Terrorism – Probing
the Mind (Genesis)
Part I
Terrorism
is real and not a figment of our imagination. It has been denied existence and
often referred to as a tool of fear or intimidation that should not be
recognized by any government or political group.
This
is a layman’s termed article that explains the fundamental reasons why
terrorism exists and how it is applied to modern history. It is neither
academia or politically inspired and should be kept in such content and
context. Although there are many theories out there for the reasons terrorism
exists today, it is nothing new and has existed in our society since the
beginning of time. The biggest difference today is the level of this threat and
the significance it plays on your life.
Discarding
the reasons, purposes and political slandering of specific groups or
individuals, we want to discuss why human nature related to such extreme behaviors
has not progressed or changed over time. We also want to identify how the
threat has been expanded in our world today compared to the past and how time
and space play into that formula for danger. Three interlocking trends have
been significantly changed, improved or boosted thereby compressing time and
space factors on terrorism.
Comparing
the mode of travel from the Middle Ages against the means to travel today we find
the globalization of international trade and business seriously impacting the
ability for movement around the world. Certainly, one can see the speed of such
transgressions happening compared than ever before.
The
most obvious enhancement is the mode of travel which has reduced time and space
down to hours rather than weeks or months in the past. Lastly, with the
introduction of social media, internet and other digital improvements or
devices, it allows information to be transferred at a very rapid speed making
most decisions real time with a slight lapse in time and space.
The
second aggravating factor is the instability of world leadership, political
corruption and the economic disparities connected to radical ideological
conflicts that allows individuals or groups to facilitate a cooperative or
unified aggression. An act or acts of hostilities conducted by extreme or
radicalized mindsets to act as conspirators using the global socio-political
systems and the ascent of religious fundamentalism as an aggrieved tool to
expose or explode their acts into secular trends of terror-related violence and
destruction.
Unfortunately,
the potential of macro-terrorists handing over their ideologies and missions to
smaller [micro] groups of terrorist has been facilitated by movements and
infiltration of key government or commerce positions that facilitates contact
for such extreme hostile acts endangering all aspects of the security of
civilization as we know it while changing daily.
Without
a doubt, the subject matter crosses lines of scholarly and psychological
boundaries as the behavior has been identified to be related to various reasons
why this problem of terrorism exists in the first place. Apart from the most
basic reason of finding the truth, there are other targets these terror groups
intend to expose, attack or destroy.
Understanding
the roots of the terrorists’ mindset would allow better counter-terror methods
and reduce the harm inflicted by such groups or acts. It would benefit local
police agencies to engage in such training and staff development methods to
reduce their dependency on other agencies including the federal government in
our country; a government who normally assumes complete control of such
situations to conduct political damage control as well as the primary
investigations of these acts leaving little behind for locals to learn from
other than what has been shared in classified documents on a limited basis.
Despite
such a practical and compelling need to understand the act of terrorism, many
government officials have failed to dedicate sufficient time and funding to
explore such motivation and despicable acts to support valid efforts by many in
law enforcement to reduce such acts world-wide.
The
lack of such systematic investigations has left many governments void of
answers and how to reduce the origin, deployment and recognition of such
terrorist behaviors in their communities making them totally depended on
outside sources for help or assistance in understanding this terror phenomenon
that is engaging our world today.
In
fact, the lack of such insight causes multiple theoretical presumptions and
assumptions that may accelerate and exasperate the situation more than help it
causing unnecessary deployment of resources and creating fear in the
communities without answers how to combat or counter these potential terror
attacks timely and appropriately as well as having the right policies in place
to implement a sound procedure to protect the citizenry from potential terror
attacks created in the terrorist mind.
An
optimum counter-terrorism policy would address or uncover the bases or
foundation of terrorist aggression and allows a better understanding to deploy
and implement better responses, reactionary plans and training for those
responding to such situations.
It
would be impossible to compile and list every act of terrorism there is in our
world today as well as historical basis. For the basic purposes of this writing,
we shall identify two common elements of terrorism that includes an act of
terrorism as an aggression against non-combatants or unarmed civilians and an
act to attack a political goal thereby influencing the change of direction or
behaviors in a way that serves the terrorists involved.
Previous
definitions of terrorism have suggested there are over one hundred academic definitions
of terrorism and each one is based on their behaviors, their intent or declared
reasons or motivation, and whether or not this was an act of a terrorist or a “freedom
fighter” as the role is often reversed depending on the viewpoint of the scholar
or research team members. Each act can be changed or deviated before the occurrence,
during the spell or after the session which include variables such as:
a)
Environment
b)
Goals
c)
Strategy
d)
Means
Causes
– created by self-imagined idealists or altruists, others are driven by
messianic delusions, others by ethnic or religious animus, and others by
entrepreneurial ambitions
The
organization and involvement may stem from (1) social revolutionary terrorism,
(2) left wing or right-wing terrorism, (3) nationalist-separatist terrorism,
(4) religious extremist terrorism, and (5) single-issue (e.g., animal rights)
terrorism, proposing that each type of occurrence or cause tends to be
associated with its own social-psychological dynamics.
·
Types
of terrorist acts identified by mindsets and theoretical conclusions
·
Perpetrator
number Individual vs. group
·
Sponsorship
State vs. sub state vs. individual
·
Relation
to authority Anti-state/anti-establishment/separatist vs.
pro-state/pro-establishment
·
Locale
Intrastate vs. transnational
·
Military
status Civilian vs. paramilitary or military
·
Spiritual
motivation Secular vs. religious
·
Financial
motivation Idealistic vs. entrepreneurial
·
Political
ideology Leftist/socialist vs. rightist/fascist vs. anarchist
·
Hierarchical
role Sponsor vs. leader versus middle management vs. follower
·
Willingness
to die Suicidal vs. non-suicidal
·
Target
Property (including data) vs. individuals vs. masses of people
Methodology
–
a)
Bombing
b)
Assassination
c)
Kidnapping/hostage
taking
d)
Mass
poisoning
e)
Rape
f)
Bioterrorism
g)
Cyberterrorism
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