ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE

1. ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE TERRORISM

2. I. WHAT IS TERRORISM?A. There is no single, universally accepted definition of “terrorism,” nor is there ever likely to be.

3. 1.Key aspects of terrorism such aspolitical or ideological motives, violence, targeting noncombatants, the aim of terrorizing, and the goal to modifybehaviorare relatively clear.

4. 2. Formulating them in a clear, compact, definition has proven to be an enormouschallenge. a. The term "terrorism" is bound up in political controversy because it is aconceptwith a verynegativeconnotation.

5. 3. Terrorism implies thekilling and maiming of innocent people and no country wants to be accused of supporting terrorism or harboringterrorist groups.

6. 4. At the same time, no country wants what it considers to be alegitimateuse of force to be considered terrorism. a. An old saying goes, "One person's terrorist is another person's freedom fighter."

7. Terrorism is not a new concept. a. It has been a traditionaltacticof the weak and has been with us almost since the beginning ofrecordedhistory. (1) In 50 B.C. , Julius Caesar advocated the taking ofhostagesto ensure the obedience of the conquered tribes.

8. 6. The word terrorism actually comes from a Latin word meaning "fear." 7. The word terrorism first came into widespread use during theFrenchRevolution. a. During the Reign of Terror in 1793-94, over 300,000 people were arbitrarily arrested and 17,000 wereexecutedwithout trial.

9. b. Originally, the leaders of this systematized attempt to weed out "traitors" among the revolutionary ranks praised terror as the best way to defendliberty. c. As the French Revolution soured, the word soon took on grim echoes of state violence and guillotines.

10. B. Terrorism has been used since the beginning of recorded history and yet it can be relatively hard todefine. 1. Terrorism has been described variously as: a. a tactic and strategy; b. a crime and a holyduty; c. a justified reaction to oppression, and d. an inexcusable outrage.

11. 2. Terrorism has often been an effective tactic for the weaker side in a conflict. 3. Due to thesecretivenature and small size of terrorist organizations, they often offer opponents no clear organization to defend against or todeter.

12. 4. In some cases, terrorism has been a means to carry on a conflict without the adversary realizing the nature of the threat, mistaking terrorism forcriminalactivity. 5. Terrorism has become increasingly common among those pursuingextremegoals throughout the world.

13. C. Today, there is nouniversallyaccepted definition of terrorism. Countries define the term according to their own beliefs and to support their ownnationalinterests.

14. 1. Withinthe United States Government, agencies responsible for differentfunctionsin our current fight against terrorism use different definitions.

15. a. The United States Department of Defense defines terrorism as “the calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or tointimidategovernments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally politicalreligious, or ideological.”

16. b. The FBI uses: "Terrorism is the unlawful use of force and violence against personsorpropertyto intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives."

17. c. The U.S. Department of State defines "terrorism" to be "premeditatedpolitically - motivated violenceperpetrated against non-combatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience.

18. 2. Outside the United States Government, there are greatervariationsin what features of terrorism are emphasized in definitions. a. United Nations: "acts intended to cause death or serious bodily harm tociviliansornon-combatants with the purpose of intimidating a populationorcompelling a governmentoran international organization to doorabstainfrom doing any act."

19. b. Albania: "Terrorism is a scourge that takes innocent lives, threatens values ofhumanity, human rights and freedoms and impedes development and worldprogress. c. Israel: "The indiscriminatemurderof innocent civilians to advance politicalorreligious objectives is terrorism, not matter how its apologists seek tolabelit.

20. D. Terrorism does not attempt tochallengegovernment forces directly, but acts to change perceptions as to the effectivenessorlegitimacyof the government itself. 1. This is done by ensuring the widest possible knowledge of the acts of terroristviolenceamong the target audience.

21. 2. Rarely will terrorists attempt to "control" terrain, as it ties them to identifiable locations and reduces their mobility and security. 3. Terrorists as a rule avoid direct confrontationswith government forces.

22. a. They can and will targetmilitaryorsecurity forces, but that they will not engage in anything resembling a "fairfight", oreven a "fight" at all.

23. 4. Bombings and mortar attacks on civilian targets where militaryorsecurity personnel spend off-dutytime, ambushesof undefended convoys, and assassinations of poorly protected individuals are commontactics.

24. E. Terrorism is a criminal act that influences an audience beyond the immediatevictim. 1. The strategy of terrorists is to commit acts of violence that draws the attention of the local populace, the government, and the world to their cause.

25. 2. The terrorists plan their attack to obtain thegreatestpublicity, choosing targets thatsymbolizewhat they oppose.3. The effectiveness of the terrorist act lies not in the act itself, but in the public’s or government’sreactionto the act.

26. a. In 1972 at the Munich Olympics, theBlackSeptember Organization killed 11 Israelis. (1) The Israelis were the immediatevictims.

27. (2) The truetargetwas the estimated one billion people watching thetelevisedevent.

28. F. There are threeperspectivesof terrorism: the terrorist’s, the victims, and the general publics. 1. The phrase “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter” is a viewterroriststhemselves would accept.

30. a. Terrorists do not see themselves as evil. (1) They believe they are legitimate combatants, fighting for what they believe in, by whatevermeanspossible.

31. 2. A victim of a terrorist act sees the terrororist as a criminal with no regard forhumanlife. 3. The general public’s view is the mostunstable. a. Terrorists take great pains to foster a “Robin Hood” image in hope ofswayingthe general public’s point of view toward their cause.

32. II. TERRORISM IN THE 20TH CENTURY A. The first half of the 20th century saw two events that influenced the nature of conflict to the present day.

33. The effects of two World Wars inflame passions and hopes of nationalists throughout the world, and severely damaged thelegitimacyof theinternational order and governments.

34. 1. Nationalismintensifiedduring the early 20th century throughout the world. a. It became an especially powerful force in the subject peoples of variouscolonialempires.

35. b. Althoughdissent and resistance were common in many colonial possessions, and sometimes resulted in open warfare, nationalist identities became afocalpoint for these actions.

36. 2. Gradually, as nations became closely tied to concepts ofrace and ethnicity, international political developments began to support such concepts. a. Members ofethnicgroups whose states had been absorbed by others or had ceased to exist as separate nations saw opportunities to realize nationalist ambitions.

37. (1) Several of these groups choseterroras a method to conduct their struggle and make their situation known to world powers they hoped would be sympathetic.

38. B. The "totalwar" practices of all combatants of World War II provided further justification for the "everybody does it" view of the use of terror and violations of thelawof war. 1. The desensitization of people and communities toviolencethat started in World War I accelerated during World War II.

39. 2. New weapons and strategies that targeted the enemies' civilian population to destroy theireconomiccapacity for conflict exposed virtuallyevery civilian to the hazards ofcombatants. 3. The major powers' support of and resistance organizations using terrorist tacticspartisanwas viewed as an acceptance of their legitimacy.

40. C. Throughout the Cold War, the Soviet Union provided direct and indirect assistance torevolutionarymovements around the world. 1. Many anti-colonial movements found the revolutionaryextremismof communism attractive. a. Leaders of these "wars of nationalliberation" saw the advantage of free weapons and training.

41. 2. Many of these organizations and individualsutilizedterrorism in support of their political and military objectives. 3. The policy of the Soviet Union was to support revolutionary struggles against democracy everywhere.

42. a. They exported revolution to non-communist countries. b. They providedextremistswillingto employ violence and terror the means to realize their ambitions.

43. D. The age ofmodernterrorism might be said to have begun in 1968 when the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestinehijackedan El Al airliner en route from Tel Aviv to Rome. 1. While hijackings of airliners had occurred before, this was the first time that the nationality of the carrier (Israeli) and its symbolic value was a specific operational aim.

44. a. Also a first was the deliberate use of the passengers ashostagesfor demands made publicly against the Israeli government.

45. b. The combination of these unique events, added to the international scope of the operation, and gained significantmediaattention.

46. 2. Another aspect of this internationalization is the cooperation between extremist organizations in conducting terrorist operations.

47. III. TERRORIST BEHAVIOR A. There is clearly a wide choice of definitions for terrorism, however there are elements in common among the majorityof useful definitions that identify terrorism as:

48. 1. POLITICAL: A terrorist act is a political act or is committed with the intention to cause a political effect. a. "War is a continuation of policy by other means" is a belief supported byterrorists. b. Terrorists merely eliminate the intermediate step of armies and warfare, and apply violence directly to thepoliticalcontest.

49. 2. PSYCHOLOGICAL: The intended results of terrorist acts cause a psychological effect ("terror"). a. Terrorists acts are aimed at a target audience other than the actual victims of the act.

50. b. The intended target audience of the terrorist act may be the population as awhole, some specific portion of a society, or decision-making elites in the society's political, social, or military populace.