terrorism (save the world from it)

Preventive measures

2008-12-02T21:33:00.000-08:00

a) FACE MASKS. Go to a hardware store, and buy a mask used to protect your face from toxic dusts. Learn to fit one tightly to your face
b) ANTIBIOTICS. Have your doctor prescribe a 10 day supply of 500 milligram capsules of ciprofloxacin, which is a fluoroquinolone antibiotic
c) BOTTLED WATER, STORABLE FOOD, FRESH BATTERIES IN A FLASHLIGHT AND A PORTABLE RADIO, AND FUEL IN YOUR AUTOMOBILE. These are standard precautions for natural or manmade disruptions. If a terrorist attack disrupts life, or if you are moving to a safer place, it is wise to have a few days supply of these staples

2008-11-26T06:18:00.000-08:00

Terrorism in India: Where the problem lies?
Terrorism in India has grown to a great extent in the last two decades. But the government is still lagging behind in implementing strong and adequate measures to combat terrorist activities. Common men should also come forward to curb this menace..
CJ: Dhananjay Tripathi , 16 May 2008 Views:7349 Comments:7
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PINK CITY turned red on May 13 by the terrorist strike, killing more than 70 persons (as per government report) and leaving more than double the number as injured. The terrorist attack on the Pink City is not only an attack on humanity, but once again terrorist groups have proved that they do not have any ideology, except spreading violence and terror and they have no other cause but to harm humanity.
Religions do not give permission of mindless killing of innocent people, and those who are indulging in such activities have nothing to do with any religion. Nothing can be achieved by making humanity to bleed, and those who swear by the name of political goal are nothing but inhuman and should be treated in a very strong manner. No stone should be left unturned to bring these enemies of humanity to book.
Huji, which is a suspected terrorist outfit in the Jaipur attack, drew inspiration from Osama Bin Laden and established with the assistance of Bin Laden’s International Islamic Front (IIF) in 1992. Earlier Harkat-ul-jehad-al-Islami (HujI) and Harkat-ul-
Mujahedeen (HuM) were under the single banner of Harkat-ul-Ansar (HuA). The United States (US) department put HuA under the list of international terrorist organisation as this group kidnapped some European and American tourists from Kashmir in early 1990s. Afterwards, HuA was splinted into two groups, HujI and HuM.
Presently, both are involved in terrorist activities in Kashmir Valley and in Pakistan. In Bangladesh, HuA works as HujI-Bangladesh. The primary objective of HujI is to establish Isalmic Hukumat in Bangladesh (Islamic Rule) and they have a close connection with Taliban. They get assistance from Osama Bin Laden and major part of funding comes to them from Laden’s IIF. According to the available report of Bangladesh CID Police of 1999, IIF has sanctioned some 0.40 million US dollars to HujI for recruitment and training of cadres. The strength of Huji-Bangladesh can be estimated by the fact that it provides largest number of cadre to fight in Afghanistan from outside Afghanistan.
The blasts in Jaipur also reveal many things, which in the past have been considered by our government but never been implemented at a serious level. India is facing the problem of terrorism from last two decades, but still we failed to zero it on. The intelligence gathering in India is not at all satisfactory. It has never come to notice that security agencies have unearthed any mission of terrorists except in our Bolloywood movies. From Parliament to Judiciary, everything in this nation is targetted and we swung into action after strike takes place and then get relax for another to happen. At national level, there is a need of a high-level anti-terrorist squad, which should have its branch in every state. Not making a serious allegation, but intelligence system of our nation requires a proper overhauling.
There is also a need for a trained group/task force for handling the situation, which arises after such blasts and strikes. It must consist of security personnel, doctors, nurses, and they should always be on alert. Life can be saved if we have an expert team, rushing at the site of blast to assist the victims. In the Jaipur blasts, we have seen how lack of blood is standing between life and death of many who are injured. This is a pathetic situation, although many people donate blood, but why things are not in order despite of the fact that India is a nation where at any time such strike can take place? We are well aware of this reality but still we have no emergency plan at national level. This team can make a difference in handling grim situations and government must think over it.
It is also necessary to have a centralised system of information gathering and disbursement. There is a need for one or two toll free phone numbers, which any body can take information from about victims after such strike or in the case of natural calamity. It is far from understanding that why until date government has not thought of such a mechanism for a country like India, which is not only big in geographical term, but has vast population and diversity in the terms of languages as well. It is also necessary that if anybody has any suspicion then he or she can call a toll free number and can share the information with the government. No such method is available. Even if someone finds something suspicious, he chooses to remain quiet, as majority do not want to deal with local ’khaki’ clad. Government must provide an option to those who want to share any information without being harassed. Unfortunately as of now, no such thing exists in our nation.
Fighting with terrorism should not only be the duty of government and role of civilians, and civil society is equally significant. Firstly, strong movement is required against all fundamentalist ideologies. We have seen how Hindu fundamentalists went on rampage during the Gujarat riots that needed to be opposed in a strong way. Secondly, unity in diversity should be encouraged at all possible levels. Still demagogue like Raj Thackerray are openly spitting venom and encouraging violence act against fellow human beings. This is a known reality that many of those who are targetted by Raj’s hooligan cadres are from minority community. These regional chauvinists are the real adversary of ‘one India’. No scope should be given to these hate-preachers in our country. Some reports indicate that HujI got good recruits from post riots in Gujarat.
Other Articles by Dhananjay Tripathi
PM's US visit: Some questions
Indian Mujahadeen: A dangerous trend for India
It’s time we banned the VHP
The Singur fiasco: Who would ultimately win?
Politics of terrorism begins after blasts
more >> Many times, it is noticed that police randomly pick people from minority community on false charges, this need to be condemned and should be avoided at any cost. This is the third point that no Indian citizen should feel insecure just for belonging to any religion, caste, or sect. The spirit of secularism and unity in diversity must be championed by all and sundry. Lastly, we must also be attentive and be more alert and should never hesitate in informing the police of any suspicion (although a centralised system is necessary). We should reject all type of fundamentalist attitude and approach and must tell them that enough is enough, and hate-mongers do not have any place in this nation.
Finally, I want to pay my sincere homage to all those who had lost their lives in this blast. I express my deepest condolences to the family and friends of the victims, and want to assure them that they are not alone, this entire nation is equally depressed at the loss of lives. Put a brave face against the enemies of humanity and do not let them succeed in their motive of terrorising us.

2008-11-26T06:13:00.001-08:00

IN PAKISTAN, Terror Free Tomorrow’s nationwide survey before the February 18, 2008 elections is front page news and the subject of editorials in every major newspaper. Denounced by government spokesmen and official state television, even President Musharraf responded by claiming that TFT and other polling “have value in developed nations but not here in Pakistan.” A feature article from one of Pakistan’s leading newspapers (Daily News) found that the Pakistani government had a plan to rig the Feb.18th vote, but that TFT’s public opinion poll helped to “definitely prevent the government from massive rigging.” According to the article, a senior government official with ties to Pakistani intelligence confirmed that “a plan to rig the elections was in the works,” but that the polling “created an atmosphere where there was no choice but to have free and fair elections.” The article also quotes one of the highest officials in President Musharraf’s own political party, who admitted that the polling “deter[ed] any state-sponsored manipulation.”
IN SAUDI ARABIA, Terror Free Tomorrow’s unprecedented survey is hailed by the major reform-minded Arabic press as “a survey of profound importance” (Al-Watan; Asharq Al-Awsat), extensively reported in front page coverage throughout Saudi and Arabic media. According to Al-Watan, the leading reform newspaper in Saudi Arabia, our survey is: “a rare and remarkable in-depth study of Saudi society” that can help “bear witness to a new consciousness in the Arab and Muslim world.” For the U.S., the poll is relied on in commentary from the Christian Science Monitor to the San Francisco Chronicle, with news coverage in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, AP, Reuters, CNN and more.
IN IRAN, TFT’s surveys are the first uncensored polls of the Iranian people in five years, headlined by the leading student organization in Iran, throughout Iranian blogs and by the leaders of the pro-democracy movement. Called “an act of bravery by ordinary citizens,” our surveys “after so many years of isolation, and despite the risk,” are at last giving the Iranian people themselves a voice (International Herald Tribune). For the American and international policy debate, our surveys have been featured in a lead news story by the Washington Post and in editorials in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Economist, Guardian, Washington Times, New York Post, etc. One editorial concludes that TFT findings provide “the most complete and nuanced understanding of one of the most important foreign-policy challenges we face in the 21st century.”
IN PAKISTAN, TFT’s nationwide August 2007 survey is the “oft-quoted standard” for the democracy debate inside Pakistan (The Pakistan News). In the American foreign policy debate, the survey is relied on in editorials from the Washington Post to the Los Angeles Times, with front page coverage in the New York Times and Washington Post, and a feature story on CNN.
IN INDONESIA and BANGLADESH, Admiral Mullen, Chair of the Joint Chiefs, states that TFT surveys are a “critical factor” in launching the U.S. Navy’s humanitarian medical missions. Our surveys showed that the Navy’s hospital ship, treating 61,000 needy patients, changed public opinion favorably toward the United States and against terrorism—resulting, according to Admiral Mullen, in even more medical missions by the Navy. Admiral Mullen has written that TFT’s findings provide proof to “one of the defining moments of this new century.”
IN PAKISTAN, our nationwide survey—the first after the October 2005 earthquake—serves as a principal finding by the U.S. Senate for the United States to gain vital goodwill against extremism by “taking the lead” in relief efforts to Pakistani earthquake victims (Senate Resolution #356).
IN INDONESIA, former Presidents Clinton and Bush rely on our survey—the first after the tsunami—as proof of the power of continued humanitarian aid to counter extremism in the world’s largest Muslim country.
IN the U.S.CONGRESS and GOVERNMENT, TFT surveys are the subject of hearings before the House Foreign Affairs and Armed Services Committees, the National Security Subcommittee, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and a key finding behind new legislation introduced by Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Norm Coleman (R-MN). TFT’s work has also been relied on by the State Department as an independent benchmark in evaluating the success of American foreign policy (State Dept Performance and Accountability Report), and by the Department of Defense in the National Military Strategic Plan for the War on Terrorism.

2008-11-26T06:13:00.000-08:00

Defining Terrorism:What is terrorism and its objectives?

2008-11-26T06:10:00.000-08:00

What is Terrorism?
Terrorism is not new, and even though it has been used since the beginning of recorded history it can be relatively hard to define. Terrorism has been described variously as both a tactic and strategy; a crime and a holy duty; a justified reaction to oppression and an inexcusable abomination. Obviously, a lot depends on whose point of view is being represented. Terrorism has often been an effective tactic for the weaker side in a conflict. As an asymmetric form of conflict, it confers coercive power with many of the advantages of military force at a fraction of the cost. Due to the secretive nature and small size of terrorist organizations, they often offer opponents no clear organization to defend against or to deter. That is why preemption is being considered to be so important. In some cases, terrorism has been a means to carry on a conflict without the adversary realizing the nature of the threat, mistaking terrorism for criminal activity. Because of these characteristics, terrorism has become increasingly common among those pursuing extreme goals throughout the world. But despite its popularity, terrorism can be a nebulous concept. Even within the U.S. Government, agencies responsible for different functions in the ongoing fight against terrorism use different definitions.

War on Terror

2008-11-20T02:58:00.000-08:00

The War on Terrorism (also known as the War on Terror) is the common term for the military, political and legal, and ideological conflict, and specifically for U.S. operations in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks.

TERRORIST'S STRIKE ON INDIAN DEMOCRACY SYSTEM

2008-11-20T02:38:00.000-08:00

The 2001 Indian Parliament attack was a high-profile attack by Kashmiri terrorist militants against the building housing the Parliament of India in New Delhi. The attack led to the killing of a dozen people and led to increased tensions between India and Pakistan and the 2001-2002 India-Pakistan standoff.
On December 13, 2001, five gunmen infiltrated the Parliament House in a car with Home Ministry and Parliament labels. While both the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha had been adjourned forty minutes prior to the incident, many Members of Parliament (MPs) and government officials such as Home Minister LK Advani and Minister of State (Defence) Harin Pathak were believed to have still been in the building at the time of the attack. (Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Opposition Leader Sonia Gandhi had already left). The gunmen slammed their vehicle into the car of the Indian Vice President Krishan Kant (who was in the building at the time), got out, and began firing their weapons. The Vice President's guards and security personnel shot back at the terrorists and then started closing the gates of the compound. The lady constable Kamlesh Kumari was first to spot the terrorist squad. One gunman, wearing a suicide vest, was shot dead, the vest exploding. The other four gunmen were also killed. Five policemen, a Parliament security guard, and a gardener were killed, and 18 others were injured. No members of the government were hurt.

9/11 Attack on the WORLD TRADE CENTRE

2008-11-20T02:09:00.000-08:00

The September 11 attacks (often referred to as nine-eleven, written 9/11) were a series of coordinated suicide attacks by al-Qaeda upon the United States on September 11, 2001. On that morning, 19 Islamist terrorists affiliated with al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners. The hijackers intentionally crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone on board and many others working in the building. Both buildings collapsed within two hours, destroying at least two nearby buildings and damaging others. The hijackers crashed a third airliner into the Pentagon. The fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville in rural Somerset County, Pennsylvania, after some of its passengers and flight crew attempted to retake control of the plane, which the hijackers had redirected toward Washington, D.C. There are no survivors from any of the flights.
Excluding the 19 hijackers, 2,974 people died in the attacks. Another 24 are missing and presumed dead. The overwhelming majority of casualties were civilians, including nationals of over 90 different countries. In addition, the death of at least one person from lung disease was ruled by a medical examiner to be a result of exposure to dust from the World Trade Center's collapse.
The United States responded to the attacks by launching a War on Terrorism, invading Afghanistan to depose the Taliban, who had harbored al-Qaeda terrorists, and enacting the USA PATRIOT Act. Many other states also strengthened their anti-terrorism legislation and expanded law enforcement powers. Some American stock exchanges stayed closed for the rest of the week, and posted enormous losses upon reopening, especially in the airline and insurance industries. The economy of Lower Manhattan ground to a halt, as billions of dollars in office space was damaged or destroyed.
The damage to the Pentagon was cleared and repaired within a year, and the Pentagon Memorial was built on the site. Rebuilding the World Trade Center site has proven more difficult, with controversy over possible designs as well as the pace of construction. Construction delays, revised cost estimates, security concerns, and public criticism have all led to changes and delays to the final plans in rebuilding the complex to this day.
Below the link of video about terror strike on the world trade centre:
http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=smKK8Tzhpso

TERRORISM IN INDIA

2008-11-20T01:19:00.000-08:00

Terrorism in India can be attributed to many low intensity conflict within its borders. If terrorism can be defined as "peacetime equivalent of war crime", then these sites of low intensity conflicts are prime spots for terrorism in India. The regions with long term terrorist activities today are Jammu and Kashmir, Central India (Naxalism) and Seven Sister States (independence and autonomy movements). In the past, the Punjab insurgency led to militant activities in the Indian state of Punjab as well as the national capital Delhi (Delhi serial blasts, anti-Sikh riots). As of 2006, at least 232 of the country’s 608 districts were afflicted, at differing intensities, by various insurgent and terrorist movements.
Terrorism in India has often been alleged to be sponsored by Pakistan. After most acts of terrorism in India, many journalists and politicians accuse Pakistan's intelligence agency, the Inter-Services Intelligence of playing a role. Recently, both the US and Afghanistan have accused Pakistan of carrying out terrorist acts in Afghanistan. The recent rise in prominence of several Pakistan and Kashmir-based terror groups, such as Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Hizbul Mujahideen and others in Kashmir has created grave problems for the country. Major terrorist incidents in India carried out by Islamic groups include the 1993 Mumbai bombings, as well as terrorism in Kashmir such as Wandhama massacre, Kaluchak massacre, Chittisinghpura massacre and others. Other deadly terrorist attacks in the rest of the country include the 2001 Indian Parliament attack, Akshardham Temple attack, 29 October 2005 Delhi bombings, 2005 Ram Janmabhoomi attack in Ayodhya, 2005 Jaunpur train bombing, 11 July 2006 Mumbai train bombings, 2006 Malegaon blasts, 2006 Varanasi bombings, and the 2007 Samjhauta Express bombings. In the aftermath of the 2001 Indian Parliament attack, tensions between India and Pakistan increased as India blamed Pakistan for not doing enough to contain anti-India terrorist groups based there. This resulted in massive troop build-ups along the Indo-Pakistani international border by both India and Pakistan resulting in fears of a nuclear war. However, international diplomacy helped decline tensions between the two nuclear weapons-armed states. Pakistan was also suspected to be behind the 2008 Indian embassy bombing in Kabul.
Kashmiri insurgents, who initially started their movement as a pro-Kashmiri independence movement, have gone through a radical change in their ideology. They now portray their struggle as a religious one. Research and Analysis Wing, India's premier external intelligence agency, observed the growing link between Islamic terrorist groups based in Afghanistan and Kashmiri insurgents.Al-Qaeda also lends ideological and financial support to terrorism in Kashmir, with Osama bin Laden constantly demanding that jihad be waged against India and Islamic fundamentalist groups disseminating propaganda in many countries against India with rhetoric like "idol worshipers and Hindus" who "occupy Kashmir". The government and military of India have taken numerous counter-terrorist measures to combat rising terrorism in the country.Some of these measures have been criticized by human rights groups as being too draconian, particularly in Kashmiri. However, increased vigilance by Indian security forces has had a positive impact with the number of terrorist attacks declining sharply in 2007. Despite counter-terrorism efforts, India continues to remain one of the countries worst affected by terrorism.India is considered to be one of main allies in the war on terrorism and has worked closely on counter-terrorism activities and training with several countries such as United States,Australia,Israel, United Kingdom, Russia, Japan, and China.

Making WORLD TERROR-FREE

2008-11-20T01:03:00.000-08:00

Bush has done a commendable job in curbing the menace of terrorism. But the most difficult task is to prevent this battle from becoming a mean to flaunt its imperialistic designs. He needs to be more honest in his approaches. This distinction has to be maintained at all costs if he wants the world and his people too, to believe in his words. The terrorist attacks in various parts of the world prove that in post - 9/11 world terrorist have become bolder in their attempts. It’s true that attack on Iraq has allowed the Muslim to train their guns toward America, thus making it more vulnerable to attacks of greater intensity. But mind you, it at the same time has also made us aware of the minds of Jihadis. The critics of Bush I think have no moral ground to oppose him. What were they doing when fundamentalist were butchering men and women in different part of the world? Simply nothing except be mute spectator of it. Now when Bush has waged a war against them suddenly all of a sudden ‘sleeping giants’ became avowed disciples of human rights! His critics are floating in river of contradictions. Mr. Bush should ignore them and get ahead with its plans. But let him make it sure that it doesn’t get tainted by imperialist

Defining Terrorism:what is terrorism?

2008-11-19T01:10:00.000-08:00

Terrorism is not new, and even though it has been used since the beginning of recorded history it can be relatively hard to define. Terrorism has been described variously as both a tactic and strategy; a crime and a holy duty; a justified reaction to oppression and an inexcusable abomination. Obviously, a lot depends on whose point of view is being represented. Terrorism has often been an effective tactic for the weaker side in a conflict. As an asymmetric form of conflict, it confers coercive power with many of the advantages of military force at a fraction of the cost. Due to the secretive nature and small size of terrorist organizations, they often offer opponents no clear organization to defend against or to deter. That is why preemption is being considered to be so important. In some cases, terrorism has been a means to carry on a conflict without the adversary realizing the nature of the threat, mistaking terrorism for criminal activity. Because of these characteristics, terrorism has become increasingly common among those pursuing extreme goals throughout the world. But despite its popularity, terrorism can be a nebulous concept. Their objective is to paralyze the onlooker -- you. Terrorism is theater. It acts on the ancient Chinese proverb, "Kill one person, frighten ten thousand."

mapping terrorist networks

2008-11-17T19:59:00.000-08:00

A good way to understand how terrorist networks work is to map them. A well constructed map provides insight into how the network operates. In his paper, "Uncloaking Terrorist Networks" Valdis Krebs uses social network analysis to map the terrorist network that attacked on 9/11. Despite incomplete knowledge of all the connections between members, his analysis is still cogent and probably fairly close to reality. Here's what he found out about the networks structure:A larger administrative network to support the operational teams. The administration network provided a means to "keep alive" many of the weak connections between sparsely connected members of the operational network. They also provided much of the ongoing care needed to prepare an otherwise isolated operational team member for the attack.

A leadership structure despite a lack of formal hierarchy. When the network is looked at in its entirety (operational plus administrative), Mohammed Atta emerged as the leader. Atta had 22 connections to other people in the network, much more than any other (the nearest other outlier was 18). Mohammed Atta's position on the network gave him control of its operation. Atta scored high in all measures of network connectivity: degrees (activity on the network), closeness (his ability to access others on the network -- fewer number of hops), and betweeness (control over the network -- a central position that allowed him to broker the flow of information across the network).

thinking about terrorism

2008-11-15T21:44:00.000-08:00

errorism is disturbing not just emotionally and morally but intellectually, as well. On terrorism, more than on other subjects, commentary seems liable to be swayed by wishful thinking, to base itself on unwarranted or flawed assumptions, and to draw from these assumptions irrational inferences, muzzily expressed.
hat Washington Post editorial, like many others to the same tune, exemplifies a dovish, or sentimental, variety of wishful thinking on the subject of terrorism. There is also a hawkish, or hysterical, variety. Each has its own misleading stereotype (or stereotypes) of the terrorist. Let us look at the stereotypes:

Sentimental stereotype. According to this stereotype, the terrorist is a misguided idealist, an unsublimated social reformer. He has been driven to violence by political or social injustice or both. What is needed is to identify the measures of reform that will cause him to desist. Once these can be identified and undertaken, the terrorist, having ceased to be driven, stops.

Hysterical stereotype. Less stable than the sentimental variety, this can be divided into subvarieties:

(a) The terrorist is some kind of a nut—a "disgruntled abnormal" given to "mindless violence." ("Mindless violence" may be applicable to the deeds of isolated, maverick assassins. As applied to the planned activities of armed conspiracies, it is itself a mindless expression.)

(b) The terrorist is nothing more than a thug, a goon, a gangster. His "political" demands are simply a cover for criminal activity.

(c) The terrorist is an agent, or dupe, or cat's-paw of the other superpower. (He might, of course, be a nut or a goon as well as a dupe.)

These stereotypes serve mainly to confuse debate on the subject. There is no point in arbitrarily attributing motives, nice or nasty, to the terrorist. It might be more useful to look at the situations in which terrorists find themselves and at how they act, and may be expected to act, given their situations.

terror :effect on society

2008-11-15T21:19:00.000-08:00

The recent terrorist attacks shocked all of us beyond our wildest nightmares. It is not difficult to imagine the helplessness, fear, sense of loss, and distress experienced by a child after a direct trauma such as the death of a parent. Even indirect exposure to a trauma, however, such as hearing about the terrorist attack in a far away city, can evoke intense emotional responses in children.
For those of you who are parents, teachers, and clinicians, the big questions in your minds probably include:
What do we tell our children?
What will a child of 5, 8, 13 or 17 really understand?
What is a "normal" reaction in a child to such an abnormal event?
How can we help?
What are the signs that a child may need professional help?
How can we find out more about this topic?
The following article will address these questions.
Universal Effects of Traumatic Events on Youth
While very young children are less verbally articulate about their feelings than older children, most children of all ages will experience some of the following features after exposure to a trauma:
Increased anxiety when separated from family members
Re-experiencing the exposure through intrusive thoughts, nightmares or repeatedly talking about the traumatic exposure
Increased sensitivity to sounds such as sirens, planes flying above, thunder, loud noises
Sleep disturbance, or fear of the dark
Increase in minor aches and pains such as stomachaches, headaches
Poor concentration with decreased school performance in some cases
Increased thoughts about death and dying
Irritability and increase in worrying

domestic effect of terrrorism

2008-11-15T20:03:00.000-08:00

The vast majority of analyses of terrorism within the academic and policy communities concern counter-terrorism and the objectives and tactics of terrorist groups. Far less attention has been paid to the question of the impact of terrorist attacks on targeted societies. In an effort to fill this gap, therefore, this paper examines the domestic effects of terrorism using Israel as a case study. Specifically, this paper investigates the impact of Palestinian suicide terrorism on Israeli society during the second Intifada. Suicide terror attacks within Israel perpetrated by Palestinian militants skyrocketed following the outbreak of the second Intifada in September 2000. In order to answer the question of what impact this wave of suicide terrorism had upon Israeli society, this paper draws upon work conducted by researchers in a number of different disciplines (psychology, sociology, economics, and political science). By using Israel as a case study, and employing a multidisciplinary approach, the paper attempts to derive broader insights about the wide-ranging domestic effects of terrorism. While the number and frequency of suicide terror attacks in Israel during the second Intifada is unparalleled, the use of suicide attacks by terrorist groups is on the rise worldwide. It is certainly timely therefore to investigate the domestic effects of suicide terror attacks.

2008-11-15T19:41:00.000-08:00

Violence in Kashmir has existed in various forms, mainly in Jaterrothe objectives and rism and tactics of terrorist groups. Far less attention has been paid to the question of the impact of terrorist attacks on targeted societies. In an effort to fill this gap, therefore, this pap

terrorism guide a well hidden network

2008-10-24T02:30:00.000-07:00

Terrorism is the cruellest of crimes; it feeds off the personal suffering by luring governments into actions that abandon hard-earned freedoms of modern civilisation. Gargantuan budgets committed to security mock the lives lost in poor countries to preventable disease and hunger. The dark complexity of suicide attacks has exposed inadequacies of security forces, moral philosophers, psychologists and theologians alike. Failing to take advantage of the universal revulsion at the events of September 2001, the "war on terror" has instead magnified the global threat of terrorism.
Rebels, insurgents, paramilitaries, separatists, militants, guerrillas, insurrectionists, fundamentalists... are these all terrorists? Or does terrorism claim its own exclusive niche? The exasperating inability to define terrorism is betrayed in the UN 2006 Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy - "we, the States Members of the United Nations...strongly condemn terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, committed by whomever, wherever and for whatever purposes".

UN Blast in Baghdad
UN Blast in Baghdad © Amnesty International - International Secretariat
The UN has been striving for decades to find a wording for terrorism which, instead of "all its forms and manifestations", narrows down to a specific profile of violence which can be condemned regardless of the circumstances. The absence of an agreed definition matters for many reasons. It blocks the possibility of referring terrorist acts to an international court, as for genocide and other war crimes; it leaves individual countries free to outlaw activity which they choose to classify as terrorism, perhaps for their own political convenience; and crucially it enabled the Bush administration to conjure in the public mind parallels between the 9/11 destruction of the World Trade Center and the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein. The vocabulary of terrorism has become the successor to that of anarchy and communism as the catch-all label of opprobrium, exploited accordingly by media and politicians.

The Just Cause Conundrum

Mandela's cell on Robben Island
Mandela's cell on Robben Island © Peter Armstrong
The difficulty in constructing a definition which eliminates any just cause for terrorism is that history provides too many examples of organisations and their leaders branded as terrorists but who eventually evolved into respected government. This has applied particularly to national liberation movements fighting colonial or oppressive regimes, engaging in violence within their own countries often as a last resort. Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya spent years of his life in peaceful independence advocacy with the British government before his involvement with the Mau Mau rebellion. Another convicted "terrorist", Nelson Mandela, wrote in his autobiography: "the hard facts were that 50 years of non-violence had brought (my) people nothing but more repressive legislation, and fewer rights".

All countries must deplore indiscriminate acts of terrorism which kill and maim civilians and which create a climate of fear. Countries from Africa and the Middle East have however proved reluctant to endorse any definition of terrorism which fails to place such acts within the broad sweep of history. The dilemma for the international community lies firstly in assessing whether a cause is "just" and therefore capable of remedy by political negotiation, and secondly in identifying which "terrorist" organisations are capable of emerging into the legitimate political process.

Hamas Logo
Hamas Logo © Radio Netherlands
For example, a central aim of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) - to reunite the northern and southern counties of Ireland - was never regarded as a just cause by the UK government, whilst other grievances linked to fair government in the north were accepted as negotiable. Sinn Fein, the political wing of the IRA, is now part of an elected power-sharing government in Northern Ireland. In the Middle Guy Fawkes, one of the most infamous terrorists in history who came within a whisker of destroying the English monarchy and parliament in 1605 was, like the modern jihadis, acting in the name of a maligned and misunderstood religion. King James presented a list of questions to the torturers, headed by the demand to discover "as to what he is, for I can never yet hear of any man that knows him". Four hundred years later the nightmare of suicide terrorism has likewise prompted frantic efforts to understand the psychological motives of individuals who are prepared to strap dynamite around themselves and trigger the detonator whilst surrounded by defenceless citizens. East, the vision of a Palestinian state is considered a just cause by all stakeholders but world leaders have so far preferred to negotiate only with the Fatah party. This approach chooses to ignore the electoral success of Hamas which was based on its proven competence to govern at local level, an attribute equally associated with Hezbollah in Lebanon.