Tactics of Terrorists

Tactics of Terrorists

Introduction

Terrorism and terrorists 'tactics pose a tremendous threat to security on a global scale. This impacts the security of both developed and developing countries. A particular aspect of terrorist activities that increases the capabilities, and thus the threat, of terrorist organizations is the formation of transnational terrorist networks. These networks provide increased operability, mobility, and technology flow. This presents a particular challenge regarding the moral standards for the use of military force and standard measures to counter security threats. Just war theory is the framework that guides the ethical use of military force. Current strategies, embraced by many global players, call for multilateral efforts with benefits spread across the globe. These strategies are based on building partner capacity and preventing escalation to kinetic military action. Additionally, these strategies are likely to prevent conflicts and reduce the ability of terrorist groups to operate effectively. Therefore, all issues related to tactics of terrorists will be discussed in detail.

The network of terrorists

Transnational terrorist networks are currently the greatest emerging threat to global security. They operate in dispersed groups with leaders who are capable of blending into their surroundings and becoming part of the landscape. This aspect alone makes them difficult to counter. Further, they operate as non-state entities with no explicable sovereign. They threaten the fragile governments of weak and failing states and, this would be the worst imaginable case, they persistently attempt to gain access to weapons of mass destruction. The dealing of the world with the emerging terrorist threat closely relates to the ethical base that drives international affairs and military action. For the United States and many member countries of the United Nations, that moral framework is just war theory. Although this framework has evolved over time, it has recently come under scrutiny. In this example, the Taliban was the government in place, and provided support to al Qaeda, the terrorist group responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks on U.S. soil. This acts more than justified the regime as a military target. Groups who have no sovereign government supporting them present no such target. The ethical base for invading a country whose government is making every effort to counter terrorist activity is shaky at best (Botha, 2008, 88).

Current strategy adopted by nations for handling terrorism

Currently the U.S. and UN have adopted security strategies based on building the capacity of partner nations on a global scale. The effect of this is a leveling of counter terrorism capability. By building economies, diverse skill sets, and security capacity across the board, escalation to kinetic military action is avoided. The operational techniques and organizational structure of terrorist networks, environmental considerations, ethical framework for action, and current security strategies all tie together to form a complex operating picture. There are several factors which affect the analysis of each criteria defined by just war theory. In no specific order, these are: time, risk, political environments, the varying perspectives of all involved actors, the fluid environment of military actions, the fog ...