Terrorism and Suicide Attacks

Terrorism and Suicide Attacks

Q#1: Select "one" terrorist incident from Chapter 4, pp. 86-88 of the Hoffman text. In 500-1000 words, assess and evaluate its impact as a major driving force behind international terrorism in the years preceding 9/11.

Answer:

Introduction

Terrorism has evolved in the past few decades. It is not a new phenomenon and has been existent for a long time, but it has certainly changed and taken up other forms. The atrocities of 9/11 have changed the world and terrorism has been subjected to a lot of speculation and research. Many terrorist attacks occurred before 9/11 around the globe. But, due to the vast number of casualties and damage to American heritage, it is given prime importance in world history.

A major terrorist attack preceding 9/11 took place in the year 1998 at United States embassies in Nairobi, Tanzania and Dar es Salaam. The attack was carried by suicide car and truck bombings and claimed the lives of 301 people and injured more than 5,000 (Hoffman, 2006). The attacks took place simultaneously at the different African capitals. They were planned in a manner to maximize the damage. The attack on US embassies was linked to Al-Qaeda and was believed to be carried out by their Egyptian counterparts. Osama Bin Laden and Ayman Al- Zawahri, for the first time were brought to the attention of American government and forces.

The Embassy attacks caused great distress to the families of the victims and also to the American nation as a whole. Americans started fearing for their safety overseas. The incident received mass media coverage and led Osama Bin Laden on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI's) most wanted list (Hoffman, 2006). The chief perpetrator and mastermind of the attacks was believed to be Fazul Abdullah Mohammad who worked in accordance with Osama to carry out the bombings. The attacks caused immense fervor in the world and American was considered under attack. Hence, the 1998 bombings could be termed as a catalyst that served as a driving force for terrorism and evolved it over the years both preceding and post 9/11.

Discussion

Assessment and Evaluation of 1998 Embassy Bombings

According to Hoffman (2006), terrorism has been an ancient phenomenon. It has existed in different forms ever since the dawn of human civilization. However, he believes that religious ideologies and imperatives have fuelled terrorism. It has also made the terrorism acts more violent and frequent over the past few decades.

Before 9/11, the percentage of terrorism incidents instigated by religious ideology was far less as compared to post 9/11 incidents. Between the period of 1998—2004, only 6 percent of terrorism acts were committed by religious extremists, but the fatalities incurred in such incidents appeared to be quite high and contributed to around 30% of the total fatalities (Hoffman, 2006).

The attacks on US embassies in 1998 were a direct threat to Americans and the rising power of United States of America (Berman et. al, 2006). The bombings jolted the basis of American society and caused great fervor among ...