Preview

Coercion Terrorism

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1513 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Coercion Terrorism
By: Anonymous
E-mail: idris474@aol.com

Terrorism in the Webster's New American Dictionary is defined as "the systematic use of intense fear as a means of coercion." In this day and age, the term terrorism is more than just the use of intense fear as a means of coercion but includes the use of terrorism as a means of revenge and pure sport and also as a means of suppression. While the dictionaries definitions says that it is the use coercion to promote certain ideologies, some of the most cleverly hidden terrorism today is the terrorism used to suppress some ideologies or certain ethnic groups or societies. The popular image of terrorism is of extremist groups trying to rebel or promote their ideologies by blowing up airplanes, buses,
…show more content…
The use of terror is usually a tool to promote ideologies according to the dictionary but what about the use of terror for revenge? After the Serb withdrawal from Kosovo this past month, there was a rash of terrorist acts committed by Albanians against Serbs. The Serb civilian population of Kosovo was not a threat to the Albanians but the violence against them was not one of coercion but of revenge. The hostage crisis at the American embassy in Teheran twenty years ago was another example of terrorism based on revenge. While that incident involved the political theme of the revolution in Iran and the authorities used it to promote their Islamic ideology, those that carried out the hostage crisis took over the embassy in a fit of rage and under the euphoria of anger against anything American. They had already achieved their goal, which was to rid the American backed Shah who ruled the country with terror; the hostage crisis was merely an outburst of revenge against the west. Terrorism is not just coercion, but it also revenge. The use of terror to punish the victim and remind them of what the enactor of the terror had felt. There are other examples of terrorism that fit under revenge but those are a …show more content…
This double standard and one sided view does injustice to the definition of terrorism because it is not used even-handed. Israel's actions can be logically equated to being terrorism which leads to the question of whether American foreign policy is also a form of terrorism or not. Take the sanctions against Iraq, for example, which is heavily endorsed and enforced by the United States against the will of the majority of the world. The sanctions restrict food and medicine imports to Iraq in order to bring down Saddam Hussein. The result is more than 1.2 million deaths, according to the very organization that began the sanctions, of which the majority were children under the age of five. According to Bruce Hoffman's recently published Inside Terrorism, terrorism is "ineluctably political in aims and motives, violent or, equally important, threatens violence; designed to have far-reaching psychological repercussions beyond immediate victim of target, conducted by an organization with an identifiable chain of command or conspiratorial cell structure (whose members wear no uniform or identifying insignia); and perpetrated by a sub-national group or non-state entity". America's motive in the sanctions become diminished when Saddam

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Terrorism involves a group of people using violence or threat of violence against citizen and military targets in order to force the government to change its policy.…

    • 1752 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Eng 122 Reseach Paper

    • 2034 Words
    • 9 Pages

    What is terrorism, terrorism is the systematic use of terror, often violent, especially as a means of coercion. However in the international community terrorism has no legal binding criminal law definition. Common definitions of terrorism refer only to those violent acts which are intended to create fear; are perpetrated for a religious, political or, ideological goal; and deliberately target or disregard the safety of non-combatants. Now that we have an idea what terrorism is, now let’s take a look to see what the psychology behind a terrorist what are some is…

    • 2034 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Dictionary.com defines terrorism as, “The use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes; the state of fear and submission produced by terrorism or terrorization; and a terroristic method of governing or of resisting a government.” Terrorism has been around since the 1st Century AD. Many civilizations have used terrorists tactics on a weakened state or a state they which to overthrow. One of the first uses of modern terrorism was Maxmilien Robespierre. After the French Revolution, Robespierre was a dictator that used terrorism to remain in control. He stated that, “Subdue by terror the enemies of liberty, and you will be right, as founders of the Republic.” In the late 1960s, International Terrorism took the world over with hijacking. Of recent most terrorism is based on an ideology and religion.…

    • 1639 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Terrorism His/135

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Terrorism is the calculated use of violence (or the threat of violence) against civilians in order to…

    • 731 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Terrorism is just a word in English, but it is a hazard for mankind. Terrorism is the use of fear and acts of violence in order to intimidate societies or governments. People who do terrorism are called terrorists. Terrorism is a world-wide problem. By now, the governments throughout the world are realizing that terrorism is a serious threat to dealt with. Every terrorist acts usually takes days and even months of preparation. Terrorist are usually young, but the brain behind them are old, seasoned politicians. Terrorists mostly recruit younger people in their group as it is easy to brainwash them. Few of the terrorist attacks the world would never forget are the mid air bombings of Pan Am flight 103, the 9/11 attacks in which 2 civilian planes were hijacked and then…

    • 647 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Terroism

    • 353 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Although terrorism happens throughout the world there is a heavier activity in certain areas of the world because they want to override government and change rules and laws. It’s sought out because there isn’t another way for terrorist to get their economic, political or religious demands heard. Terrorist often live close to their targets selected and engage in a great deal of preparation. Terrorists go to great lengths in preparing their attacks committing other crimes while doing so. For example in 2004 Attack of Western oil companies and housing compounds in Al Khobar, Saudia Arabia, results in death of 22 people. Killing innocent people is random areas at random times gives them more publicity for their cause. Terrorist main goal is to cause more violence and uprisings to force changes to accommodate their political, economic and religious demands.…

    • 353 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Criminal Justice

    • 5483 Words
    • 22 Pages

    Terrorism is a method of combat in which random or symbolic victims become targets of violence. Through the previous use of violence or the credible threat of violence, other members of a group are put in a state of chronic fear (terror). The victimization of the target is considered extra normal by most observers which in turn create an audience beyond the target of terror. The purpose of terrorism is either to immobilize the target of terror in order to produce disorientation and/or compliance, or to mobilize secondary targets of demand or targets of attention (Schmid 1983).…

    • 5483 Words
    • 22 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    war and terrorism

    • 833 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Terrorism is an act that threatens or carries out violence with the intention to disrupt, kill or coerce against a body or nation in order to impose will. This means that a lot of groups use this method to get what they want. The groups use a variety of methods, groups such as:…

    • 833 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Terrorism Final

    • 873 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Terrorism was once a term not used frequently, but after 9/11 in the United States terrorism can be heard about daily. Other parts of the world have dealt with terrorism on a daily basis. Terrorism is a act of violence or threat of violence usually in the form of bombing, kidnapping, and assassination. Terrorism is carried out for political, economic, or religious purposes.…

    • 873 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Terrorism SLIDES Trial 1

    • 1729 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Terrorism It is described variously as both tactic and strategy; a crime and a holy duty; a justified reaction to oppression and an inexcusable abomination. Has been an effective tactic of the weaker side in a conflict. United Nations defined terrorism on 1992, it is ‘an anxiety-inspiring method of repeated violent action, employed by (semi-) clandestine individual, group or state actors, for idiosyncratic, criminal or political reasons, whereby - in contrast to assassination - the direct targets of violence are not the main targets.’ (United States Department of Defense): ‘the calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological.’…

    • 1729 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Put as simply as possible, however, terrorism is the “indiscriminate killing of innocent citizens for political goals” (Hislope and Mughan 262). Terrorism is a multifaceted, complicated concept with deep roots, which is what makes it so difficult to define. Terrorism is not an ideology, but it is a “method, a technique, a tactic” that a variety of groups use to achieve their political goals (Hislope and Mughan 239). Russian anarchist Peter Kropotkin described terrorism as “‘propaganda by the deed,’” suggesting that this kind of violence is simply a method of demonstrating a point that would not otherwise be heard (239). While terrorism definitely has gained prevalence in recent years, it “is anything but new,” with general origins dating back to the biblical Zealots (Rodenbeck 1). The term “‘terrorism’” first emerged during the French Revolution amid the Reign of Terror (Hislope and Mughan 248). However, the modern understanding of terrorism first emerged in the twentieth century, as non-governmental groups attempted to combat the increasing globalization occurring throughout the…

    • 1170 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Terrorism this is an intentional act or voluntary violence that is directed to a person or the public with an aim of installing fear to a person or killing others due to some form of disagreement that could be politically or a revenge for particular loss that someone or a nation might have gone through.…

    • 1200 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    A definition of “terrorism” refers to the use of force or violence against persons or property for the purpose of intimidation, coercion (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2011); Terrorists often use violence and threats to create fear among the public. Terrorism is a criminal act such as airline hijackings, bomb scares, weapons of mass destruction that influences an audience beyond the immediate victim. The strategy of terrorists is to commit acts of violence that draws the attention of the local populace, the government, and the world to their cause. (International Terrorism and Security Research , n.d.)…

    • 1122 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Defining Terrorism

    • 627 Words
    • 3 Pages

    There are many definitions of terrorism. Some of them are: Brain Jenkins said that terrorism is the use or threatened use of force designed to bring about political change. While Walter Lacqueur said that terrorism constitutes the illegitimate use of force to achieve apolitical objective by targeting innocent people. Yet another definition comes from Edward Herman, who said that terrorism should be defined by terms of state repression, such as the corrupt Latin American governments. Still another view of terrorism comes from Alex Schmidt, who said that there is no true or correct definition, because terrorism is an abstract concept with no real presence. A single definition cannot possibly account for all potential uses of the term. The final definition that is covered here is the official definition of terrorism issued by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. They state that it is the unlawful use of force to intimidate a government to further political or social goals. Though these are only a few of the definitions of terrorism, they provide a good cross-section of the term terrorism.…

    • 627 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Terrorism

    • 461 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Terrorism is a big issue all around the world. Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, often violent, especially as a means of coercion. Also are violent acts which are intended to create fear, are perpetrated for a religious, political, or ideological goal and deliberately target or disregard the safety of civilians. Terrorists use murder, kidnapping, hijacking, and bombing to pursue a political agenda. Terrorists are not just subject in the United States, it happens all over the world.…

    • 461 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics