The Threat Of Islamic Terrorism Essay, Research Paper
With the collapse of the Soviet Union
in the early 1990’s and the cold war over, the international community
seemed to be on the threshold of an era of unprecedented peace and prosperity.
Instead, a new series of problems was created, like ethnic conflicts, weapons
proliferation, environmental problems, population growth, drug trafficking,
and terrorism. Terrorism, as defined by Title 22 of the United States
code, section 2656f(d), is the “pre-meditated, politically motivated violence
perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine
agents, usually intended to influence and audience.” Islamic terrorism
is a serious problem for the United States because of the threat to national
security, the safety of innocent civilians, and the foundations of democratic
societies throughout the world.
Most of the Islamic world view the West,
especially the United States, as the foremost corrupting influence on the
Islamic world today. The Hizballah have taken this further by labeling
the Unites States as “the Great Satan.”(22) This growing animosity
the Islamic nations feel toward the Western world has been continually
demonstrated by the increase in international terrorism. However,
Muslims do not view their actions as acts of terrorism, but self defense
and their religious duty. The Islamic radical movements main success
or failure has been their ability to gain legitimacy from the general public
or from the greater part of it in each Muslim country.(14)
During the past two decades, they have had enormous success with their
ability to present themselves to the Arab and Muslim world as the true
bearers of Islam. They appeal to the lower class due to the
shared resentment of wealthy westerners while the middle class and intellectuals
are drawn toward these radical groups in order to expel imported ideologies
and forms of government(*). Radical Islamic organizations have declared
a holly war , Jihad, in order to bring the Arab world together and take
their place as a world power. In order to accomplish these goals,
these Islamic radicals have mainly used terrorism as their main instrument
of persuasion.
The biggest and most active terrorist
organizations are those which are state funded. These organizations
act as both an overt and covert way of spreading the sponsor countries
ideologies. The U.S. Secretary of State has designated seven governments
as state sponsors of terrorism: Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan,
and Syria.(13) These governments support international terrorism either
by engaging in terrorist activity themselves or by providing arms, training,
safe haven, diplomatic facilities, financial backing, logistic and/or support
to terrorists.(13)
Iran is one of the most active
state sponsors of terrorism, involving themselves in the planning and execution
of terrorist acts by its own agents and by surrogates such as the Hizballah.
Tehran conducted 13 assassinations in 1997, the majority of which were
carried out in northern Iraq against the regime’s main opposition groups.
An example occurred in January 1997, when Iranian agents tried to attack
the Baghdad headquarters of Mujahedin-e Khalq using a supermortar.
Despite sanctions and foreign political pressure, Iran continues to provide
support in the form of training, money, and weapons to a variety of terrorist
groups, such as Hizballah, HAMAS, and the PIJ.(13)
Sudan is another large supporter of terrorist
organizations. The Sudanese Government supports terrorists by providing
paramilitary training, indoctrinization, money, travel documents, safe
passage, and refuge. They also condone many of the objectionable
activities of Iran, such as funneling assistance to terrorist and radical
Islamic groups operating in and transiting through Sudan.(13) Since Sudan
was placed on the United States’ list of state sponsors of terrorism in
1993, the Sudanese Government still harbors members of the most violent
international terrorists and radical Islamic groups.(13)
The countries of the middle east have
found terrorism beneficial for many reasons. First, terrorism is
an inexpensive alternative to fighting a war, while still spreading their
ideology and advancing their political agenda. However, defending
against terrorism is very expensive; the United States spends approximately
five billion dollars annually to guard against terrorism.(11) Random terrorist
acts cause a great amount of psychological damage to the target area. Even
though terrorism kills relatively few people, the random nature by which
innocent civilian are killed evokes a deep fear and insecurity upon the
population. This form of terrorism was successfully used to target tourism
and the economy of Egypt in 1997. Publicity is another benefit
of terrorism. By involving acts which are designed to attract maximum
publicity, terrorism can bring the smallest group to the forefront of attention.(22)
All this is done while exposing the terrorist to minimal risk when compared
to war.
By secretly funding terrorist organization,
the patron state avoids the possibility of defeat and does not appear to
be the aggressor. Modern technology has now made terrorism an efficient,
convenient, and general discrete weapon for attacking state interests in
the international realm. Furthermore, terrorism causes fear, unrest
and hysteria among civilians of target countries which is the ideal setting
to launch propaganda. Through propaganda patron states are able to organize
revolts, coups, and even civil war.
Throughout history terrorism has only
been successful in prolonging conflicts, as in Ireland. However,
technology is constantly changing the nature of life-threatening hostilities
by delivering more sophisticated devices that cause greater damage.
No longer are terrorists restrained to simple car bombs and explosives;
now nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons are becoming more readily
available. The terrorist attack in Tokyo that injured 5,000 people
is an example of this kind of terrorism. The latest threat is the
cyber terrorist, who can corrupt a governments computer system, steal money,
and/or classified information while never leaving his house. Changing
methods and techniques that terrorists employ today make threat of attack
worse than ever. First, terrorists operate at an international level, no
longer concentrating on a particular region or a country. The dawn of the
modern age of terrorism dates back to September 5, 1972, when the Palestinian
terrorists attacked the Israeli Olympic team in Munich(*). Following this,
there has been a period of hijacking of commercial airlines, which culminated
in the destruction of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
Another new aspect of terrorism is the
growing possibility of terrorists making use of weapons of mass destruction?nuclear,
biological and chemical. Also, the governments have to think seriously
about the threat of chemical weapons and biological toxins. Both these
types of weapons are easy to manufacture but have horrifying after-effects
on the civilian population. The Sarin gas attack in the Tokyo subway in
1995 by Aum Shinrikyo, the apocalyptic Japanese sect, showed that the threat
of chemical terrorism is now a reality(*).
For many years, it had been thought that
weapons of mass destruction did not serve the purpose of terrorists, and
it was not mass murder they wanted. But in the modern age of terrorism,
one sees a wider use of powerful explosives that attack mostly the civilian
population, and availability is the only thing that prevents the use of
larger weapons. This trend towards larger attacks is represented by a 25-year
low in international terrorism in 1996, with reported incidents down from
a peak of 665 in 1987 to 296 in 1996, there was a drastic rise in the number
of casualties (311 people killed and 2,652 wounded)(16).
The third aspect of terrorism that is
new is cyber terror. It has become very easy to penetrate the telecommunications
and computer systems of nations and also private organizations, and enter
new computer codes that cause the system to shutdown or which make it accessible
only to the intruder. Terrorists use computers, cellular phones, and encryption
software to evade detection and they also have sophisticated means of forging
passports and valuable documents. Similarly, they could even introduce
“morphed” images and messages into a country’s radio and television network,
and spread lies that could incite violence. Technology advancement has
made it possible to carry powerful explosive devices in a purse and explode
these at the right place, at the right time.
Another recent trend in terrorism is suicide
bombing. Suicide bombings have emerged as a tactic used particularly
by radical Islamic terrorists. Even though Islam prohibits suicide,
these suicide bombers believe that death in a holy struggle assures them
a faithful place in heaven; thus, by committing this act of war,
they feel they are guaranteed to go to heaven. This method of terrorism
is almost impossible to defend against, that is why the terrorists must
be prevented, not deterred.
Many radical Islamic terrorist organizations
have developed in recent years, but the biggest organizations are the Islamic
Jihad, Hamas, Al-Gama’a ai-Islamiyyah, and the Hizballah. These organizations
all seek the elimination of western and Jewish influence, and will not
hesitate to do anything to prevent this.
The Islamic Jihad Group , in Egypt, has
been active since the late 70’s, and currently includes two factions.
The goal of these factions is to overthrow the Egyptian government and
replace it with an Islamic state. To accomplish this, the Jihad operates
in small underground cells and attacks high level government officials.
Their most notorious acts of terrorism have been the 1981 assassination
of President Anwar Sadat, the 1993 attempted assassination of Prime Minister
Atef Sedky and the 1993 car bombing of the World Trade Center(19).
Al-Gama’a ai-Islamiyyah (The Islamic Group,
IG) evolved from a phenomenon of Islamic prisoners in Egypt. After
being released from prison in 1971, they began forming militant groups
that operated separately but were loosely organized. These groups
target police officers, liberal intellectuals, Coptic Christians, and tourism
in order to hurt the economy and rid Egypt of Western influence.
The IG’s most recent attack was November 17, 1997, when 58 tourists were
killed; this severely impacted Egyptian tourism for several months.(4)
Hamas is the Arab acronym for, “The Islamic
Resistance Movement,” and means courage and bravery(3). This organization
has evolved from the Muslim Brotherhood and was active in the early stages
of Intifada, operating in the Gaza strip and the West bank. The main
objective of the Hamas is a “Holly War” for the liberation of Palestine
and the establishment of an Islamic Palestine. A variety of non-governmental
charitable organizations in the Gulf States, four central charity funds
throughout the world, and Iran have enabled Hamas to become the second
most powerful terrorist organization(3). During Intifada, Hamas claimed
responsibility for 43 attacks that killed 46 Palestinians, and is believed
to be responsible for another 40 deaths.(3)
Hizballah (Party of God) is an extremist
political-religious movement based in Lebanon. The movement was created
and sponsored by Iran in July 1982, initially as a form of resistance to
the Israeli presence in Southern Lebanon. Hizballah followers are
radical Shi’ite which adhere to Khomeinistic ideology.(5) The principle
goals established by Khomeinism are the equality of all Lebanon’s citizens,
complete American and French withdrawal from Lebanon, the complete destruction
of Israel, and the establishment of Islamic rule over Jerusalem(5).
The Hizballah has tried to accomplish these goals through the use of terrorism,
of which 704 attacks were committed from 1991 – 1995.(5) The scope and
nature of Hizballah’s terrorist campaign reflect its close dependency on
Iranian support for both the ideological and financial levers. Iran
donates fast amounts of money to Hizballah, which among other things funds
the movement’s health and education services(22). The funds received from
Iran in the 1980’s totaled $60-$80 million a year.
Because of the recent terrorist
attacks at the World Trade Center and foreign embassies in Africa, the
United States is aware of the danger that terrorism presents. Being
a politically correct country, no United States official has specifically
named the radical Islamic groups as our primary enemy. However, the
Islamic groups are the only terrorists that specifically target Americans.
The United States now has an official three part counter terrorism policy
that has so far proven to be effective.
First, the US will make no concession
to terrorists and strike no deals. If the US were to give in to
terrorists’ demands, it would inspire every other terrorist to commit violent
crimes. An example of this plan is the hostage situation in Peru, where
72 hostages were taken and four months later a successful rescue took place.
The second US policy is that all terrorist will be held accountable for
their crimes in a court of law. In recent years many international
terrorists have been convicted and sent to prison. The third, and
most important policy is to isolate and apply pressure on states that sponsor
and support terrorism and force them to change their behavior. UN
sanctions and the use of military force are now actively used to force
host countries to change their views on terrorism.
Radical Islamic terrorist organizations
have the ability and desire to threaten the United states. Sanctions
and diplomatic bargaining will not solve the problem of Islamic terrorism,
yet military force will only make the problem worse. There will be
no resolution to this problem in the near future, meanwhile the gap between
the Western world and the Arab nations will continue to grow. Without
constant monitoring a careful planning, this could soon turn into WW III.
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