Practitioner Of Radical Terrorist Tactics Like Hamas example essay topic

Q 1 The focus of what we consider "modern terrorism" has changed dynamically in just thirty years. Though exceptions always apply, there has been a general trend from left-wing domestic groups toward right-wing international groups as the prevalent form of terrorism. This transformation is further characterized by a movement from the secular to the radical, the domestic to the international, and from partial sympathy to outright denunciation by Western society. Key moments in history have also shaped these changes, though by no means singularly defined them. The Soviet invasion of Afghanistan sparked a radical change in the Sunni Muslims as a Soviet defeat at the hands of heretofore disorganized groups seemed to prove the supremacy of their faith against an infidel world power. The Islamic revolution in Iran showed the world the greater threat to be encountered from non pan-Arab nations that advocate an anti-Western and pan-Islamic message.

Furthermore, the Soviet Union's disintegration sparked a resurgence of Islam in its former satellite states that soon produced radical offshoots, as the populations had been denied the right to embrace their culture for decades; this disintegration also had the opposite effect on terrorist movements that espoused a type of Maoist / Marxist/Leninist philosophy. And, there has been a confluence of terrorist activity in the Middle East while a calmer period has begun in the Western world. Now we must look at the particulars. By briefly discussing five specific groups we can gain a sense of this evolution. Sender Luminoso (SL) exemplified a left-wing domestic and secular organization that advocated a Maoist / Marxist approach and philosophy as well as a radical indigenismo that defined its purely domestic goals. Furthermore, it was in existence, like many left-wing movements of the time (it began in 1980) in a relatively open and diverse, albeit flawed and inadequate, democratic society.

SL had the support of a poor geographically isolated native peasantry that had long felt disenfranchised, and unable to achieve economic stability, by a racist elite located in the center and which controlled a majority of power and wealth. Emblematic of left wing movements, the leadership was predominately composed of middle class, highly educated intellectuals. With a focus on education as a means of social mobility, SL sought an overthrow of the government and implementation of a peasant based republic forged through revolution. As such, it was a political sectarian movement using political means to achieve political goals, with the resort to force when necessary.

SL promised a world where "truth without deceit is supreme". SL serves as an excellent representation of a terrorist organization that is no longer the pervading threat today as its philosophical goals have lost a degree of legitimacy, especially since the demise of the Soviet Union. The most prevalent form of right-wing terrorism which emerged throughout the 80's and 90's is seen through radical Islamic groups, though right-wing terrorism exists in many other forms as well as outside the Middle East. Hamas, founded in 1987 when the first Intifada began, is a modern domestic entity. Its radicalization was due to the terrible social and economic conditions in Gaza, and a perception that the PLO, which advocates a secular Palestinian state as opposed to the profoundly religious Hamas, was incapable of achieving their goals.

Hamas utilizes radical tactics such as suicide bombers in part due to its belief in the concept of martyrdom. Those who volunteer for such missions are almost exclusively deeply religious, of modest intelligence, and from families with little or no economic means or social status, not an uncommon combination currently. Hizbullah, also born in the 1980's, is an example of the state sponsored radical Islamic variety as it operates predominantly out of Lebanon and receives its greatest support from the fundamentalist Iranian state that emerged after 1979. State sponsorship has given terrorist movements the Entirely Shiite, there existed a spirit of resentment and feelings of discrimination among members. Vehemently and ideologically anti-Western, they turned their attention to Israel when it invaded Lebanon in 1982. "We are not fighting so that the enemy recognizes us and offers us something.

We are fighting to wipe out the enemy". Another practitioner of radical terrorist tactics, like Hamas, Hizbullah is also extremely politically active, operates in a region where little legitimate authority is present, and provides some social services to its followers. It is the perfect example of a modern group that is not willing to seek any compromise or recognize the legitimacy of its enemy in the pursuit of its goals. Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades is a new entity that emerged from Arafat's Fatah movement with the latest Intifada. Unlike Hamas, its emergence from Fatah and its associations with the PLO indicates a non-Islamist philosophy, though it does utilize suicide bombers as one of its tactics. The group appears to be a dichotomy in many ways though.

It displays elements of secularism and official state support (if one could consider the PLO as such), yet concomitantly uses Islam to arouse support for its fight for an independent Palestine. It is a local Palestinian phenomenon, although they do draw ideological inspiration from Hezbollah. The modern and most deadly threat, however, is the revolutionary Al-Qaeda, which comes as the final evolution to date of modern terrorism. Al-Qaeda is the epitome of the global terrorist threat. Categorically fundamentalist, unconditionally anti-Western, positively radicalized, it is a global network that operates out of several countries, has cells throughout innumerable others, and threatens both Western society, and the Middle East, for what it deems the betrayal of traditional Islam. It can exist without state support.

Al-Qaeda has also shown a willingness to place no restrictions on the tactics that it is willing to use and so it constitutes a possibly nuclear, chemical, or biological threat. Religion-inspired terrorism is less intellectually motivated and has displaced much of the politically oriented goals of the past with its resurgence today. This is not to say that radical groups such as Hamas and Al-Qaeda do not have clearly defined political goals, but rather that their inspiration derives more from religious obligation today, and abuse of that religion, than the political aims of the past; a movement from pan-Arabism to radical Islam in the Middle East. This type of terrorism is exemplified by such anomalies as the suicide bomber and the concept of martyrdom. Today's terrorist is predominantly Middle Eastern, reflects the trends in the Muslim and Arab world, often rejects the entire western world as illegitimate, and pursues its irrational goals irrationally.

This systematic march from secularism to radical religious movements often seeks destruction of a society, rather than concessions from it, as their supreme religious duty. Q 2 The nature of the current terrorist threat is the concept of global terrorism in the form of radical Islamic groups. And, Al-Qaeda is the central and most dangerous archetype due to its modern economic, technological and, most especially, its unifying qualities in light of the continuing evolution of Arab resentment toward western society. Unlike previous threats to our country, Al-Qaeda is unique; while more organized it is not at all localized, both in the range of its terrorist attacks as well as the location and nationalities of its members.

As a global network and presently the definitive modern global terrorist organization, it preaches and draws a highly radical, extremely religious following, to which it then further radicalizes. Its ranks include Palestinians, Yemenis, Sudanese, East Asians, Syrians, Saudis, et al. And, Osama Bin Laden has served as a unifying force between groups that traditionally have little in common with each other. Al-Qaeda operates in an incredible number of countries and even cities in the U.S., to say nothing about the number of countries where its members may simply reside as sleeper cells, or countries such as the Phillipines where it has supported indigenous terrorist groups.

The members Al-Qaeda are also world travelers, technically proficient and extremely well funded, as seen by looking at the intricacies of September 11. Furthermore, Al-Qaeda's numbers and training are unlike the state supported groups that have threatened us in the past. Al-Qaeda does not require state support in order to give the organization the necessary training and weapons to be an effective terrorist organization, as is the case with a group such as Hizbullah. While Al-Qaeda did receive support from the Taliban in the form of territory to train its recruits, and a symbiotic relationship did develop, Al-Qaeda was not dependent upon the Taliban, or any other state, for its existence. Rather, due to Bin Laden's origins, the group was founded and embarked on its mission in 1989 with the only financial support it required coming from Bin Laden himself. Bin Laden facilitated the construction and operation of numerous bases that specialized in training recruits in paramilitary tactics.

As such, it became in many ways an amorphous rogue state; members of the group even received salaries They seek weapons of mass destruction. Al-Qaeda's goals are also exceedingly broader in comparison to the terrorist threats the U.S. has faced in the past. Unlike previous terrorist threats, Al-Qaeda looks at the big picture. They see the West, led by America, inexorably seeking the total domination of the Muslim world.

Although extraordinarily political, its drive is an ever growing radicalized Islamic zeal that was not a predominant focus of most terrorist threats of the past. As Netanyahu recognizes, the days of the strictly pan-Arabism movements behind us. When the Marine barracks in Beirut were bombed in 1983, we were witness to an attack motivated by resistance to a very specific U.S. policy in the region. Al-Qaeda's list of grievances Al-Qaeda encompasses a much broader spectrum than previous terrorist threats. As such, Bin Laden does not specifically incite the masses against our pornography, drugs or alcohol. He takes issue with all U.S. intervention in the Middle East, and specifically the presence of our military, support for Israel, campaign against Iraq, and our support for regimes such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which Bin Laden regards as having abandoned true Islam.

(Bergen 227) Simply, this is a political and religious war, justified by his personal understanding of Islam, and directed at the symbols and institutions of American power. He has wholeheartedly embraced the most extreme reading of jihad, not only against the West, but also against every "apostate" regime in the Middle East (Bergen 41) This is not a personal attack on us due to our socioeconomic inequities that exist between us. This can be seen because the attackers are not poor Africans or Afghans, but members of the Egyptian and Saudi middle class (Bergen 227) Bergen thinks its nationalism more than a clash of civilizations that explains the current threat. (229) To support this, he makes note of the greatest catastrophes of recent years that were fought amongst similar ethnic groups of the same civilization (230). Still, bin Laden does support a war with the west (230) He is seen as a hero by a growing number of people who see his as a savior.

Today's terrorist threat in the form of Al-Qaeda is a highly organized entity that has succeeded in inciting the masses. The group draws from throughout the Arab world. It, and especially Osama Bin Laden, are the symbol of resistance to the West (35) It may not be an all out war of civilizations, but it represents the culmination of centuries of Arab resentment. Al-Qaeda is not for any one country and, despite its Afghan Taliban support, was never an Afghan entity. Rather, it inflames resentment that is 100's of years old but, for the first time, coherent and uniform. Is it ironic to think that the unifying ideals finally coming out of the Middle East, a region that saw the height of its civilization a millennia ago, are not those ideals of the enlightened but, rather, what can only be a continuing disintegration into the archaic primeval nightmares of history's injustice, the means of achieving it to be through terrorism?

Radical Islamism propagates because of the failure of the Arab governments to provide the potential for a prosperous future to their people. They are corrupt Kleptocracies with an over reliance on oil revenues. (235) Power is held by a relative few that are part of an inner circle. The result is a downward spiral of failure, fear and hatred. Islamism is attractive as it emerges naturally from the cultural fabric of Muslim countries as a so-called solution to all of societies problems, with more promise than pan-Arabism or socialism which defined previous decades. (235) They want to return Islam to its most traditional form of the 7th century.

Question 2 Use Bergen, the Afterword. Today we see a major resurgence of religious terrorism that is largely identified with trends in the Muslim and Arab world. (Lacqueur 127) were predominantly left wing while today's terrorism is mainly right-wing extremist or religious-nationalist. However, there is a problematic character of the political terms left and right. (Lacqueur 105) Left wing terrorism petered out with the downfall of the Soviet Union. It was more intellectual. U.S. right wing, the Turner Diaries.

The right has more in common with bars and street corners. Lack of progress (islam), combined with the breakdown of secular ideologies such as Marxism and purely secular nationalism, has generated something akin to a What has not changed is Arab resentment of the West. The means of expression, however, have been dynamic. Pan-Arab militant nationalism as a unifying force, especially with the defeat of Iraq in the Persian Gulf War, diminished in the face of militant Islam, which has as its obligation the waging of incessant unrelenting jihad against the West. (Netanyahu 88) The Pan-Arabist regimes of Libya and Iraq had been punished, but the flourishing culture of Islamic terrorism in Iran, Sudan, Lebanon, and Gaza had gone untouched for years. (89) And, these international terrorists have become domestic terrorists in a sense.

This is because the U.S. has served as a safe haven for terrorists due to our liberal immigration and visitation laws (96). And, the terrorists are now American residents and citizens (97). Islamic defiance of the supremacy of our non-Islamic western civilization. Confluence of our dominant western society, which happens to be predominantly Christian, with the beginning of the inevitable and final confluence of western civilization and in many ways an unenlightened culture that has not evolved and fear change. Domestic National-separatist movements of the 70's and 80's were going on throughout Europe. State sponsored terrorism which allows for a proxy war of sorts allows the terrorist to have many of the advantages of a sovereign state, unlike the support given to domestic terrorists.

(Netanyahu 52) Much of the international terrorism from 1970 through the mid 1980's was the product of an ad hoc alliance between the Soviet bloc and the dictatorial Arab regimes. (Netanyahu 53) Militant Islam pursues irrational goals irrationally. (Netanyahu 126) It is therefore willing to put its ideology, unlike the Soviets, above their very existence. Today, there are more varieties than existed thirty years ago, and many are so different from those of the past and from each other that the term terrorism no longer fits some of them (Lacqueur 6) Most of the terrorism of 30 years ago was baguely left wing in inspiration, arguments were even made that terrorism was a response to injustice 3 (Lacqueur 9) The size of terrorist groups has moved from large to small (Lacqueur 4, 5) The type of globalization that took place in the 1990's, especially the advent of the internet and massive telecommunications advances, have changed the world and it has changed the terrorists as well. needed the patronage of states to supply the money and infrastructure that allowed them to do business. (Bergen 40).