Terrorism Awareness

Terrorism

Terrorism is not a new military tactic. Back in 50 B.C Julius Caesar encouraged taking hostages to ensure the obedience of conquered tribes. During the French revolution terrorism was put into unrestricted use. Throughout the Reign of Terror, more then 300,000 people were swiftly arrested and another 17,000 were terminated without a fair trial or no trial at all. As sporadic as Terrorism is, it still remains a serious and dangerous problem to society. To understand this problem you must understand where and how a terrorist is created and it always starts with just one radical individual, that is cleaver and manipulative enough to persuade more people to fight. Terrorists also come in many forms, from an old man to a young boy. We must understand and be able to recognize a Terrorist Profile, We additionally we must understand the Terrorist Groups, There are also three Psychological Categories of a Terrorists, Motives and Objectives of Terrorism, Organization of Terrorist Groups. Now you can Counter the Terrorist threat.

A terrorist is one who advocates, creates, or practices the use of terror for a means of coercion. When you hear the word terrorist, your concept of the word will differ from person to person. This is not unnatural or unusual. The characteristics and traits of each terrorist may differ. There are terrorists who are much closer then you think, maybe even in your neighborhood. What about those individuals who are here in the U.S? Foe example, the animal rights activists who perpously throw blood on fur coats while the owners are still wearing them or the ecologically-minded people who drives metal spikes into trees which are scheduled for harvest in an attempt to destroy the chainsaw blades of the loggers. Are they terrorist by definition? Someone once said "one man's terrorist is another man's Martyr. It all depends on the individual's or group's position toward the government. Some radical peace groups may be viewed by one person as terrorist while someone else may see them as concerned citizens.

Even though its hard to generalize about a terrorist character and motivation, a profile was developed. Typically, terrorist are intelligent. well-educated, obsessed with initiating a change in the status quo, reared in middle class or affluent families, and 22 to 35 years old. The ability to develop a terrorist profile gives us a clear image of the enemy and dispels dangerous misconceptions.

National terrorist. A national terrorist group is one that operates in and aspires to political power within a single nation. An example of this type is the Red Brigade. The Red brigade is associated with Italy, because that is where it operates most of the time. This group received a lot of attention when it kidnapped Premier Aldo Moro and Brigadier General Dozier. The Dozier incident was categorized as the beginning of the fifth phase of Red Brigade operations, the move to target other than Italian personnel or property. In December of 1981, the Red Brigade themselves termed this phase as the beginning of the struggle against the "imperialist war"

Transnational terrorist. A transnational terrorist group is one that operates across national borders. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) is an example of this type of group. An associate or product of the PLO

International terrorists. International terrorist are terrorist controlled by a sovereign state and that represents that state's and that represents that state's interests. This type of terrorist group is similar to the transnational terrorist in that it crosses national borders. It is different from transnational terrorists because it is controlled or directed by specific sovereign governments. An example would be the Libyan hit teams. Colonel Qadhafi has used "hit men" to assassinate his own citizens living in foreign countries who refuse to come home to lybia. After the United States Navy shot down two Libyan SU-22 fighter aircraft over the Gulf of Sidra, concern mounted about the possibility that the hit squads would attack a segment of U.S political leadership. Another example is the Hezbollah faction of the Islamic Jihad Organization (IJO) witch is supported and receives direction from the government of Iran.

Government Affiliation. A terrorist group's selection of targets and tactics is also a function of the group's government affiliation. In addition to being categorized by its operational characteristics (national, transnational, and international), a terrorist group is also categorized by government affiliation. This helps security planners anticipate terrorist targets and the sophistication of a terrorist group's intelligence and weaponry. Three general categories of Government affiliation