TERRORISM

Terrorism

Terrorism

Definition

We have defined terrorism as “politically motivated violence or the threat of violence, especially against civilians, with the intent to instill fear” (Levy and Sidel, 2007). (Bioterrorism is defined as the use of, or threat to use, biological weapons for this purpose.) Terrorism is intended to have psychological effects that go beyond the immediate victims to intimidate a wider population, such as a rival ethnic or religious group, a national government or political party, or an entire country (Hoffman, 1998). It is often intended to establish power were there is none or to consolidate power where there is little. While many nations, including the United States, differentiate terrorism from war - especially a war formally declared by a nation, we perceive little difference between terrorism and a war directed largely against civilian populations.

The term terrorism is “generally applied to one's enemies and opponents, or to those with whom one disagrees and would otherwise prefer to ignore” (Hoffman, 1998). The use of the term terrorism, therefore, depends on one's point of view. The term terrorism implies a moral judgment; if one group can attach the term to its opponent, then it may have persuaded others to adopt its moral perspective (Jenkins, 1980). In civil wars, revolutions, and other conflicts, those considered terrorists by one side are often considered freedom fighters by the other. In these situations, groups that have been relatively powerless, in contrast to very powerful foes, have often utilized terrorist tactics, believing that these tactics represent their own effective weapon against superior force. An analysis of 109 definitions of the term terrorism revealed that the most frequent definitional elements were the words violence, force, political, and fear (Schmidt et al., 1998). Because of ambiguity in the use of the term, some organizations avoid its use in formal communication.

Terrorism can be construed as encompassing the use by countries of weapons designed to cause casualties among civilian populations. Examples of such terrorism include the bombing of Guernica, Spain, by Nazi forces in 1937 and during World War II, the bombing of Warsaw, Rotterdam, London, Coventry, and other cities by Germany; the bombing of Dresden, Hamburg, and other cities by the Allies; the bombing of Tokyo and other Japanese cities by the United States; and the detonation of nuclear weapons at Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States. There is controversy about whether these 'acts of war' should be considered terrorism (Geiger, 1997).

U.S. law defines terrorism as “premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents” (U.S. Code, 22, §2656f(d)). Based on this definition, the National Counterterrorism Center reported that during 2006, 14 352 terrorist attacks occurred worldwide and resulted in 20 573 deaths (13 340 in Iraq), with an additional 36 214 people wounded. Nearly 300 incidents resulted in ten or more deaths, 90% of which were in the Near East and South Asia. Armed attacks and bombings led to 77% of the fatalities during 2006 (National Counterterrorism Center, ...