other for millennia just as people have across the globe | |||||
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b. despite millennia of conflict, people can overcome ancient animosities & find peace |
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- Project: Types of Terrorism |
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Terrorist acts are committed for various reasons |
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Most terrorist grps are small & they believe the threat or use of violence to create fear is the best way to gain publicity & support for their causes |
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Common victims of terrorist linked kidnappings & assassinations include diplomats, business executives, political leaders, police, & judges |
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Terrorists also attack churches, mosques, & synagogues, as well as oil refineries & govt offices, or any public venue including transportation centers, significant bldgs, etc. |
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At other times, terrorists choose any target certain to attract media coverage |
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Some terrorists hijack airplanes & then they hold the passengers hostage & make demands to further their cause |
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They often threaten to kill the hostages if their demands are not met |
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Bombings make up about half of all terrorist acts |
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Most terrorist groups fail to achieve their long range political goals | |||||
Govts fight terrorism by refusing to accept terrorist demands & by increasing security at airports & other likely targets | |||||
Some countries train special military units to rescue hostages | |||||
Of all the purposes of terrorism & the various methods of terrorism, there are FOUR basic types, including vigilante, insurgent, transnational, & state terrorism | |||||
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Generally, terrorists attack people who oppose their cause or objects that symbolize such opposition, & these may be any of the four types of terrorists | ||||
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a. Vigilante Terrorism | ||||
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Some terrorist groups seek to terrorize a group to keep them in submission | ||||
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b. Insurgent Terrorism | ||||
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Some individuals & groups that use terrorism support a particular political philosophy | ||||
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Some individuals & groups represent minority groups seeking liberation from govts in power | ||||
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c. Transnational Terrorism | ||||
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Terrorism may cross national boundaries as a quarrel in one nation may produce terrorist attacks in several other countries | ||||
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All terrorist acts are crimes under international law | ||||
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d. State Terrorism | ||||
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Some govts secretly support certain terrorist groups by providing weapons, training, & money for attacks in other countries | ||||
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Dictators & totalitarian govts also use violence to frighten or eliminate their opponents thought many democratic states have also employed "surrogate" terrorist groups to achieve their states' goals | ||||
Example of US state supported terrorist include the death squads in El Salvador in the 1980s & al Qaeda who we supported in the fight against the Soviets in Afghanistan |
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Vigilante terrorism is committed by private citizens against other private citizens to express hatred or to resist social change |
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Vigilante terrorism is the most common form of terrorism in US history, but state terrorism has killed more people |
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Many of the ugliest moments in US history are incidents of vigilante terrorism |
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Vigilante terrorism has been systematically committed against native Americans, blacks, labor leaders, immigrants, religious leaders ethnic groups, gays, & others |
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VIGILANTE TERRORISM AGAINST NATIVE AMERICANS | |||||
Europeans terrorized native Americans shortly after they arrived in the New World in the 1600s, peaked during the Indian Wars which culminated w/ the infamous massacre of over 300 Sioux men, women, & children at Wounded Knee, SD, in 1890, & continues to today |
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Vigilante terrorism is often combined w/ state terrorism |
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For native Americans, vigilante terrorism was combined w/ state terrorism |
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Vigilante terrorism against native Americans was part of a larger pattern of broken treaties, unkept promises, & the slaughter of defenseless women & children |
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Vigilante terrorism & the state terrorism resulted in the 1 mm native Americans being reduced to 240,000 & losing all of their No American empire |
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LYNCHING | |||||
The Klu Klux Klan is perhaps the most notorious practitioner of vigilante terrorism in the US |
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Whether perpetrated by an organized group like the KKK or by an unruly mob, lynching was one of the most notorious & common methods of vigilante terrorism |
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Lynching usually means the killing, generally by hanging, of a person by a mob in defiance of law & order |
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Victims of a lynching do not have a chance to defend themselves because the mob assumes its victims are guilty, whether or not the victims have had a trial |
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Lynch mobs not only promote disrespect for law, order, & basic human rights, but they also encourage mass brutality |
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Most states have attempted to stop lynchings by laws | ||||
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Some states prosecute under the laws against homicide, riot, & assault while other states have specific lynch laws but legal controls have not succeeded in preventing lynchings | ||||
One of the problems in getting a conviction against lynching is the difficulty in picking out the leaders of the mob | |||||
Another problem in getting a conviction against lynching is the lack of jury convictions, even w/ evidence | |||||
The decline in lynching in the US is due primarily to increased public opinion against mob violence | |||||
The term lynching probably originated w/ Charles Lynch, a planter who lived in VA during the 1700s | |||||
Lynch & his neighbors took the law into their own hands & punished the Tories (British sympathizers) & others who plundered their property | |||||
The term came to be applied to physical punishment, such as whipping, tarring, feathering, etc. | |||||
In pioneer communities on the far western frontier, many lynch mobs punished people for horse stealing, highway robbery, or murder | |||||
Lynchings began to take the form of hangings | |||||
People took the law into their own hands because there was no duly established legal authority | |||||
With the estb of law & order throughout the US, lynch mobs began to act in opposition to the law, instead of supporting it | |||||
INSTANCES OF VIGILANTE TERRORISM | |||||
Before 1890, most lynching victims were white; since then, most lynchings have occurred in the South, & most of the victims have been blacks | |||||
About 4,800 known lynchings occurred from 1882 to 1968, of those, about 25 percent were against whites & about 70 percent were against blacks | |||||
The peak year for these killings was 1892, w/ about 230 victims, but from 1957 to 1968, there were seven lynchings, & there have been few recorded lynchings since 1968 | |||||
A gay man was beat to death in WY in the 90s by 3 white men, & a grp of white men in TX beat & drug a black man behind a pick up, which resulted in his death in the 90s, & there have been other cases | |||||
While much vigilante terrorism is done by mobs of citizens or orgs such as the KKK the state, esp local police & sheriffs are sometimes complicit in either their outright encouragement or their tolerance for such collective violence | |||||
Some law enforcement officers encouraged or participated in assaults on blacks, but lawless groups carried out most attacks | |||||
One of the largest vigilante grps, the Ku Klux Klan, was organized in 1865 or 1866 in Pulaski, TN | |||||
Bands of hooded Klansmen rode at night & beat & murdered many blacks & their white sympathizers | |||||
The Klan did much to deny blacks their civil & human rights throughout Reconstruction even while the fed govt tried to maintain the rights of African Americans | |||||
In 1870 & 1871, Congress passed laws authorizing the use of fed troops to enforce the voting rights of blacks | |||||
These laws were known as the Enforcement Acts or the Ku Klux Klan Acts | |||||
In addition, President Ulysses S. Grant signed a proclamation demanding respect for the civil rights of all Americans | |||||
The Ku Klux Klan also attempted to keep blacks from voting through an increased use of threats, beatings, & killings | |||||
More than 3,000 blacks had been lynched during the late 1800s, & the Klan & members of similar groups lynched hundreds more throughout the South during the early 1900s | |||||
POST WW 1 VIGILANTE TERRORISM | |||||
After World War I, race relations grew increasingly tense in the Northern cities | |||||
The hostility in the North partly reflected the growing competition for jobs & housing btwn blacks & whites | |||||
In addition, many African American veterans, after fighting for democracy, returned home w/ expectations of justice & equality | |||||
The mounting tension helped the Ku Klux Klan recruit thousands of members in the North | |||||
In the summer of 1918, 10 people were killed & 60 were injured in racial disturbances in Chester & Philadelphia, PA | |||||
A series of riots erupted in the summer of 1919 & by the end of the year, 25 race riots had broken out across the country where at least 100 people died & many more were injured in the riots |
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The Klu Klux Klan (KKK) is perhaps the most notorious practitioner of vigilante terrorism in the US |
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The KKK was so integrated into the fabric of American life, that they may be considered as part of state terrorism | |||||
The KKK is a grp of white secret societies who oppose the advancement of blacks, Jews, & other minority groups | |||||
The KKK, also called the Klan, is active in the US & in Canada but has no real impact around the world | |||||
The KKK often uses violence to achieve its aims & Klan members wear robes & hoods, & burn crosses at their outdoor meetings & they also burn crosses to frighten nonmembers | |||||
There are FOUR major periods of Klan activity |
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1. THE RECONSTRUCTION ERA OF THE KKK | |||||
The 1st Era of the KKK was the Reconstruction Era, the mid 1860s to the early 1870s |
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The KKK was formed as a social club by a group of Confederate Army veterans in Pulaski, TN., in 1865 or 1866 | |||||
The KKK was formed in 1865 by a small group of confederate Army officers in TN by a Colonel Nathaniel Bedford Forest who became the leader, the Grand Wizard |
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The KKK is named after the Greek word kyklos, or circle & the English word, clan |
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The KKK was powerful force in opposing Reconstruction, terrorizing blacks & whites w/ beatings, torture, lynchings, & murder |
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The early Klan under Forest was more concerned w/ preventing domination by the North, & opposing reconstruction & less focused on race based vigilante terrorism | |||||
After Forest the Klan became primarily an instrument of maintaining racial segregation & inequality | |||||
Klan members, who believed in the superiority of whites, soon began to terrorize blacks to keep them from voting or exercising the other rights they had gained during Reconstruction, the period following the end of the American Civil War in 1865 | |||||
The Klan threatened, beat, & murdered many blacks & their white sympathizers in the So | |||||
The KKK spread rapidly throughout the So US & became known as the Invisible Empire & its attacks helped drive blacks out of So political life | |||||
Lynch mob violence became an integral part of the post Reconstruction system of So white supremacy | |||||
But from 1882 to 1930 there were over 3,000 lynchings of So blacks | |||||
In 1871, Congress passed the Force Bill, which gave the President the authority to use fed troops against the Klan | |||||
The KKK was weakened when fed troops arrested hundreds of members, & the KKK nearly disappeared |
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2. THE ANTI IMMIGRATION ERA OF THE KKK | |||||
The 2nd Era of the KKK was the Anti Immigration Era, 1915 to 1944 | |||||
In 1915, William J. Simmons, a former Methodist clergyman, organized a new Klan in Atlanta, GA, as a patriotic, Protestant fraternal society | |||||
The KKK was revived in 1915 & grew in response to growing anti immigration sentiment & the mvmt of rural Southern blacks to Northern cities |
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The KKK's anti immigration violence during the 1920 reflected a trend of anti immigration or Nativist mvmt in the US | |||||
The Klan targeted its activities against grps it considered un-American, including blacks, immigrants, Jews, & particularly Roman Catholics | |||||
A great wave of immigration began in the 1820s when over 3 mm immigrants, mostly Catholic, came to the US | |||||
The American Party formed into a strong nativist Party |
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The KKK grew rapidly & by the mid 1920s had more than 2 million members throughout the country | |||||
Mob violence occurred against Roman Catholics & other immigrants btwn 1850 & 1880 |
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American Party members frequently answered "I don't know" when asked about nativist policies & attacks & thus became known as "The Know Nothing Party" | |||||
Some Klan members burned crosses & whipped, tortured, & murdered people whose activities angered them, but most relied on peaceful means | |||||
By electing public officials, the Klan became a powerful political force throughout the South & also in many No & Western states, including CO, IN, Kansas, ME, OH, & OR | |||||
However, public criticism of Klan violence & quarrels among Klan leaders weakened the organization | |||||
By the 1930s, only local Klan grps in the So remained strong & the org died out again in 1944 | |||||
3. THE DESEGREGATION / CIVIL RIGHTS ERA OF THE KKK | |||||
The 3rd Era of the KKK was the Desegregation / Civil Rights Era, the late 1940s to the early 1970s |
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Samuel Green, an Atlanta physician, revived the Klan in 1946 | |||||
Green died in 1949, & the Klan then split into many competing groups; however, all of the groups opposed racial integration | |||||
The KKK faded in the 1930s but revived after the Brown v. Board of Ed Decision, 1954, banned school segregation | |||||
For the next decade the KKK attacked many So blacks & civil rights activists | |||||
Increased civil rights activities during the 1960s brought a new wave of Klan violence | |||||
Klan members were involved in many terrorist attacks, including the killing of three civil rights workers in Mississippi, & the bombing of a Birmingham, AL, church in which four black girls were killed | |||||
President Lyndon B. Johnson used the FBI to probe the Klan | |||||
Some members were sent to prison, & membership fell to about 5,000 by the early 1970s | |||||
4. THE POST CIVIL RIGHTS ERA OF THE KKK | |||||
The 4th Era of the KKK is the Post Civil Rights Era, since the mid 1970s |
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Beginning in the mid 1970s, new leaders tried to give a more respectable image to competing Klan grps | |||||
Some accepted women as members & set up youth grps | |||||
The KKK especially appealed to whites who resented both special programs designed to help blacks & job competition from blacks & recent immigrants | |||||
Also in the 1970s, it largely abandoned its opposition to Roman Catholics | |||||
In 1979, Klan members & their supporters killed five anti Klan demonstrators in Greensboro, North Carolina | |||||
The KKK had somewhat of a revival w/ the deindustrialization of the 80s |
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Klan membership rose to about 10,000 by 1980 | |||||
The KKK still attracted people w/ extreme views who often used violence | |||||
Klan members murdered a black youth in Mobile, AL, in 1981 | |||||
The militia mvmt grew ( not all are racist ) & found common interest w/ the KKK | |||||
Since then, declining interest in the Klan & some prosecutions for illegal activities have reduced KKK membership to about 6,000 & most of these members live in the So | |||||
Today, vigilantism takes the form of hate crime | |||||
Over 100 people died of hate crimes from 1990 to 1995 | |||||
Modern vigilantism focuses on blacks, other people of color, Jews, gays, freedom of choice advocates, anti-gun advocates, govt officials, etc. |
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Insurgent terrorism is private citizens committing terrorism against their govt to win political goals |
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Single issue terrorism is committed by an individual or small group to pressure the govt to change a specific policy |
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Separatist terrorism aims to help an ethnic group secede from a state |
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Social revolutionary terrorism aims to overthrow the govt & bring about dramatic economic, political, & social change |
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Examples of insurgent terrorism include US colonists, racist groups, labor strife, revolutionary groups, etc. | |||||
There have been many groups who committed insurgent terrorism including the KKK, the Black Panthers, the SLA, the IRA, etc. | |||||
The US colonies' revolt against Britain was insurgent terrorism |
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Colonists would tar & feather Tories, i.e. British sympathizers & many tories were also lynched |
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Lynching got its name from Colonel Charles Lynch who presided over illegal trials of the Tories |
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Labor strife can also take the form of insurgent terrorism |
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Labor committed acts of violence against company property, personnel & scabs (company sympathizers) & tried to get govt to recognize labor rights | |||||
Companies committed acts of violence against company property, (to frame Labor) personnel & scabs (company sympathizers) & tried to prevent the govt from recognizing labor rights | |||||
Often the workers were no more violent than were the companies themselves |
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The US has had the bloodiest & most violent labor history of any industrial nation in the world |
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The Molly Maguires were a secret organization of Irish American miners |
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THe AFL blew up the LA Times building w/ dynamite in 1910 |
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10 yrs later another bomb ripped apart a Wall Street bank owned by financier JP Morgan, killing more than 30 & injuring more than 200 |
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In the 1960s & the 1970s Black Militants, White Revolutionaries, & Puerto Rican nationalists have been active |
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Black Militant violence peaked from 1968 to 1974 after a decade of civil rights activism reached its peak |
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The Black Power Mvmt rejected the nonviolent tactics of MLK | |||||
The FBI, the police & other social control agents often fomented violence w/ black militants & other radical groups | |||||
The Black Liberation Army (BLA) formed in NYC in 1971 by former Panthers & ex-convicts | |||||
They targeted police & banks, killing about 26 police from 1970 - 1974 | |||||
The Weather Underground carried out a series of bombings beginning in 1970 | |||||
The New World Liberation Front bombed large corporations beginning in the mid 1970s | |||||
The Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) murdered a school superintendent in 1972, kidnapped Patty Hearst in 1974, & robbed banks | |||||
Puerto Rican Nationalists tried to kill Truman in 1950 & they shot 5 members of Congress in 1954 | |||||
From 1970 - 1980s Puerto Rican Nationalists are thought to have committed over 300 bombings & other acts | |||||
In the last 15 yrs, insurgent terrorism has taken on a more right wing philosophy as compared to many earlier left wing philosophies | |||||
These groups are often white militias & white supremacist groups | |||||
An example of the rise of white, right wind insurgency is the 1995 OK City bombing | |||||
Right wing terrorism now poses the most serious internal threat in the US while radical mid easterners pose the greatest external terrorist threat | |||||
In Europe, the best known terrorist groups are the Irish Republican Army IRA & its affiliates, though Europe has had many more instances of terrorism than the US | |||||
In August of 1969, they split into the Provisional IRA & the Official IRA | |||||
Protestant terrorist groups were established to fight the IRA | |||||
Since 1960 more than 3,000 have died in terrorist acts & violent clashes among the IRA, the Protestant groups & British troops | |||||
The Red Army was formed by student activists in W. Germany in 1968 & has committed numerous bombing, assassination attempts & bank robberies | |||||
The Red Army has attacked US military personnel in Germany | |||||
The Red Brigades began in 1970 in Italy, setting off bombs & murdering the Italian prime minister | |||||
They have waned under the efforts of the Italian police | |||||
The PLO & its affiliates have been active in the Mideast for decades | |||||
Their purpose is to gain a Palestinian nation & to destroy Israel, though at various times they have renounced the latter goal | |||||
In 1972 Black September killed 2 Israeli athletes & took nine other hostage during the Munich Olympics | |||||
In South America most govts have been repressive, right wing dictatorships supported by the US | |||||
Most of the So American terrorism there has been state terrorism | |||||
Rebel groups have often used terrorism in response | |||||
The People's Revolutionary Army in El Salvador formed in the 1970s | |||||
In Japan in 1995 the Om Shinricoio cult launched a poison gas attack in a subway in Tokyo that kill 12 & made 5,500 ill |
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Molly Maguires aka the Buckshots, White Boys, Sleepers circa 1865 to 1877 |
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The Molly Maguires took their name from a group of anti landlord agitators in 1840s in Ireland led by a widow named Molly Maguire |
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During the potato famine, the Molly Maguires & other groups fought against established interests |
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The Molly Maguires were a secret organization of Irish American miners |
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The Molly Maguires, circa 1865 to 1877, were a union of coal miners in PN who used terrorist tactics to win concessions |
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Most members were Irish |
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They formed to deal w/ intolerable working conditions in PN coal mines |
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The working conditions for miners were such that they were typically overworked, underpaid, & unsafe |
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Coal mining conditions were intolerable |
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Wages often did not cover expenses, as charged by the company: "Workin' in the coal mine & what do you get? Another day older & deeper in debt." |
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The Molly Maguires used terrorist tactics |
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The Molly Maguires assassinated company officials & committed other acts of terrorism |
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The Molly Maguires were chastised by Church, owners, govt, media, but respected by miners |
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The Molly Maguires used their power for the benefit of members & intimidated or murdered recalcitrant mine bosses & colliery superintendents |
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1874, at height of their power, Franklin B. Gowen, President of the Philadelphia Coal & Iron Co. & Reading Railroad hired the Pinkerton Detective Agency |
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The Molly Maguires were infiltrated by James McParlan, a Pinkerton, who was is some sense sympathetic, but wanted a better life |
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After a particularly outrageous murder in 1875, one assassin was condemned to death |
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This was the first capital conviction of a Molly |
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McParlan was suspected by the Mollies |
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McParlan evaded one plot to murder him, then w/drew |
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1877 trial based on McParlan's testimony crushed the Molly Maguires forever & as a result 10 hung & 14 were jailed |
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Transnational terrorism (TT) is perpetrated by terrorists living in one nation against the people, govt or general society of another nation |
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TT may also include terrorism that occurs in one's own country against foreign targets or against domestic targets but in the name of an intl cause or on behalf of a foreign govt (Gurr, 1989b) |
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Transnational terrorism is aka international terrorism, hence GW Bushes International War on Terrorism |
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Transnational terrorism is relatively uncommon in the US compared to other nations |
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For example, Mid Eastern related terrorism was spread into Europe: "The battle over the Palestinian question & other Mid Eastern issues had moved beyond the Mid East" |
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Most terrorism on mid eastern issues are directed against other mid east people, groups, govts, & general society |
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A key feature of terrorism today is it's transnational character in that many of the most active & notorious terrorists today are transnational, & perhaps more importantly, one of the characteristics that makes them unique is that they are mvmts w/o a country | |||||
Transnational terrorists today often have no allegiance to their country of origin, no single country from which they draw their resources, & no single nation as a target | |||||
An example the true transnational character of terrorism today can be seen in Osama bin Laden & al Qaeda who originate in many nations around the world, who draw resources from many people around the world, & who target nations in the 1st, 2nd, & even 3rd worlds | |||||
The transnationality of terrorism today makes it extremely difficult to combat or guard against | |||||
It is in the nature of modernity itself that makes transnational terrorism possible | |||||
Characteristics of modernity that enhance the operation of transnational terrorism include the world transportation system, the global communication system, the increased porosity of borders, the increased immigration & emigration & movement of people, etc. | |||||
From 1980 to 1985, 233 Mid East terrorist acts occurred in Europe,
where
- 60 % of the targets were Arab - 17 % were Israeli - 16 % were European - 5 % were American |
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A terrorist group, Abu Nidal, targets moderate Arabs & Israelis | |||||
Abu Nidal has attacked officials in Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait & Syria
& in
- 1985 they hijacked an Egyptian plane, killing 59 - 1985 they shot airport passengers in Rome & Vienna - 1986 they bombed a synagogue in Turkey, killing 21 |
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Hizbollah is centered in Iran & Lebanon & controls an Islamic Jihad, which is based in Lebanon |
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Both Abu Nida & Hizbollah have engaged in suicide bombing |
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Islamic Jihad has killed more than 20 people from Europe & the US, & hundreds of mid easterners |
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In the 1970s & 80s Omega 7, an anti Castro group is suspected of 50 bombings & assassinations |
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Most major terrorist events are transnational in character including: | |||||
- in 1988, the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing over Scotland |
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- in 1993, the WTC bombing |
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- in 2000, the USS Cole Bombing |
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- in 2001, the 9/11 Attack |
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State terrorism (ST) is terrorism perpetrated by a govt against its own people, other parts of the govt, general society, or against another nation |
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State terrorism is aka repressive terrorism |
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The concept of state terrorism underlines the point that govts often use random violence to terrorize its own citizens in order to stifle dissent |
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ST can include mass murder, individual assassination, execution, beatings, torture, etc. |
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ST has killed & injured more people than any other kind of collective violence except war | |||||
In the 1900s & continuing into the 2000s, more people are killed & injured by state terrorism than by all the other types of terrorism combined |
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Genocide is the killing of a people because of their race, religion, ethnicity, gender, or national origin |
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Genocide is the most extreme type of state terrorism |
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The US has supported state terrorism around the globe to align & support allies in pursuit of its imperialist interests & especially during the Cold War | |||||
The US has been involved in right wing terrorism in Central & So America: Argentina, Guatemala, Colombia, & other nations |
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The US has wanted to control these countries & forestall the development of communist or anti US regimes |
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State terrorism is unique & important because of the number of people affected but more importantly because it is perpetrated by the govt of a nation | |||||
ST is important because it demystifies the line btwn terrorism as viewed as an illegal, immoral activity, that lies outside of the realm of war & the legal & hence moral acts of govts that are often carried out under the same auspices as war |
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ST is legal.... in the technical sense that the state is empowered by its citizens to establish & maintain social stability | |||||
ST is carried out to maintain order | |||||
A war may be a war perpetrated against citizens & armies, war among armies, war against citizens & armies & ST may also be perpetrated against citizens, armies, or other grps | |||||
ST is hidden from view while other types of terrorism are held up as immoral | |||||
State permissiveness is the willingness of state officials to look the other way when violence is committed or even to encourage its use such as the terrorism perpetrated by the KKK |
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See Also: Structural Causes of Terrorism | |||||
In the 1800s the US govt & people's genocide against 750, 0000 Native Americans was ST that was both legal & encouraged |
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In the 1800s & 1900s, the US fed, state & local govts attacked Labor |
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In 1897, at a PN coal strike, deputies shot peaceful miners, killing 18, & wounding 40 | |||||
In 1914, in Ludlow, CO, the CO Fuel & Iron Company guards & Nat Guard troops machine gunned mining families in their tent city & set it afire killing 19 including 13 children | |||||
In 1915, in Turkey, 1 mm Armenians were forced into the desert where they died from thirst, starvation, etc. |
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The Holocaust during WW2 killed over 6 mm Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, & others |
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The Stalinist purges & consolidations before & after WW2: 10 mm peasants, intelligentsia, & opposition |
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In the 1940s, 50s, & 60s, local police & state troops murdered or beat hundreds of black ( & some white ) civil rights activists in the South | |||||
In Birmingham, AL, police clubbed nonviolent demonstrators, sprayed them w/ fire hoses, & attacked them w/ dogs | |||||
The Black Panthers were targeted by police w/ lethal violence & Fred Hampton was shot in bed in Dec, 1969 | |||||
In the 60s & 70s, the US War against Vietnam killed 2 mm Vietnamese soldiers & civilians | |||||
In the 1970s, the Cambodian govt slaughtered hundreds of thousand of Cambodians to solidify the rule of Pol Pot |
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In 1989, June, Chinese troops gunned down several thousand unarmed protesters at Tiananmen Square in Beijing | |||||
In 1994, in Rwandan the govt troops & Hutus slaughtered 1 mm Tutsis |
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While terrorism is often associated w/ non govt orgs, govts also commit terrorism |
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Often govt sponsored terrorism takes the form of counter mvmt terrorism which aims to intimidate its opponents |
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Govt sponsored counter mvmt terrorism is most common in authoritarian & totalitarian govts though some democratic govts also engage is terrorism |
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Govts engage in terrorism through their police, intelligence, & military, as well as through shadow, non govt groups which they sponsor, encourage, or simply allow to operate w/ impunity |
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The US supported El Salvador w/ millions of dollars of aid, & extensive military training when it was known that the govt had conducted 37,000 political murders from 1979 to `1984 |
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The most common forms of govt sponsored terrorism are political executions, death squads, torture, imprisonment w/o trial, & military attacks against civilian targets |
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Govt also assist insurgent groups in other countries as Iran has in Lebanon, Libya & the US have in Afghanistan w/ the Taliban regime, the US in Nicaragua, the US in Cuba, etc. |
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Govts do not usually participate directly in insurgent terrorism; rather, they assist underground terrorist orgs who carry out the actual attacks |
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Govts also engage in terrorism when the attempt to intimidate military opponents by bombing entirely civilian targets |
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Attacks on civilians by govts were common early in history as is documented by Roman attacks against Europeans, Atilla the Hun's decimation of cities, etc. |
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In the middle ages, war came to be fought almost exclusively btwn armies |
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During WW2, Germany fire bombed London & the US fire bombed Dresden, Germany, Tokyo, Japan, & more |
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The US dropped nuclear bombs on the cities of Hiroshima & Nagasaki |
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Many critics of war believe massive, overwhelming attacks on civilians are terrorism, while other note that civilians today are an integral part of the Military Industrial Congressional Complex |
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The labeling of who is a terrorist & who is a solder is often done by the more powerful, the victor |
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Both govts & advocacy groups characterized their opponents as "terrorists" & their supporters as "freedom fighters" |
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For Farley, it should be behavior & not ideology which defines a terrorist act |
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For Farley, attacks on civilians are terrorism no matter who commits them |
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For Farley, Palestinian bombing attacks by undercover, men, women & children on Israeli civilians & Israeli military attacks on Palestinian refugee camps are properly classified as terrorism |
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- Project: The Causes of Terrorism |
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The causes of terrorism parallel those of war, & thus are similar but not the same as the causes of war |
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Theories of terrorism must be tailored to account for the different groups that practice terrorism, ranging from anarchists to traditional religious groups, as well as the aims they hope to achieve, including revenge, publicity, organizing, social change, etc. | |||||
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Whatever the causes of war, the aim is to intimidate the enemy & force them to submit to your will, as is the aim of terrorism |
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If one follows Clauswitzian theory in that 'war is politics by other means,' & build on him to say that 'terrorism is war by other means,' & extending further, that 'terrorism is politics by other means,' then the aim of terrorism is political in nature usually attempting to bend the will of a larger or more powerful force |
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Terrorism occurs when war is considered to be ineffective because the enemy is superior in size, strength, etc. |
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The most widely accepted view of terrorism is that it is caused by socio political econ factors in that one party desires to force its society, its way of life on another group |
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Early theories of war, which may be applied to terrorism, are social psychological in nature as seen in McDougall's (1871-1938) view that tendency to war can be traced to an "instinct of pugnacity," an instinct not triggered by specific stimuli but by the blocking of other instincts |
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The theory that humanity is inherently aggressive is difficult to prove or disprove & it is not even clear if more or less people are engaged in war & war related activities & it is not clear whether the number of people killed in war as a percentage of the population is going up or down |
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War & terrorism are influenced by many of the same principles that influence other forms of collective action |
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Terrorists, people engaged in war, & people engaged in collective action generally have grievances; however, only terrorists & people engaged in war use violence |
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While the frequency & pervaisiveness of war is not clear, terrorism, social mvmts, & collective action in general are increasing |
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Terrorism, & social mvmts in general, can more easily occur in democratic, modern, industrial, global societies because freedom allows one to take advantage of the system |
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Post modernists note that as society has become more fragmented, soc mvmts have become less coherent & structured, thus becoming more expressive & less instrumental or effective |
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W/ the fragmentation of society, comes the fragmentation of systems of knowledge resulting in people having fundamentally different ways of knowing, ways of interpreting & acting in the world |
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Terrorism grows when diverse groups hold radically different views of the world |
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However, it must be noted that it is only in the modern age that humanity has had the hubris to posit one, or even a few ways of knowing, i.e. rationalism, & that historically the fragmentation of systems of knowing is much more common than the harmony of systems of knowing |
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The causes of terrorism can be understood in light of political economics in that if a system functions to keep particular classes, ethnic groups, religious groups oppressed economically, socially, politically, etc., then it is likely that they will try to change their system |
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If an oppressive group perceives that there is no legitimate route to change w/in the system, & if they perceive that war is not an option, then the opportunities offered by democratic, modern, industrial society offer the avenue of terrorism through which to pursue social change |
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Globalization itself is often seen as so oppressive to traditional, or tribalist groups, that it fosters hate toward the engines of globalization, i.e. the core nations & the multinational corps, & the ensuring terrorism |
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Some terrorists seek equal opportunity in the global competitive system, others are counter mvmts who seek to establish theocracies, still others want one particular govt brought down, others want one policy changed | ||||
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Political economic solutions are seen as addressing all of these grievances in that equal opportunity allows for the growth of a middle class who to date has always preferred democracy, the separation of church & state, equality for all parties & other core values of the modern system | ||||
Political economic solutions create the moderate middle class who can serve as a bulwark against radical tribalists, religious mvmts, and so on |
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Most explanations of terrorism focus on insurgent, transnational, & sometimes vigilante terrorism, & usually ignore state terrorism | |||||
Most Americans favor a psychological approach instead of a structural one, as they do for most political & ideological explanations because this is a strongly individualist country & because elites & the media seek to mystify real relationships | |||||
Some approaches point out the extent to which terrorists suffer from psychological abnormalities that lead to a sadistic &/or paranoid personality, i.e. a "terrorist personality" | |||||
An example of psychological / lifestyle profiling as an explanation of a terrorist is the "Shoe Bomber" who was a male, white, a loner, broke, an outcast, scruffy looking, & was a Brit w/ radical sentiments | |||||
The traditional profile of a terrorist is one who is male, poor, isolated, lives in or has suffered intolerable social conditions, but it is not known what % of terrorists do or do not fit this profile | |||||
The problems w/ the psycho pathological view are that: | |||||
a. the vast majority of people & terrorists do not suffer from a psycho pathology | |||||
History has repeatedly shown that normal people are capable of committing terrorist acts | |||||
We like to think that we are not violent, but history, anthropology, sociology, & other social sciences suggest otherwise, though we are quite capable of peaceful existence | |||||
Violence does not prevent peacefulness from occurring & vice versa | |||||
b. a social psychological theory can give us important understanding of why people turn to violence, but it cannot explain why people turn to terrorist violence | |||||
When we look at psychological & structural factors together, we can begin to understand their relationship is constructing causal understandings mirroring the classic dilemma btwn micro & macro explanations, btwn visible & hidden causes of behavior | |||||
c. the psychological approach mystifies & otherwise obscures the religious, historical, political, sociological, economic & other structural conditions that underlie terrorism & suggests that terrorism is abnormal rather than normal | |||||
"Indeed, under certain conditions, such as those of the [Nazi] death camps, terrorist acts may become the norm, & the deviant personality may be the one who resists committing acts of terrorism" Peter C. Sederberg, 1998, p. 25 in Barkan & Snowden | |||||
This is the case in Palestine: at 1st it was the classic profile of the terrorist who committed a suicide bombing, but in 2000 & 2001, it has become the mid class male & female Palestinians who are volunteering | |||||
Under the social psychological explanations, terrorism is considered as one of many possible relationships to discontent | |||||
It is then left to the social & political scientist to determine the structural causes, but it is left to the social psychologists to determine how people will react to them based on alienation, relative deprivation & rising expectations | |||||
Terrorism is unlikely to occur unless individuals adopt ideologies that justify the use of extreme violence to achieve political goals | |||||
Ideologies that justify violence & terrorism, or any ideology for that matter, expand through friendship networks & by other means | |||||
Soc psyc explanations that take ideologies into acct have been used to explain Nazi state terrorism which developed an ideology, based on social Darwinism, which held that Aryan superiority & the structural conditions after WW1 lead to the rise of Hitler & his political party | |||||
Soc psyc explanations that take ideologies into acct can explain vigilante terrorism wherein a southern racist ideology is combined w/ poor structural conditions |
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Structural explanations of terrorism see terrorist activity as rational (if desperate) responses to structural conditions, especially economic, political, & social conditions | |||||
Collective violence, terrorism, protests, etc. are simply "politics by other means" (Gamson, 1990) that are invoked when the affected group perceives threats & sees violence as the optimal alternative | |||||
Thus much insurgent & transnational terrorism is a response to govtl, etc. oppression, just as the colonialists revolted against England because of "a long train of abuses & usurpations" as written in the US Declaration of Independence | |||||
Thus the difference btwn the IRA, the PLO & the Am colonists is one of methods while they are similar in the fact that they are responding to, in their view, oppression | |||||
The primary difference in the social labeling of an act as terrorism or not is whether it can be justified or not on the basis of oppression & inequality | |||||
Afghanis fighting the Russians, Afghanis fighting Americans, Afghanis fighting Afghanis are all examples of people engaging in collective violence, whether it is called war or terrorism, to, in their view, escape oppression & inequality | |||||
Note that the structural explanations can also explain state terrorism | |||||
Southern lynchings increases when the economy worsened, when the price of cotton was falling & inflation was rising | |||||
Lynchings decreased when the economy improved | |||||
Another factor in collective violence is population destiny as seen in the social fact that there were less lynchings in counties w/ a majority of blacks | |||||
State permissiveness is the willingness of state official to look the other way when violence is committed or even to encourage its use | |||||
The amt of state permissiveness is a structural factor that impacts the type & amt of col violence such as terrorism in general & / or state terrorism | |||||
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See Also: State Terrorism | ||||
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Structural causes represent long term causes of terrorism in that they take a long time, even centuries, to develop, & just as long a time to dissipate |
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Threshold events are often an immediate cause, & are aka as a precipitating event in the study of collective behavior | |||||
The general public tends to focus on the threshold events of a terrorist act & is often ignorant of, or confused about structural causes | |||||
In fact many people will go so far as to deny the validity of a structural cause & instead believe the event is caused by individualistic factors including threshold events, psychological causes, religion, or even individualistic or personal factors such as meanness or evilness | |||||
Terrorism often does not need a threshold event, since the accumulation of structural causes create deprivation, hence frustration, hence aggression | |||||
A threshold event, real or imagined, provides the immediate justification for violent action directed at a target group |
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- Project: The Media's Dilemma & Terrorism |
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In most nations in which state terrorism exists, the govt largely or totally controls the media |
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In countries like the US, while the media is widely attacked as being liberal, most news is infotainment, & uniform, & middle of the road |
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Nonstate terrorists do not control the media to the extent that the state may, but they count on the media coverage to spread fear & their goals |
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Today terrorist events are designed to get maximum media exposure |
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The media plays an unwitting role in facilitating terrorism & in helping it to succeed |
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The "media provides the 'oxygen of publicity' on which terrorism thrives" Kidder, 1998, p. 149 |
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In 1985 during a TWA hijacking in Beirut, Lebanon, terrorists offered TV networks interviews for $12,500 each |
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The British media refused to cover the TWA hijacking in Beirut, Lebanon while the Am media covered it non-stop |
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There is concrete evidence that media coverage of any violent event increases worry, fear, even panic: i.e. the UFO sightings reported in newspapers, the War of the Worlds, anthrax poisoning, etc. |
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There is little evidence that media coverage increases the wider public's support for terrorists' goal, & more likely it decrease such support |
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However, media publicity does "energize the base;" i.e. publicizing terrorist acts & airing their goals & ideologies does win approval & supporters from those who are sympathetic to the group or their general ideology to begin w/ | |||||
Thus in many ways terrorist acts are designed to "preach to the choir" | |||||
Another effect of media coverage is that it serves to intimidate or instill fear in those who are attacked or may be attacked | |||||
A terrorist act which is widely publicized has a much larger effect than one which is not publicized in both rallying the faithful & threatening the general populace | |||||
Thus media terrorists today seek to design their actions to gain as much publicity as possible | |||||
Terrorist use or manipulate the general media such as TV news, but they also have become adept at employing the new, alternate media, esp the internet to broadcast their activities & ideologies, & of course the mainstream media does cover terrorist & other 'media events' that occur on the internet | |||||
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The media generally ignores the structural reasons for terrorist violence & depict it negatively |
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The media today recognizes the dilemma they are in in that on the one hand they believe that it is their role in society to publish the news whether it be terrorist acts, publicity seeking murderers, or those that break the law in order to have their "15 seconds of fame'" etc. & on the other hand they recognize that such publicity aids | |||||
The other side of the media's dilemma is that when they are simply doing their job of reporting the news, they recognize that they are aiding those who perpetrate violence |
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Terrorism has generally been a male activity though women have always been an integral part of the process |
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For the first time in history, a woman carried out a suicide bombing in Spring of 2002 |
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The first suicide attack by a woman was against Israel, & it has since been followed by another |
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Early studies in gender differences focused on biological explanations |
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Socialization & opportunity are thought to be more important in establishing gender roles |
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American women have been involved in terrorism since the 1960s in groups such as the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) |
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Women have historically committed less crime & much less violent crime than men, though the growth rate of female perpetrated crime is much greater than it is for males |
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Women have become soldiers in significant numbers only in the past few decades, reversing a millennial old tradition |
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However, in general women are as hawkish & support war as much as men do | ||||
Women's motivation for suicide bombing is believed to be less nationalistic & more familialistic as it is for many men | |||||
In the month & yrs after the 9 - 11 attacks women were more hawkish on security than were men & thus pollsters re - nicknamed this segment of women from soccer moms to security moms | |||||
In patriarchal societies the motivation for male suicide bombers is to sacrifice less for the nationalistic cause & more to support their wives, mothers, & families | |||||
The male role to sacrifice for the female & the family is one that is socialized in by culture & social structure & is even seen in the animal kingdom & thus is believed to have some roots in both social & natural factors | |||||
Sociologists have recognized the social fact that for decades one of the major categories of male suicides includes those men who obtain an insurance policy, & then kill themselves leaving the money to their wife & / or family | |||||
The econ structure around the world creates the situation where the family is often better off when the male head of household is a dead soldier, dead suicide bomber, or even a dead insurance holder | |||||
Patriarchal societies augment the male sense of sacrifice for the family while non patriarchal societies do not | |||||
Terrorists & those who recruit men & boys for the military
tap into patriarchal / familial sentiments to motivate suicide bombers
& soldiers to join up by offering:
a. money b. support for the family c. respect in the community |
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Thus even in the western industrialized nations the role of male sacrifice can be seen in the fact that soldiers are more likely to come from the lower classes, who can significantly benefit their families by joining up | |||||
Upper class males are less likely to join up to the military because they have less need to sacrifice in this form for the family benefit because they already have secured econ wellbeing for the family | |||||
The money for suicide bombers is often not great by western standards but is essentially a lifetime stipend for a family in the 3rd world | |||||
Support for the the family of a suicide bomber, in addition to the money, is realized in the form of the nearest male taking the important role of head of the family, since a family w/o a male head, even if they have money, is often severely weakened & at a social disadvantage | |||||
Conversely if the suicide bomber somehow botches or does not go through w/ the attack, the entire family is ostracized | |||||
Respect in the community raises the status of every family member making the marriageable women & men more appealing & making the women & men more generally respected | |||||
As societies around the world become less patriarchal & as women become more involved in the econ sector & in supporting the family economically, women are becoming more likely to make the ultimate sacrifice as a soldier, suicide bomber, or even an insurance holder | |||||
However, today boys as young as 10 are still much more likely to take on roles in collective violence activities than women | |||||
Boy suicide bombers are much more common than women bombers & boy soldiers are common in some third world country where entire units of boys headed by a man operate |
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- Project: Counter Measures to Terrorism |
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MILITARY SOLUTIONS | |||||
Almost all of the work on counter terrorism focuses on insurgent & transnational terrorism & typically ignores vigilante & state terrorism |
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There cannot be an all purpose solution to terrorism because there is no unified terrorist thereat & because of the diversity of objectives (short & long term) |
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Law enforcement & military approaches discourage attacks, stop attacks, & respond to attacks & while their actions are important, we must look to other sources for a more comprehensive view |
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Target hardening includes making targets more secure & safe |
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The law & the legal system may discourage attacks, but more importantly, it has the ability to defuse the structural causes of terrorism |
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The effectiveness of pre emptive strikes is in doubt since they often cause more animosity |
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The Israeli invasion of the West Bank in 2002 destroyed some bomb factories & capturing some leaders, but history will tell whether it is radicalizing an entire generation of Arabs |
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Is the American attack against Afghanistan in 2001-2002 effective? |
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The US bombings in Afghanistan & Africa in retaliation to the bombing of the USS Cole are generally thought to be counter effective |
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The US bombing of Libya in response to the Berlin attacks is thought to have caused the Flight 103 bombing |
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Counter terrorism poses a threat to our civil liberties though
the implementation of such policy options as
- the universal ID - video surveillance - treasury surveillance of all of our financial transactions ( begun in 2004 ) - lax restrictions of wire tapes, surveillance, incarceration, etc. in the name of national security |
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ECONOMIC & SOCIAL SOLUTIONS | |||||
If inequality, oppression, & other social problems lie at the heart of terrorism, then this is where the solution lies |
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Rubenstein argues that terrorism derives from US imperialism & that an end to US involvement in other nations would do much to end terrorism |
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Most experts on globalization agree that economic & social conditions around the world are worsening |
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Amnesty International documents the worst examples of govt violence | |||||
There is always the question of whether terrorists can be assuaged or where they desire the downfall of western society | |||||
Many social analysts including significant actors in the political & military sectors of western society recognize that law enforcement & military solutions to terrorism, war & other forms of collective violence are merely addressing symptoms of collective violence | |||||
Reducing poverty, exploitation, & oppression is the ultimate solution to terrorism & war | |||||
However, law enforcement & military solutions are easier in that social solutions are less developed & much more complex | |||||
Social solutions to poverty, exploitation, & oppression on a global scale have only been developed in the last few decades through orgs such as the UN, the Peace Corp, & other such efforts as the program to establish free nations in the Balkans after the Balkan war of the 1990s, & Iraq in the 2000s | |||||
And nation building in Iraq certainly focused more on a military solution than a nation building solution, at least in the beginning | |||||
It is not clear how to establish a nation in Iraq at this time | |||||
Perhaps when nations spend as much money on their equivalent of the State Department, focusing on diplomatic & economic development, as on the Department of Defense, nation building will be as viable & effective a solution as military domination & war | |||||
It is important to note that in general the economic elite of the world both benefit from war because supplying the military industrial complex is highly profitable, & because they have a secured grip on the wider economy | |||||
Because the world elite classes would lose their advantages of the profitability of the military industrial complex & the wider economy if solutions to poverty, if exploitation, & oppression were to be eliminated, some social analysts view the elite as actively working to preserve their interests & inflame war & conflict, while other social analysts disagree | |||||
RELIGIOUS SOLUTIONS | |||||
While some maintain that religious radicalism is also a root cause to terrorism, war & other forms of collective violence, this has not been conclusively demonstrated | |||||
Throughout history, in nations throughout the world, radical, violent religious sentiments have lessened as economic & social justice have expanded | |||||
An example of the lessening of radical & violent tendencies of religion can be seen in the development of Christianity which in the Middle Ages & the Early Industrial Era was a factor in centuries of warfare around the world but now is not generally seen as an important factor | |||||
Radical, violent religious sentiments increase under conditions of social & economic oppression & lessen under favorable social & economic conditions | |||||
The role of religion in collective violence is often confused because religious, race, & ethnic lines often parallel class lines | |||||
The parallel of religious, race, & ethnic lines w/ class lines can be seen in the situation of Northern Ireland where the Protestant British upper class exploited & militarily dominated the Catholic Irish in their own nation of Ireland | |||||
This Protestant - Catholic war which has raged & cooled over centuries has on the surface appeared as a religious war when it has as much to do w/ economic & social exploitation of a poor nation by a powerful one in order to be able to economically exploit the conflicted territory | |||||
The Arab - Israeli conflict in the middle east appears as a Islamic - Jewish religious war when it has has as much to do w/ economic & social exploitation | |||||
While there is no doubt that ideologies of religious & moral tolerance are an important part of ending collective violence, most social analysts believe that these messages must be combined w/ economic & social solutions |
The End
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