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Terrorism Around The World

There is a lot of discussion about terrorism in specific countries. However, we haven't dealt with terrorism in general.

The following comes from the popular blog, "little green footballs".

Rather interesting statistics.

World The Terrorism

My mother and I were just discussing this last night -- how terrorism seems to have, well, "exploded" (sorry, that just seems to be the right word at the moment) around the world since September 11. Of course, there were terrorist events prior to that, but it seems to have escalated (there's the word I wanted!) since then on a great magnitude. Are we just more mindful of it? Is the world "media" reporting more of it? Or is it really happening more and more often?

It's just sad the toll of innocent lives taken. It affects us all.

Roz

Terrorism Around The World History & Civil Business Politics

I think it really has increased that much. And the successes just feed the frenzy.

Spain showed that terrorism works to change a national government, along with its policy. Look to see attacks in Britain, Poland, and Italy in the near future, as well as the US before November.

World The Terrorism

First, the word terrorism and terrorists are not well-defined. A lot of countries who joined in the 'war against terrorism', have asked for a proper definition. In some cases, those that used to be called freedom fighters are now also conveniently lumped into the word terrorists. And because of the dramatic Sept 11 event, the word has definitely taken on a higher profile.

Second, if you are not friendly to us, you may be considered a terrorist. It's just a matter of which side of the friendship you are on. Case in point: Chechnya. The Russians called them rebels and renegades, and have been fighting them for some time now, but the US and Europe preferred to call them freedom fighters. Now the Russians conveniently label them terrorists too ...... does that make the killings of Chechnyans more legitimate?

And just because the US is a die-hard supporter of Israel, does that mean the Palestinians' fight for their land which was taken away from them illegitimate struggle? Are they not freedom fighters in the essence of the word? Why are all the Palestinians seen as terrorists first, all other things second?

And then, perhaps the escalation of terrorism is not due to just the enhanced coverage by the media, but is actually on the rise. That means the so-called war on terrorism has failed in its intent, but has instead festered even more insecurity in the whole world.

How can Bush and each and every one of us ever hope to win this war? Why nations go to war against each other, there will emerge a victor and a vanquished. And the vanquished will declare a surrender and ultimately ends the war. In this war on terrorism, who will actually announce the surrender and the end of the war? And the terrorists play by no rulebooks, have no time schedules, does not place much value on thier own lives, and actually look forward to being killed and be martyred. The exact opposites of the values the rest of the world live by.

So, maybe it is time to re-evaluate. Maybe the use of force and the flexing of military might is not the answer to fight this war. Winning over hearts and minds through political fairplay, social and cultural respect, economic aid, and a grant of hope for their children and their future to the people of those regions (wherever it might be) may be a more lasting and effective remedy.

We should not try to justify the evil actions of people like Osama, and neither should be condone any acts of violence against each other. But we must surely do our best to deprive the Osamas of the world, any reasons for them to recruit new ones. But we should not be put in a position as we are in now, where the number of 'terrorists recruits' has geometrically increased because of what is perceived as an unjust attack on and occupation of Iraq, as well as an unjust situation in Palestine.

World The Terrorism

Jihad. One word. Jihad.

There is no cultural respect in Jihad; it's the exact opposite. And yet, you would propose that we do this in order to "win over hearts and minds through political fairplay." It's an admirable goal, but it doesn't work if the other side doesn't want to play along; seeing as their whole goal and priority is the death of as many Americans as possible. They're in a holy war against us and they don't leave any room for diplomacy. We couldn't have negotiated the terrorists that flew jets into skyscrapers out of doing so, neither could we have impressed the pants off of them by giving tons of money to help their children. For those involved in this Jihad, killing americans, or conspiring to do so, is a way to worship their God.



"ter·ror·ism ( P ) Pronunciation Key (tr-rzm)
n.
The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons. "

To me, terrorism is unfair military play basically to just incite fear without any diplomacy; only the demand of strict compliance. Political fairplay isn't really a possibility if only one side is willing to play fair. The "fair" side is just taken advantage of and people start flying planes into their skyscrapers.

Terrorism Around The World

Excellent discussion so far.

My definition of a terrorist act is any act of military-type violence, primarily aimed at innocent civilians, rather than military targets. That is why I class the acts of guerilla warfare performed by Palestinian Arabs as terrorism. They target primarily women and children, whenever possible. The Israelis, on the other hand, put forth great effort to avoid casualties among women and children, to the point that when they went in to "destroy" Jenin, they went house to house, seeking out specific men, letting others go. A couple of times, those "others" then turned and fired upon the soldier. There were cases where Arab children approached the soldiers, then detonated bombs on themselves.

This is what we saw on 9/11. Terrorists killed 3000 innocent civilians, on purpose. Any innocent civilians killed in Baghdad were "collateral", that is they were unintended. The US forces go to great lengths to avoid any unnecessary killing, up to and including risking their own lives to save women and children in the line of fire.

Are Chechnyans "freedom fighters"? Probably. They become terrorists as soon as their targets change. Then they are no longer patriots, but rather barbarians of the worst sort.

By my definition, both sides of the Northern Ireland conflict participated in terrorism, but the IRA tended to do it much more than the other side.

What is bad now is that almost all the terrorism in the world comes from one source. As moo said, this is Jihad, although I would point out that it is Islamist Jiahad, that seeks to destroy the "infidels" of all Western culture.

Another point to consider. US soldiers wear uniforms, move openly, and seek to establish good relations with the people. Islamist fighters move among the civilian population and hide behind the women, children, and religious buildings in their culture. Islamists, whether Sunni, Shia, or Palestinian, use their children as war supplies.

Terrorism The World

I agree that terrorism needs defining. Unclear terms lead to excesses of government power, either in the duration of the action or the degree of pressure used, both of which have a tendency to diminish liberty.

War of terrorism is like a war on terror, a war on crime, a war on drugs, a war on any abstract. It is neither clear or defined and thus when a people allow their government to enter into these sort of wars they are writing them a blank check on both their liberties and their money.

Terrorism really is not new. It is much the same as what was once called piracy. The Framers of the US Constitution provided a means for overcoming this. Ron Paul explains this in several articles, one of which you can read here.

Dubhdara.

Terrorism The World Politics Business Civil & History

Now, I will agree wholeheartedly with you about the War on Terror being related to the War on Drugs, the War on Crime, etc. By being vague, unjust laws are easily rationalized, and liberty becomes a major victim.

At the same time, the rampant worldwide terrorism must be dealt with. Somehow, it has to be stopped.