Terrorism across the globe has been a problem for many centuries but has become more evident in the recent years due to attacks. Such attacks include 9/11, Chattanooga Shootings, and the Boston Marathon Bombing. These radical attacks are typically carried out by individuals or groups with ties to rebel organizations. Terrorism has become more evident through tragic events either on United States soil or in other countries. These attacks involve a great number of United States citizens and are usually conducted by groups or individuals with ties to organizations such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS.
Threats to US citizens lives or infrastructure has been found to be carried out in numerous ways, the most common method being the use of social media. Terrorist
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organizations utilize social media because it provides wide and fast coverage of their heinous acts, while also providing an easy way to claim their affiliations. On the fatal day of 9/11 in 2001, almost every news network channel was covering the horrific events happening at the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and Pennsylvania while social media accounts were tweeting, pinning, and posting about it. These reactions were exactly what the responsible terrorist organization wanted. Once everyone knew of the attack and saw just how bad it was, the organization used social media to let it be known to everyone listening that they are affiliated with Al-Qaeda. Social media is also used to communicate with members of different terrorist groups inside and outside of the US. Primarily, communication is carried out through Google’s Email service, Gmail, in coded messages appearing as normal emails. Secondly, an encrypted chatting service called Telegram. When terrorist groups are looking for new recruiters, they once again flock to social media as their source. According to CNBC, popular social media outlets such as Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook are used to isolate teens. Like when Adahn Farah was recruited by Al Shabab into becoming affiliated with their terrorist organization. The teen saw a YouTube video provided by Al Shaab, which introduced him into the terrorist realm. The “inspiration” video hooks isolated teens/adults by giving false hope of finding the “light” or a better life. The US has implemented a specific department to helps stop terrorism. The Department of Homeland Security’s main purpose is, “prepare for, prevent, and respond to domestic emergencies, particularly terrorism.” DHS has been active for fifteen years and each year has become more involved with protecting US citizens. Since the attacks on 9/11, airports have increased security drastically to eliminate passengers carrying materials that can be used as weapons. Some weapons include box cutters, knives, and certain chemicals. Anyone flying in or out of the US has to go through different checkpoints to be screened for weapons including their luggage. Plans have been made to increase the DHS budget by over 7% to cover additional funds required to meet the needs of the growing department. The US receives a majority of its terroristic threats from immigrants from the following countries; Iraq, Syria, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. In response to this data newly elected President Trump has issued a travel ban into the US from those high-risk terrorist countries. Trump believes even refugees from Syria are too high risk, despite having gone through thorough background checks. Threats originate from places outside the travel ban, as well as the travel banded countries gaining access into the country via social media, email, and telegram. There are several hundred US passport holders that have affiliations with ISIS, and it is the job of the DHS to heavily screen and track them when traveling around the Middle East and when reentering the US. These US citizens are American citizens who chose to convert to Islam and support terrorist organizations. American grown terrorists have been found to be involved in domestic terrorism; which is terrorism practiced in your own country against your own people.
The Oklahoma City Bombing is an example of domestic terrorism. Timothy McVeigh an anti-government militant American citizen who bombed a Federal building in Oklahoma city in 1995. The attack involved a rental truck packed with explosives which was denoted on the north side of the building. The explosion killed 168 people, 19 of them were children, and leaving over 650 injured. The blast was so devastating it blew off the side of the building and left more than 300 surrounding buildings with damage. Non-Domestic terrorist attacks on US soil would be exampled by 9/11. In this attack foreign terrorists hijacked 4 separate passenger airline jets and crashed two of them into the World Trade Towers in New York, the 3rd being crashed into the Pentagon, while the fourth crashed into a field in the outskirts of Pennsylvania. This tragedy has an estimated death toll of over 3000 people, with 400 being first responders. The terrorists responsible for this heinous crime is believed to be affiliated with al-Qaeda, which was funded at the time by Osama bin-laden. This event was a turning point in the security level of the American nation. Because of the increase in security in border control, American conversion to Islam has seen an increase inside the American Prison system. The Prison system is an excellent place to recruit people to …show more content…
convert because the inmates are more likely to get parole than international terrorists entering the US. The inmates already recognize the United States government in a negative aspect, so they are easier to manipulate into joined a terrorist group. Terrorism has been a part of society since the beginning and unfortunately continues to expand even today.
As terrorism grows, so does our defense mechanisms and our ability to fight against these terrorist groups, whether they be on our soil, or across the world. We have constructed abilities to defend our nation through social media attacks, and even attacks on our land as well as the land of those with whom we are allied
with.
Terrorism – This is a word that many people are terrified of. When a terrorist attack occurs, people’s daily routines are shattered. Things change instantaneously the moment the bomb goes of. When we think about a terrorist attack that really impacted the world, we immediately think about 9/11. On that day many people were hurt directly and indirectly. People were disorientated and scared. The moment there is change, the world panics. Unfortunately, 9/11 was not the only day where people panicked. On 1988, the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 occurred. This terrorist attack was not as massive as 9/11; but, it did leave scares especially to the Syracuse University community.
April 19, 1995 at 9:02, in Oklahoma City a bomb exploded, destroying buildings, injuring and killing innocent citizens. Many questions about the city would go unanswered, including who made it, who didn’t, along with who did it and why. All of these citizens deserve answers to the simple questions. The world was in shock and worried about what was going to happen next. This terrorist attack would then be noted as the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil.
The issue of domestic terrorism has been a fairly recent phenomenon. With little attention given until such acts as the Oklahoma City Bombing and the Unabomber made national headlines. It is because of this that there has been little research done on the area and most of the research there is focuses on the hate groups associated with the acts of violence. A strong force in the domestic terrorist movement is the fervent anti-government stance that these groups internalize. As Mark Hamm wrote in 1997, “I used the term apocalyptic violence to depict not only the astounding carnage witnessed on that day, but also to describe the anti-government counter-culture to which Timothy McVeigh and his accomplices belonged. In this statement he is referring to the assault on the Branch Davidian complex in Waco, TX. It is believed by many that this is the act which pushed McVeigh to bomb the federal building in Oklahoma City. Hamm went on further to argue, “The federal government had created an apocalyptic subculture in the hinterlands of the USA. And that it had done so through its ruthless use-of-force at Waco.”
Being the oldest daughter of a Senior ATF Agent, I have been exposed to domestic terrorism all of my life. My father has investigated thousands of bombings, fires, and explosions for more than twenty years now. Many of these incidents were examples of the terrorism that I speak about. His experiences have taught me countless lessons and informed me of many current events. The information that I have obtained from him is far more valuable than anything that the media could ever possibly convey. Though he is always strictly guarded with the confidences of his profession, he has always provided me with a firsthand knowledge of the impact that domestic terrorism has on the citizens and law enforcement. Through him, I learn the facts of these incidents without the media’s exaggerations. Today I will share with you some of these facts. I will talk to you about the impact that domestic terrorism has on our citizens. These impacts include: the monetary damages that terrorism inflicts, along with the injuries to the victims, the shocking repercussions that are embedded into the minds and souls of the people who come to sort through the rubble to find the survivors and the remaining evidence.
America has had 21 terrorist attacks, from 2000 to 2009 consisting mostly of al-Qaeda and suicide bombers (infoplease.com). Osama Ben Laden, leading al-Qaeda’s attacks is fed up with the way America treats the world. Blaming America for global warming and determined to stop them by sending suicide bombers and hijacking planes. After the 9/11 attack America changed the way they looked at security, putting into effect; Airport Security Federalization Act of 2001: To deter and punish terrorist acts in the United States and around the world, to enhance law enforcement investigatory tools (The Library of Congress).
The topic of my paper is types of terrorism. There are several types of terrorism for which to choose for my paper, state, dissident, religious, left-wing v. right-wing, and international. In this paper I have chosen state terrorism, religious terrorism, and international terrorism as the types of terrorism that I am going to discuss. I will discuss what they are in my own words and give examples of two different groups for each type that represent that type of terrorism. Then I will compare and contrast the three types of terrorism that I chose.
Terrorism originated back as early as the 14th century. The French Revolution originated the word of “terrorist” and “terrorism” (Terrorism Research, n.d.). The use of the word "terrorism" began in 1795 in reference to the Reign of Terror initiated by the Revolutionary government. (Terrorism Research, n.d.). In recent years, there have been major terrorism events in the United States such as 9/11, U.S.S. Cole, Boston marathon, and the federal building bombing in Oklahoma. Shortly after 9/11, Homeland security implemented five threat conditions (Red, Orange, Yellow, Blue, Green) with red being severe and green being the lowest threat condition. The author further states that local police are in the best position to learn about intelligence regarding terrorist threats and potential targets. Many of the resources available to local law enforcement include crime prevention seminars, community policing and partnerships with local businesses particularly banks, realtors, car rental agencies and
The Oklahoma City Bombing was a terrorist truck bombing on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on April 19, 1995. The people responsible were Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols, the explosion took the lives at least 168 people, injured more than 680 others, and destroyed one-third of the building. All the damages together add up to $652 million worth of repairs. Until the 2001 September 11 attacks, this bombing was the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil and remains the deadliest incident of domestic terrorism in United States history. There is no doubt that this tragedy greatly affected America socially, economically, and politically.
A United States citizen turning against one’s own government and embracing an ideology to kill another citizen or commit an act of violence is a growing phenomenon commonly known as homegrown terrorism. This transition or radicalization process that transforms an individual into an adversary has intensified since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The problem continues to persist in other parts of the world such as Canada, United Kingdom and even in Saudi Arabia, a Non-Western country. This form of extremism has shown its propensity in the United States since the turn of the century when Muslim extremism had its early beginnings as a venue to support a black separatist movement. Today, the threat emerges more rampantly with the accessibility and excess of information technology; as well as the political and socio-economic environment influencing many spectrums of perception and intent.
There a small but clear differences between domestic terrorism and international terrorism, that difference is where the terrorist act is planned, supported, and carried out. In the case of domestic terrorism, the act must be planned, supported, and carried out all within the boundaries of the United States. The domestic terrorists must also be domicile to the United States and not be current foreign nationals at the time of the act. If the terrorist act is committed with help from a foreign group, planned or supported in a foreign country or committed by foreign nationals inside the boundaries of the U.S., then the attack may be international terrorism. The 9/11 attack was a clear act of international terrorism as it was planned, supported,
Terrorism represents a continuing threat to the United States. It is the most significant threat to our national security. Terrorist attacks have definitely left many concerns about the possibilities of future incidents of terrorism in the United States. Since the events of September 11, 2011, Americans and much of the world are afraid. Americans are at war with terrorism and no longer feel comfortable. A part of this unease feeling has to do with cyber terrorism.
Terrorism was not a dormant issue in the media until the attacks on the USA. The organised use of violence to target non-combatants for political purposes, is one of the most effective ways to gain media attention. Mainly used by extremist groups in the hopes of gaining recognition for their religious or political cause. Several attacks on the US have recently made headlines The attack on the USS Cole (October 12, 2000), US Embassy bombings in Kenya + Tanzania (August 7, 1998), Oklahoma City bombing (April 19, 1995) , the World Trade Centre bombing on February 27 1993 and finally the World Trade Centre bombing on September 11, 2001. . There were overt threats made to the US government regarding these attacks but most were dismissed as hoaxes.
Americans have considered terrorism as a horror that occurs in other countries and not as a real threat to America itself. As the recent terrorist attacks on our nation shows, this opinion was gravely incorrect. There are several policies in both the private sector and our government, which contributed to our vulnerability to terrorism.
Terrorism is a leading issue in American society and stated by Peter Gasser “Terrorist attacks have brought suffering and distress to individual victims” (Gasser). Terrorists could care less who they kill or how many because “terrorists strike indiscriminately.” (Gasser). Because of this we Americans must secure our borders tighter. Terrorists want to push their purpose onward but as Peter Gasser says “The purpose of terrorists attacks is to create fear to further their cause” (Gasser). Terrorists strive to maintain a political goal which is why “Terrorist attacks are often perpetuated against persons who have no direct influence” (Gasser) just so they can prove a point.
Terrorism can take many different forms. Tragedies like 9/11 and domestic terrorism can both be prevented with increased homeland security. To prevent attacks like 9/11 from happening in the future, addressing issues with domestic terrorism, and the growth of homeland security, the U.S. still needs to be concerned with terrorism. Disasters like 9/11 still need to be prevented in the United States. The U.S. needs to be more involved with terrorism in general to keep domestic attacks from happening. Homeland security needs to be studied and improved in order to prevent terrorism. In conclusion, is it imperative that the United States continue its fight against terrorism.