Exam 1 Terrorism Intro Stuff PDF

The Basics ​ Be able to define the concept of extremism and understand how it relates to terrorism: ○​ What is meant by the concept of a “soft target”? ​ Targets that are relatively easy to attack can include civilian and administrative government Targets...

The Basics ​ Be able to define the concept of extremism and understand how it relates to terrorism: ○​ What is meant by the concept of a “soft target”? ​ Targets that are relatively easy to attack can include civilian and administrative government Targets ​ Be familiar with the framework for understanding political terrorism as a group phenomenon that was presented in class ○​ Terrorism is group phenomenon perpetrated by organized groups who have clear group identity: National, religious or ideological, political terrorism rooted in intergroup conflict, insurgent terrorism done by less powerful, state terrorism more powerful ​ What role does symbolism play in acts of terrorism? ○​ A central feature of terrorism; the “righteousness” of the terrorists' cause,the evil of the opponent they are fighting. Used to rationalize acts of extreme violence, can be manipulated to fit any number of targets into the category of enemy, used to create abstract ideological linkages between terrorists and victims ​ What is the difference between mala in se and mala prohibita, and how does this distinction apply to terrorism? ○​ Mala in se; crimes that are immortal in themselves, cannot be justified in civilized society/have no acceptable qualities. Mala prohibita; crimes made illegal by legislation, acts that are illegal because society has declared them to be wrong, not inherently immoral, wicked, or evil. ○​ Applies to terrorism as many violent actions are mala in se but violence committed by people who are otherwise genuinely oppressed may sometimes be considered mala prohibita ​ Be familiar with the concept of the “just war” doctrine ○​ An ideal and moralistic philosophy; often used by ideological and religious extremists to justify actions of extreme violence, most nations and individuals that go to war do so because they believe their cause is just and their opponents is unjust. ​ What is regicide? ○​ The killings of kings ​ Be familiar with the use of crucifixion during Roman age ○​ Form fo public execution used for offenses committed against roman authority. Considered to be shameful death generally reserved for slaves or “rebels”. ​ Be familiar with The Reign of Terror in France ○​ Between 17k-40k people were executed, as many as 200k political prisoners died from disease and starvation in prison. Thousands of political oopents were arrested and put on trial before the revolutionary tribunal. Enemies of the republic were beheaded by the guillotine newly invented for the republic. ​ Who were the Luddites? ○​ English workers in the early 1800s who objected to the social and economic transformations of the Industrial Revolution. The primary objection was that industrialization threatend jobs, so they target the machinery of new factories ○​ Would sabotage and destroy wool and cotton mills  ○​ Eventually suppressed by anti-Luddite laws that criminalize “machine breaking” and made it punishable by death ○​ ​ Who were The People’s Will? ○​ A direct outgrowth of student dissatisfaction with Russian czarist regime. Many young Russian university students became imbued with ideals of Marxism and anarchism ○​ Believed that they understood the underlying problems of Russia better than the “uneducated masses”. Therefore better able to force government change. Resulted in a repressive police state in Russia ​ How Does historical terrorism relate to modern terrorism? ○​ Historical terrorism gave way to modern terrorism through the development of new practices based on improved technology, still an outcome of extremism though modern terrorism is less explicit ​ What are the characteristics of “New Terrorism”? ○​ Loose cell-based networks, minimal lines of command and control by design ○​ The desire for high-intensity weapons and WMD's ○​ Politically vague, religious, or mystical motivations ○​ Asymmetrical methods that maximize casualties ○​ Skillful use of the Internet and social media and manipulation of the mass media ​ Be familiar with the following case studies ○​ Al-Qa’ida ​ Radical islamist network that set up elaborate financial system to sustain and fund activities, included secret bank accounts, front companies, offshore banks, and charities ​ Stateless movement that became self-sustained revolution network; sophisticated transnational criminal enterprise ○​ Anders Brivik ​ Norwegian right-wing extremist, detonated lethal bomb in Oslo before going on a killing spree at a youth camp in July 2011while being disguised as policeman, attack lasted 90 minutes before police landed on the island and accepted his surrender. ​ Low degree of criminal sophistication; many acts of terrorism are from indivudal extremists who embark on killing sprees without much sophistication or planning ​ Convicted of murdering 77 people, received Norway max sentence of 21 years imprisonment which can be renewed indefinitely if he is still deemed a risk to society. ​ Individual who acted on certain ideology not acting on health of organized group, usually low degree of skill or expertise. ○​ Theodore “Ted” Kaczynski ​ Medium degree of crmiinal sophistication, remained actived for longer period of time without being caught. Known as Unabomber derived from FBI’s designation of his case as UNABOM ​ Eluded capture for 18 years, 1978 he began constructing and detonating series of bombs directed at corporations and universities  ​ Sent disguised as business parcels; one exploded in aircraft due to barometric trigger, home of the president of United Airlines, vanderbilt university, berkeley professor, and more. Altogether responsible for detonating 16 bombs, killing 3, and injuring 22 more ○​ Ramzi Yousef ​ Mastermind behind World Trade center bombing in 1993, high degree of criminal sophistication ​ Created mobile truck bomb in New Jersey using converted Ford Econoline van, goal was to topple tower one onto tower two, releasing cloud of toxic gas and produce a very high death toll. ​ Spent several months in pakistan training camps funded by Osama bin laden, learned bomb making skills, spent time in separate training camps getting trained in electronics and explosives ​ Had connections with well-funded terrorists, was sophisticated bomb maker, planned everything in great detail ​ Was evneutally captured and sentenced to 240 years in a supermax prison in Colorado Defining Terrorism ​ Be able to define new terrorism ○​ Characterized by the threat of weapons, mass desutrction, indiscriminate targeting, and intentionally high casualty rates ​ What role does intolerance play in extremism? ○​ Extremist belief systems are often characterized by intolerance, terrorism is only one possible manifestation of extremism, some may engage primarily in benign expression of belief (e.g publishing newspapers), may also engage in non-terroristic criminal behavior like vandalism ○​ Intolerance hallmark of extremist belif systems, consider their cause to be absolutely just and good, those who disagree are cast into a category as the “opposition”, opponents are affixed with negative or derisve labels which set them apart ​ Common characteristics of violent extremists: ○​ Moral absolutes ​ Extremists adopt moral absolutes so that the lines between them and the opposition are clear ​ Belief or cause presented as “morally correct” vision of the world; used to establish moral superiority over others, position extremists as morally and ethically “pure” elites who lead oppressed masses ○​ Conspiratorial beliefs ​ Conspiracies are created and fabricated to demonize opposition and set extremists apart from those who are not part of their belief system, opposition becomes elites with a hidden agenda ​ What role do religious beliefs play in extremism? ○​ Worldview is presented as a struggle between supernatural forces of good and evil, those who do not conform are opposed, those who live according to the accepted belief system are “chosen”, interpretations of how one should behave include social or political elements  ○​ Clear sense of mission, purpose, and righteousness, create a worldview that sets them apart from the rest of society ○​ Reframes their beliefs and behaviors as logical from the perspective of those who accept the belief system ​ Discuss various difficulties and complications associated with defining terrorism ○​ Government have developed definitions, individual agencies within governments have adopted different definitions, private agencies hve designed their own definition, academic experts have proposed and anaylzed dozens of definitional constructs ○​ Establishing formal definitions cab me complicated by the perspective of the participants in an incident, who do not define themselves as terrorists ○​ Most definitions focus on political violence perpetrated by dissident groups, rather than government bodies ​ Various definitions of terrorism: ○​ UK ​ “The use of threat, for the purpose of advancing a politcal, relgious or ideological cause, of action which involves serious violence against any person or property ○​ Germany ​ “Enduringly conducted struggle for politcal goals, which are intended to be achieved by means of assaults on the life and property of others, especially by means of severe crimes ○​ FBI ​ Unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives. ○​ DOD ​ “Unlawful use of violence or threat of violence, often motivated by religious, political, or other ideological beliefs, to instill fear and coerce government or societies in pursuit of goals that are usually political ○​ State dept ​ “Premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against non-combatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents ​ Common features of formal definitions of terrorism ○​ Use of illegal force, subnational actors, unconventional methods, political motives, attacks against “soft” civilian and passive military targets, acts aimed purposefully affecting an audience, provoking a public reaction ​ Composite american definition: ○​ Terrorism is a premeditated and unlawful act in which groups or agents of some principal engage in a threatened or actual us of force or violence against human or property targets ○​ Groups of agents engage in this behavior intending the purposeful intimidation of government or people to affect policy or behavior with an underlying political objective ​ Types of terrorism ○​ State Terrorism ​ Terrorism “from above” committed by gthe overnment against perceived enemies ​ Can be directed externally against adversaries in the international domain or internally against domestic enemies ○​ Dissident terrorism ​ Terrorism “from below” committed by nonstate movement and groups against governments, ethnonational groups, religious groups, and other perceived enemies. ○​ Religious terrorism ​ Terrorism motivated by an absolute belief that an otherworldly power has sanctioned and commanded the application of terrorist vioelcne for the greater glory of the faith ​ Usually conducted in defense of what believers consider to be the one true faith ○​ Ideological terrorism ​ Terrorism motivated by violent interpretations of political systems of belief ○​ International terrorism ​ Terrorism that spills over onto the worlds stage, targets are selected because of their value as symbols of international interests ○​ Criminal dissident terrorism ​ Terrorism motivated by profit or some combination of profit and politics ○​ Gender-selective terrorism ​ Terrorist violence explicity directed agsinst the males or females of enemy popluations in order to eliminate potential fights and culturally degrade/terrorize the population ​ Propaganda by deed ○​ Terroristic violence delivers symbolic message to a target audience, and to onlooker. ​ Political violence matrix (pvm) ○​ Quality of force: ​ Indiscriminate force: application of force against a target without attempting to limit the level of force or degree of destruction of that target ​ Discriminate force: surgical use of limited force ○​ Characteristics of intended target ​ Combatant: conventional f unconventional adversaries who engaged in armed conflict as members of regular military or irregular guerrilla fighting units ​ Non-combatants: includes civilians who have no connection to military or other security forces ○​ Violent environments can be summarized into four categories ​ Total War: force is indiscriminately applied to destroy the military targets of an enemy combatant to destroy them ​ Total War/Unrestricted terrorism: indiscriminate force is applied against non-combatant targets without restraint ​ Limited war: discriminating force is used against combatant targets to either defeat the enemy or to achieve a political goal  ​ State repression/restricted terrorism: discriminating force is directed against non-combatant targets either as a matter of domestic policy or as the selective use of terrorism Causes of Terrorism ​ National level: ○​ Nations may be victimized by traumatic events like invsions of terrorist attacks that shape their behavior and culture ○​ Massacres, force migrations, or extended repression can affect ethnonational groups of generations ​ Group level: ○​ Groups goal is to redirected attetnetion of government or society toward the grievance of an activist social movement, terrorism can grow out of an environment of political activism ○​ Can grow out of dramatic eventsi n the experience of a people or a nation ​ Individual level: ○​ Rational, psychological, and cultural origins ​ Acts of political will: ○​ Effort to force change which consist of strategic choices made by ideologically morivated revolutionaries who pursue victory by force of will ○​ Rational decision from the perpetrator’s perspective; to adopt specifictactic and methodologies to defeat an adversary ○​ Terrorism is a tool; selected by members of extremist groups to achieve their desired goals ○​ Terrorism is a deliberate strategy ​ “People’s war” strategy ○​ Originated when the Communist Red Army, led by Mao Zedong, was nearly annihilated prior to and during the Long March campaign in 1934-1935. ○​ Requires protracted warfare fought by an army imbued with an ideological will to wear down the enemy ○​ Indoctrinate the amy; win over the people; hit, run, and fight forever ○​ Assassinations are considered perfectly acceptable strategy, target may include; soldiers, government admins, civilian collaborators ○​ Government-sponsored programs and events should be violent disrupted; to demonstrate government weakness ○​ Requires the cooperation and participation of the civilian population ​ Sociological explanations: ○​ Group based: ​ Generally hold terrorism is a product of intergroup conflict that results in collective violence ​ Terrorism as a group-based phenomenon; argues that groups resort to terrorism when it is the only strategy available to a less powerful group, disadvantaged groups assert the rights by selecting terrorism as a method  ​ Perception grows within group that government or social order is unfair, system does not allow for meaningful dissent, group concludes only recourse is to oust existing government, group perceives weakness in governing system they react with a revolutionary push to achieve group goals ○​ Structural theory ​ Identifies social conditions, or structures, that affect group access to services, equal rights, civil protections, freedom, or other quality of life measures ​ Social structures include any governmental policies, administrative bureaucracy, geographic factors, and legal and social institutions ​ State is the key actor and is the precipitating factor for revolution; popular discontent and pervasive domestic crises make the state vulnerable to political violence, and tensions encourage and embolden violent extremists ○​ Relative deprivation: Posists that when group expectations are met by sustained repression or second-class status, group reaction may include political violence ○​ Absolute deprivation: Occurs when a group is denied adequate shelter, food, health care, and other basic necessities. Conditions can cause political violence because deprives populations have little to lose by engaging in violence ○​ Nationalism is an expression of ethnonational identity, can range in scale from the promotion of cultural heritage to armed insurrection. Goals can range from a desire for equal political rights to complete national separatism ○​ Psychological explanations ​ Psych approaches consider the effects of internal psychological dynamics ​ A common presumption is that terrorism is the behavior of a lunatic fringe, ora result of insanity or mental illness, presumes terrorism is fundamentally irrational ​ While psychological processes may underlie the decision to engage in terrorism, most terroristic behavior is not the result of insanity or irrationality ​ Some experts argue that the decision to engage in political violence is most frequently an outcome of significant events in an individual's lives that contribute to antisocial sentiment. ​ These individuals actively seek improvement in the environment, desire redress from the perceived cause of their condition, and psychological motivations for terrorism frequently derive from personal dissatisfaction with life ​ Otherwise, research has NOT identified a distinct psychopathology among terrorist offenders. ○​ Unambiguous certainty ​ Moral conviction and unambiguous certainty in the righteousness of their cause, no gray areas. ​ Group or people conclude that they have been morally wronged and that a powerful, evil enemy is arrayed against them; the conclusion may be grounded in legitimacy or in historical exploitation. ​ Group or people conclude that they posses an inherent moral superiority over it enemy, can be derived from ideological convictions, values or religious beliefs. Sense of moral purity becomes the foundation for the simplification of good and evil  ​ A line drawn between good and evil gives foundation belief that “our cause is just and the enemy’s is unjust”, methods used in the struggles are then justified by the objectives of the cause. ​ Nihilist dissidents ○​ Defined by the beliefs that any system is preferable to the existing one, destruction of the system is a justifiable goal ​ Fundamental belief that the end justified the means ○​ Particularly common among religious, ethnonationalism, and ideological terrorists. ○​ Religious terrorists seek to create a society that reflects the commandments, morality, and valueso f their religious faith ​ Codes of Self-Sacrifice: ○​ Many terrorists adopts codes of self-sacrifice that are the root of their everyday lives; believe that these codes are superior codes of living ○​ Codes rely on some conceptualization of a basic truth, usually having a religious, ethnonational, or ideological foundation. Actions taken within these parameters are considered justified Criminology of Terrorism ​ Terrorism vs “regular” crime ○​ Criminology includes the “scientific studying of making laws, breaking laws, and reacting toward the breaking of laws” ○​ Terrorism clearly falls under the purview of this definition in all respects ○​ Difference 1: Terrorist perpetrators typically don’t see themselves as criminal while many other offenders do. Instead terrorist peretrators see them selves as individuals making sacrifices for a noble cause, often conceive of self as freedom fighter or positive agents of change ○​ Difference 2: Lack of traditional criminology data on terrorism, traditional sources of crmiinolgy data are problematic when it comes to gathering data on terrorism, few countries have developed systematic data on terrorism-related crimes, and no worldwide data collection system exists. Police depts often do not maintain separate records for terrorism-related offenses ○​ Victimization surveys are of little use, terrorism attacks are much less common than more ordinary crimes so few individuals have been victimized by terrorists, many victims are killed and cant participate, very few active participating are willing to self-report. ○​ Difference 3: Terrorism is often larger in scale with national of international impacts, most common crimes occur in an offenders local area, whereas terrorist offenses are rarely so limited in scope, often gathers worldwide attention ○​ Difference 4: More common offenders seek anonymity while terrorist perpetrators specifically seek recognition and attention. Large audience is precisely what terrorist organization seek, due to goal for attention terrorist offenses tend to be much more orchestrated and sophisticated than more common crimes ○​ Difference 5: Goals offend tend to be much broader in scope, goal of most common offending is material reward or injury/harm to specific victim, goals of most terrorism tend to be focused on furthering a political cause/changing a dominant system, more likely to be motivated by a perceived moral authority.