Terrorism in the Modern World

Terrorism in the Modern World Vocabulary terms

Terrorism • Violence by non-governmental group against civilians to achieve political goals.

Taliban • Fundamental Muslim group, controlled Afghanistan and allowed terrorist networks safe haven

Patriot Act • Series of laws passed after 9/11, giving additional powers to intelligence agencies for the purpose of fighting terrorism

Osama Bin Laden • Native Saudi, who supported terrorism and founded his own terror network

State-Sponsored Terrorism • A nation that aids and supports specific terror organizations

Donald Rumsfeld • Former U.S. Secretary of Defense, developer of “War on Terror” strategies

Al-Qaeda • Terrorist group established by Osama Bin Laden, means the “Base”

Operation Cyclone • U.S. operation to aid and train Muslim fighters against the Soviet Union

Ramzi Yousef • Native Pakistani responsible for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, serving life in U.S. prison

Hamas • A Palestinian militant organization and current government of the Palestinian people

Hezbollah • A shia para-military organization based in Lebanon, controlled in the most part by the Iranian government

Fatwa • An Islamic proclamation

Department of Homeland Security • Government organization responsible for protecting the territory of the U.S., established in 2002 (Michael Chertoff)

Preemptive War • Action taken on a perceived threat to gain strategic advantage

Mujahedeen • Muslim fighters organized in the 1980’s to defeat the Soviet Union invasion of Afghanistan who received aid from the C.I.A.

Insurgency • An armed uprising, or revolt against a political authority, often using guerrilla warfare

Guantanamo Naval Base • U.S. Naval base and site of military prison for alleged military combatants

Ayman al-Zawahiri • Egyptian radical and cofounder of Al Qaeda

Jihad • Muslim term which means to “struggle” (inner spiritual struggle for self-control in order to do good) • Small loosely knit groups have embraced the concept of Jihad as a “holy war against Western influences.” They seek to upset the established order of government and give rise to an Islamic revolution

Operation Enduring Freedom - Afghanistan • October 7, 2001, American and British military forces began an operation responsible for the destruction of terrorist training camps and removal of the Taliban from Afghanistan

Operation Enduring Freedom – Philippines • In January 2002, 1,200 members of United States Special Operations Command, Pacific (SOCPAC) were deployed to the Philippines to assist the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in uprooting the terrorist forces of al-Qaeda, Jemaah Islamiyah and the Abu Sayyaf Group

Operation Enduring Freedom - Horn of Africa • Unlike other operations contained in Operation Enduring Freedom, did not have a specific terrorist organization as a target. Instead it focuses its efforts to disrupt and detect terrorist activities in the region and to work with host nations to deny the reemergence of terrorist cells and activities

Terrorism in the Modern World