Terrorism

Terrorism Terrorism has been said to be difficult to define, however, according to James and Brenda Lutz, it consist of six parts: (1) terrorism has a political objective, (2) it relies on violence or the threat of it, (3) it has a target audience beyond the immediate victims, (4) it involves an organization and is not the actions of isolated individuals, (5) it involves a non-state actor as the perpetrator or the target or both, (6) and it is a weapon of weakness of the weak designed to change the distribution of power. The targeted audience is vital: they are the ones that should be stricken with fear. Terrorism is ultimately a form of psychological warfare that is directed against this target audience (Lutz). The “terrorists” often times see themselves as soldiers or freedom-fighter. They do not believe that their actions are wrong as long as they ultimately achieve their means. In order to understand terrorism and the problems that follow it, one must first understand the history and the terrorist and why terrorism seems to prevail. The history of terrorism can be dated back to at least 1500 years (66-72 A.D), according to the Delaware Criminal Justice Council Terrorism Research Page. 1500 years ago, Jewish resistance groups, Zealots, killed Roman soldiers and Roman property. Terrorism has evolved a lot since then, yet it continues to be used to achieve political goals. Some examples of this tool being utilized are: The French Revolution (their goal was to eliminate opposition and consolidate power), Anarchists (their goal was to bring down a government), Russian Revolution (their goal was to maintain power and control their population), Irish Rebellion (their goal was to gain independence) (Delaware Criminal Justice Council Terrorism Research Page). The early objective of terrorism was to resist occupation or kill religious enemies. “The new terrorism”, as referred to by Arthur H. Garrison, is an Israeli-Arab conflict. Terrorism in the middle and late