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Terrorism, originating from the French 18th century word terrorisme (under the Terror), is the term commonly used to refer to the calculated use of violence or the threat of violence, against a civilian population, for the purpose of producing fear usually for some political end. A Terrorist is an active participant in terrorism.
Definitions
There is no single, universally accepted, definition of terrorism. One 2003 study by the U.S. Army [1] stated that over 100 definitions have been counted. Some current definitions:
- In the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations: "...the unlawful use of force and 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" (28 C.F.R. Section 0.85).
- In the current U.S. national security strategy: "premeditated, politically motivated violence against innocents."
- According to the U.S. Defense Department: the "calculated use of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or intimidate governments or societies in pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological."
- The British Terrorism Act 2000, defines terrorism so as to include not only attacks on military personnel, but also acts not usually considered violent, such as shutting down a website whose views one dislikes.
Acts of revolutionary or guerrilla warfare usually are not considered to constitute terrorism, unless the revolutionaries or guerrillas they deliberately and specifically select civilians as targets of violence in the pursuit of political or religious ends.
Some hold that terrorism can be committed by governments, although others consider governments incapable of terrorism by definition (see #State Terrorism). If the terminology is accepted, state terrorism has claimed far more lives (tens of millions) than terrorism by non-state actors.
In the eyes of a government sympathetic to the political motives of violent actors, such acts might not be called terrorism, and may be referred to as acts of "freedom fighters".
One who carries out acts of terrorism is a terrorist, though which acts those are is the subject of interminable debate. Terrorists are not protected by the laws of war because they cannot claim lawful combatant status. Guerrillas are often mistaken for terrorists, and some terrorists call themselves guerrillas. Adding to the confusion are numerous states, including developed ones, which routinely employ terrorist strategies in addition to established military practices. Asymmetric warfare and low-intensity warfare are military terms for tactics that can include terrorism or guerilla warfare.
Finally, terrorism is distinguished from other crimes by its political motive. A gang of bank robbers who kill the bank manager, blow up the vault, and escape with the contents would normally not be classified as terrorists, because their motive was profit. On the other hand, if the gang were to execute the same assault with the intent of causing a crisis in public confidence in the banking system, followed by a run on the banks and a destabilization of the economy, then the gang would certainly be classified as terrorists.
If applied to states' behaviour towards the citizens of other states, most of 20th century warfare, from aerial bombing of cities and "scorched Earth" policies to "ethnic cleansing" would qualify, and many states would be "terrorist" by definition. Since no state wants to define itself as terroristic, the term "terrorist" is more often applied to non-state actors in asymmetric warfare.
As defined by the United States Department of Defense, terrorism is a very specific type of violence, although the term is often applied to other kinds of violence felt to be unacceptable. Typical terrorist actions include assassinations, kidnappings, bombings, drive-by shootings, lynchings, hijackings, and random killings. It is a political, not military, strategy and is generally conducted by groups not strong enough to mount open assaults, although it is used in peace, conflict, and war. The intent of terrorism is to induce fear in an audience (not its victims) in order to cause the audience (or its government) to alter its behavior.
The United States Department of State maintains a list of designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations (c.f.) American citizens may not knowingly provide "material support or resources" to such organizations; members of such organizations are not allowed to enter the United States and may be deported if found there; and United States financial institutions are required to freeze the assets of such organizations and report them to the government.
In the current post-9-11 context, many contend that the word terrorist is overly politicized; they argue that it is used not a reference to a behaviour, but rather as a label to demonize an enemy in terms that convey moral repulsion and outrage. This process of demonization of an enemy is normal in wartime and serves to solidify public opinion: George W. Bush of the USA, for example, routinely describes "the terrorists" as being "evil" and "without conscience".
As well, it should be noted that as long as the term "terrorism" carries with it more rhetorical horsepower than such terms as "war," "assault," "vandalism," "slander," "noncompliance," "dissent," and the like, there will be a motivation for targets of attacks more properly labeled by the lesser terms to find ways to promote their experience to qualify for the stronger term "terrorism" instead.
The deadliest terrorist attack ever committed was the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks. The deadliest terrorist attack ever planned was Operation Bojinka; the first phase, which called for the death of Pope John Paul II and the bombing of 11 airliners, had a prospective death toll of about 4,000 if it had been pulled off. The plot was aborted after an apartment fire in Manila, Philippines on January 5, 1995, exposed the plot to police. The terrorists were slightly more than two weeks away from implementing their plot.
Since 1968, the US State Department has counted deaths from terrorism. In 1985, it counted 816 deaths, the highest up to that time. The deaths decreased over the years, then rose to 3,295 in 2001, most as a result of the September 11 Terrorist Attacks. In 2003, however, more than 1,000 people died as a result of terrorism, the highest toll for any year with no one huge terrorist attack (like 9/11). Many of these deaths occurred from suicide bombings in Chechnya, Israel, and Iraq.
Some famous terrorist organizations of the 20th century include:
Problems with the definition
Terrorist attacks, terrorist attack plots, and terrorists
Significant terrorist incidents include the Oklahoma City bombing (April 19, 1995), the Omagh bombing in Northern Ireland (August 15, 1998) and the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attacks in the USA. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has also spawned a significant number of terrorist incidents, the Munich massacre of Israeli Olympic athletes in 1972, the failed bombing of the World Trade Center in New York in 1993, the Passover massacre of Jews during a religious celebration in 2002, the Maalot massacre of 21 school children and 5 teachers in 1974, and Hebron massacre of Muslims at pray in 1994. See List of terrorist incidents.
Terrorism is difficult for governments to control or prevent, especially when some of its practitioners are willing to risk their lives or (in some cases) even to embrace certain death. Terrorism can be fought and minimized. When the population among whom the terrorists reside can be isolated from the target population, terrorism can be greatly reduced, if not marginalized. A few governments such as Iraq (before the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, Syria, Pakistan, Libya, the United States, Yemen and the countries that supported the Taliban regime in Afghanistan have been accused of promoting or protecting certain terrorist groups.
History
Terrorism has been used (though not so named) throughout recorded history at least as far back as ancient Greece, at least if the definition of terrorism includes the notion of State Terrorism. According to Greek mythology, Zeus, King of the Gods, maintained his power by intimidating the other gods with threats of physical violence. In some cases, he acted on these threats, most famously in the legend of Prometheus' punishment. In that legend Zeus was assisted by Cratos (personification of strength and power) and Bia (personification of force). In Greek "Cratos" also has the meaning of "State Authority" or simply "State". Bia is Greek for "violence". The legend as used by Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound seems to demonstrate the belief that monarchs ruled by means of state authorized violence.
Based on their writings, many Greek scholars seem to have believed that monarchs and tyrants in general dealt with their subjects in similar ways in order to maintain their personal power. However, city-states practising oligarchy and democracy were also known for sentencing a number of their citizens to death if they were believed to pose a threat to the stability of the current form of government. In some cases, mere suspicion was enough for capital punishment to be used. In others, a confession by the accused or a testimony against them was needed. However, Thucydides mentions several cases where confessions were forced out of prisoners and testimonies out of slaves by means of torture.
During the French Revolution (1789 - 1799), the most severe period of the rule of the Committee of Public Safety (1793 - 1795) was labelled "The Terror" (1793 - 1794), epitomizing state terror directed primarily at the state's own citizens: the Committee's Jacobin adherents became "Terrorists" (with a capital "T"). The Committee's leader Maximilien Robespierre is particularly noted for his fanaticism in pursuing what he believed were honest goals.
Before the 19th century, some terrorists went out of their way to avoid casualties among innocents not involved in the conflict. For example, Russian radicals intent on the assassination of Alexander II of Russia (reigned March 2, 1855 - March 13, 1881) cancelled several actions out of concern that they might injure women, children, elderly persons, or other innocents. When the assassination was finally performed, only the Tsar, his assassin Ignatei Grinevitski and a few members of the Tsar's escort are known to have been killed or wounded -- no "innocents".
Today, the use of terrorism has grown among the alienated owing to the psychological impact it can have on the public through extensive media coverage, and perhaps owing to weapons technology improvements that have made it possible for a "super-empowered angry man" (in the words of Thomas Friedman) to cause a large amount of destruction by himself or with only a few conspirators. Terrorism is often the last resort of the desperate. It can be, and has been, conducted by small as well as large organizations.
Historically, groups may resort to terrorism when they believe all other avenues, including economics, protest, public appeal, and organized warfare, hold no hope of success (also see rioting). This suggests that perhaps one approach to combat terrorism is to ensure that in any case where there is a population feeling oppressed, that at least some avenue of gaining attention to problems is kept open, even if the population in question is in the minority on an opinion.
Other rationales for terrorism include attempts to gain or consolidate power either by instilling fear in the population to be controlled, or by stimulating another group into becoming a hardened foe, thereby setting up polarizing us-versus-them dynamics (also see nationalism and fascism). A third common rationale for terrorism is to demoralize and paralyse one's enemy with fear; this sometimes works, but can also stiffen the enemy's resolve. Often, several of these reasons may explain the actions of a particular group. In general, retribution against terrorists can result in escalating tit-for-tat violence; however, it is often felt that if the consequences of engaging in terrorism are not swift and punitive, the deterrent to other terrorist groups is diminished.
The existing order within countries or internationally depends on compromises and agreements between various groups and interests which were made to resolve past conflicts. Over time these arrangements become less relevant to the current situation. Some terrorist acts seem calculated to disrupt the existing order and provoke conflicts in the expectation that it will lead to a new order more favorable to their interests.
Terrorism relies heavily on surprise. Terrorist attacks can trigger sudden transitions into conflict or war. It is not uncommon after a terrorist attack for a number of unassociated groups to claim responsibility for the action; this may be considered "free publicity" for the organization's aims or plans. Because of its anonymous and often self-sacrificial nature, it is not uncommon for the reasons behind the action to remain unknown for a considerable period.
There are eleven major multilateral conventions related to states' responsibilities for combating terrorism.
In addition to these conventions, other instruments may be relevant to particular circumstances, such as bilateral extradition treaties, the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, and the 1963 Vienna Convention on Consular Relations. Moreover, there are now a number of important United Nations Security Council and General Assembly Resolutions on international terrorism, including three important Security Council resolutions dealing with Libya's conduct in connection with the sabotage of Pan Am Flight 103 on December 21, 1988, which includes UN Security Council Resolutions 731 (January 21, 1992); 748 (March 31, 1992) and 883 (November 11, 1993).
The following list identifies the major terrorism conventions and provides a brief summary of some of the major terms of each instrument. In addition to the provisions summarized below, most of these conventions provide that parties must establish criminal jurisdiction over offenders (e.g., the state(s) where the offense takes place, or in some cases the state of nationality of the perpetrator or victim).
International Conventions on Terrorism
During the negotiations on the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, many states supported adding terrorism to the list of crimes over which the court would have jurisdiction. This proposal was not adopted; however the Statute provides for a review conference to be held seven years after the entry into force of the Statute, which will consider (among other things) an extension of the court's jurisdiction to include terrorism.
Types of Terrorism
Six broad categories of terrorist organizations can be identified, though the distinctions between them are not always precise. In addition to this classification, terrorism can also be classified by its range of operations into domestic terrorism and international terrorism.
The first usage of the word terrorism (terrorisme in French) in France during The Terror described the use of terrorism by the state.
According to Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón, "State terrorism is a political system whose rule of recognition permits and/or imposes a clandestine, unpredictable, and diffuse application, even regarding clearly innocent people, of coercive means prohibited by the proclaimed judicial ordinance. State terrorism obstructs or annuls judicial activity and transforms the government into an active agent in the struggle for power."
The US operated the School of the Americas in Panama to train Latin American military personnel, formally in counterinsurgency. The alumni often formed the core of security agencies in Latin America that supported military dictators and made use of torture.
Almost all the countries in Latin America have experienced periods of state terrorism under dictatorial or military governments, pushed by the CIA Condor Plan; it was common that the initial three to five years after the coup d'état were characterized by violence, arbitrary detentions, exile, torture, and "disappearances".
The population of the Soviet Union suffered state terrorism during the Stalin era. Millions were arrested, sometimes arbitrarily, forced to sign ridiculous confessions, and executed or sent off to the Gulag labour camps. Communist regimes in other countries also practised state terrorism to control the population, but to a lesser degree than the Soviet Union.
During World War II (September 1, 1939 - August 15, 1945) both the Axis Powers and the Allies were responsible for the deaths of numerous civilians not directly involved in the fighting.
The Nazis systematized the practice of executing hostages in response to resistance actions (considered as terrorist by them).
World War II was also notable for the strategic bombing of cities. Nazi Germany's bombing of London and other major British cities is known as the Blitz and caused the deaths of an estimated 42,000 civilians. The United Kingdom and the United States used fire-bomb attacks on Dresden between February 13 and February 15, 1945. Dresden was largely destroyed and estimates of the number of civilians killed vary from as few as 35,000 to as many as 135,000. The USA's bombing of Tokyo is estimated to have killed 83,000 civilians. The atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima (August 6, 1945) and Nagasaki (August 9, 1945) are estimated to have killed about 70,000 and 39,000 civilians respectively; these numbers do not include longer-terms deaths from radiation poisoning. It has been argued that these acts qualify as state terrorism as they specifically targeted civilian rather than military targets. Others have argued for military justification of these acts as they did manage to somewhat weaken the enemy state. The later two attacks are believed to have forced Japan into surrendering and so ending the war.
Some claim Israeli actions against the Palestinian population are an example of state terrorism. Others disagree, claiming Israeli actions are not aimed specifically at harming Palestinian civilians, but are rather a part of guerilla warfare directed against the organizers and active particpants in terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians.
State terrorism is backed by state-funded propaganda, ostensibly for "National Security" reasons; the state may argue that the measures are short-term, that the government is in state of war against guerrilla or terrorist groups (sometimes, groups loyal to a previous, deposed government), and that they are working to restore the "Constitution" and "democracy".
The most pervasive elements of state terrorism are detention without judicial process, extrajudicial or summary executions, and secret trials. A terrorist group that achieves power may institute a dictatorship.
States widely classed as 'terrorist' include:
State Terrorism
Main article: State terrorism
Anarchists believe that all states are founded on violence and therefore the term 'terrorist state' is tautological. As with other uses of the term 'terrorism', the term 'state terrorism' is highly controversial. Many of those who believe in the reality of 'state terrorism' would classify Britain, Israel and/or the United States as leading terrorist states.
Nationalist terrorists seek to form a separate state for their own group, and try to draw attention to their fight for "national liberation".
Examples of Nationalist Terrorist Groups:
Main article: Religious terrorism
Religious terrorists use violence to further what they see as divinely commanded purposes. (See also Religious intolerance).
Examples of Religious Terrorist Groups:
Left-wing terrorists wish to undermine or destroy capitalism and replace it with a communist or socialist government.
Examples of Left-Wing Terrorist Groups:
Right-wing, or "neo-Fascist", terrorists seek to abolish liberal democratic governments and create authoritarian regimes in their place. They frequently attack immigrants and are both racist and xenophobic, often specifically anti-semitic.
During the 1980s, right-wing Latin American terrorist groups, known as death squads, often consisted of members of the armed forces who acted in an unofficial capacity to terrorize dissidents, generally with the implicit support or protection of high ranking officials. As private groups with overlapping memberships with the military, they were able to carry out a terror campaign on the government's behalf while giving the government a form of plausible deniability. The most famous victims of this campaign of death-squad terrorism in El Salvador were four American nuns in 1980, and Archbishop Oscar Romero also during that year. In a civil trial ending in July of 2002, a jury in Miami, Florida convicted two former Salvadoran defence officials of the torture of three Salvadoran dissidents, and ordered them to pay $54.6 million to the plaintiffs.
In many other cases, right-wing terrorists are among the least organized; most of them belong to various neo-Nazi groups.
Anarchist terrorism was much more prevalent from the 1870s to the 1920s than it is at present. Several heads of state were assassinated, including King Umberto I of Italy (July 29, 1900) and President of the United States William McKinley (September 14, 1901). The justification of Anarchist terrorism was that such acts would make anarchist ideas famous; however, there were also many terrorists and criminals who called themselves "anarchists" but had little in common with philosophical anarchists and often rejected any association with these individuals. This policy was known as "propaganda by the deed". Some Anarchists are found participating with the more violent elements of demonstrations, such as the anti-globalism protests in the 1990s and 2000s. There are significant sections of the Anarchist movement which do not support terrorism or violence, including many organizations and individuals that advocate pacifism.
The classification of a person or group as "terrorist" is nearly always disputed. Below, we list some of the better-known individuals who are regarded as terrorists (or as having been terrorists in the past) by a significant body of opinion apart from the victims of acts with which they have rightly or wrongly been linked. In many, perhaps most, cases there is also a significant body of contrary opinion. Inclusion of many people in this one list does not indicate any type of equivalence between them. We have not included leaders of governments even when they are widely regarded as guilty of "state terrorism".
Nationalist Terrorism
Main article: Nationalist terrorismReligious Terrorism
Left-wing Terrorism
Main article: Left-wing terrorismRight-Wing Terrorism
Main article: Right-wing terrorismAnarchist Terrorism
Main article: Anarchism and violenceFront Organizations
Terrorist organizations sometimes create front organizations, sometimes legitimate, to conceal activities and/or to provide logistical and/or financial support to the illegal activities. Many "import-export" companies ended up being front organizations for terrorist groups.Famous Terrorists and Former Terrorists
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