How Has Terrorism Changed Over Time

Terrorism has not made a lasting impact on Americans until September 11, 2001. Since 9/11, research on terrorism has been increasing and it had been determined that terrorism is a complex area. So law enforcement needs to be educated on the different aspects of terrorism. Since September 11th, local, state, and federal law enforcement have made changes to become more effective in detecting terrorists and deterring attacks. They have adopted new methods, expanded on their equipment, and even extended communication to other agencies. Law enforcement in federal, state and local levels have been preparing, getting educated and learning new ways to protect the community from terrorists.

One of the major reasons why defining domestic terrorism has proved difficult is because different agencies approach terrorism with their different interpretations (White, 2013). The difference between the various definitions of domestic terrorism lies within the various descriptions given about terrorists’ motivations. White (2013) classified domestic terrorism as either those that are politically motivated or others that attempt greater specificity. It is however difficult to establish and define the motivations of terrorists. It is therefore necessary do in-depth analysis on terrorists’ motivation because their purpose reflects the methods and targets the terrorists are most likely to select.

America has gone through difficult times with war, but has gone through harder times with the war on terror. Terrorism is defined as the use of terror or threat. The war on terror became a big deal on December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor was bombed by hundreds of Japanese fighter planes, but has been a bigger deal since that attack on the Twin Towers in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.. The bombing of the Twin Towers and to the Pentagon was like a Pearl Harbor but for the 21st century. Terrorist turn to violent means such as killing and bombing of the government.

After a terrorist attack of any kind there are always consequences that must be faced. Sometimes the point of the terrorist attacks is because the organization wished to send a message or to influence policy in their favor. However, after the 9/11 attacks administrators realized that the United States was not prepared for a tragedy of this kind and had little to no measures to prevent one, this lead them to create new programs and policies. Terrorist organization’s goal often comes down to one of the following: regime change, territorial change, policy change, social control and status quo maintenance. The main purpose of a terror attack may well be to influence public policy. An example used by Neumayer and Plumper, was how after the suicide

Despite the attack on 9/11 being the biggest and deadliest act of terrorism to date, it certainly was not first encounter the U.S. has had over the course of its history.

National terrorism has been the focus of attention since September 11 (Haubrich, 2006). Unfortunately, domestic terrorism is now becoming increasingly common with hate groups around our nation. Domestic terrorism can be defined as violent acts that someone has committed in their own country against their fellow citizens and infrastructures. Some examples of violent acts include violent crimes, (murder, assault, and etc.) property crimes, and public order crimes. It can also be a crime against the state or federal government, like for example the attack on the World Trade Centers and the infamous Oklahoma City bombing.

All of us have heard of the event “9/11”. In September 2001, when Osama Bin Laden decided to attack symbolic targets. He made the decision to attack the Pentagon, and the world trade centers (twin towers). The terrorist attack on 9-11 is one of the most known attacks because of how many people died, and mentally/emotionally hurt. My interest was sparked because, I always wanted to know about how many people died, and what caused this tragic event. Also, in elementary school we would always take a day out of our school year (close to or on 9/11).

The term terrorism is inextricably intertwined with the notion of foreign actors unleashing widespread disaster on American soil. This notion is not unfounded and carries a very real and very dangerous threat to the US. While the US must of course be constantly vigilant with regard to the threat of an attack emanating from a foreign land, the US must also consider an equally dangerous threat that lurks in our own backyard: the domestic terrorist. Make no mistake, the use of the word domestic should by no means diminish, and should in no way normalize the malevolency these groups perpetuate. One is tempted to limit one’s thinking regarding domestic terrorism to the latest news story and how that may affect the US in the here and now. However,

Many of us remember the events of 9/11, witnessing terrorism on our doorstep. Our carefree world had changed in an instant on that day. Terrorism on our turf demonstrated how vulnerable we are quickly reminding us that we are not as indestructible as we may have previously thought. Terrorism comes in many forms, from a single person wishing to make a political statement or religious groups who wish to spread fear in order to attain ideological goals (Haddow, Bullock, & Coppola, 2014). The targets of the attacks that day were specific to the terrorist but gave us insight as to the vulnerability many of our critical infrastructures are to the terrorism.

Ganor puts this differentiation into perspective by comparing the targets of both terrorists and guerrilla fighters. While terrorists intentionally target civilians, guerilla fighter’s targets are military ones (Ganor 288). A civilian can be defined as one who is unarmed, uninvolved, unaware and uninformed. In order to terminate these different views on the qualifications of a terrorist, Ganor proposes that an international definition of terrorism is acquired (289). He suggests that an objective definition of terrorism could be “the deliberate use or the threat to use violence against civilians in order to attain political, ideological and religious aims” (Ganor 288). It is important for a definition such as this to be accepted internationally as current definitions of terrorism can be abused by various factions. Many terrorist organizations use the current ambiguous definition of terrorism to promote their own interests and goals. Although politicians also promote their own interests and needs by making political use of the term “terrorism” by emphasizing the brutality of the term (Ganor 293). Another significant reason that an international definition for terrorism is adopted is to help emphasize the difference between terrorism

Terrorism is hardly ever looked at lightly. When most Americans think of terrorist the first thing that comes to mind is the September 11 attacks. What many fail to recognize are the numerous incidents in which the terrorist attacks were committed by individuals who were United States citizens or permanent residents of the United States. Homegrown terrorism can be motivated by numerous reasons ; Economic issues,such as losing a job or blocked mobility,religious convictions,racial prejudice,and supremacist goals,political standpoints and even the deathof a close family member. Today this issue is at its peak and growing rapidly and it does not seem to be slowing down anytime soon.

The world today is facing a crisis and there seems to be no resolution in sight. The war on terrorism has been going on for many, many years and it appears as if the leaders of the world are baffled as to stop it or if nothing else, control it. Many scholars have a difficult time attempting to define a good definition for the word terrorism. Many believe it is a difficult word to define because there are so many interruptions to the word. It will depend on what part of the country one is in, but for the universal approach to the definition many believe terrorism is “the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce esp for political purposes” (Dyson, 2012, p. 19).

As this paper will discuss on domestic terrorism which includes acts against the U.S. that are dangerous to human life, violate federal or state criminal laws, have no actual connection to international terrorists, and appear to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, influence domestic government policy through intimidation or coercion, or affect the conduct of our government by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping. (J. Keith Akins, 2006)

Since 9-11, terrorism has more power than ever. Society is easily manipulated by a simple word that can start a war, divide a nation, and instill fear in an instant. Ann Coulter’s article, “Bush 7 Terrorists 0,” and Paul Krugman’s article, “Fearing Fear Itself,” both use use the loaded word, terrorism, in opposite ways: one to promote war by instilling fear and one to avoid war by downplaying the fear terrorism evokes.

Terrorism causes fear all across the world. People are terrified because of what happens in these attacks. There are many different kinds of fear caused by terrorist attacks. Some react to these attacks differently than others. Many react to these attacks in a constructive and rational matter, this helps to not give the terrorists what they want. If we can do this we can minimize these attacks across the world. So, are you with me? Will you help to minimize this problem?