Introduction
This report scrutinizes international terrorist threats, events, responses and policies, as well as analyzing the worldwide use of apparatus available to fight terrorism, from international cooperation, international relations, covert action, constructive dedication, economic sanctions, military force, to objective security improvement. A contemporary style in terrorism emerges to be toward self- financed insecurely organized, international association of terrorists. Ever more, fundamental Islamist groups who use religion, or as a excuse, pose a grave threat to United States of America interests and to its friendly establishments. But of great unease as well is the growing political involvement of extremist Islamist gathering in foreign countries. Also worth mentioning is the obvious increase of cross-national links amongst different terrorist parties, which might engage amalgamations of military schooling, technology transfer, or political advice or funding. Frightening over the whole subject of international terrorism is the apparition of large numbers of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Iran, which is perceived as the most dynamic state sponsor of terror campaign, has been clandestinely carrying out and now openly requests for uranium enrichment while North Korea has confessed to having a secret agenda for uranium enrichment and has recently asserted to have nuclear weapons.
Signals have also indicated that Al Qaeda has endeavored to obtain radiological chemical, biological as well as nuclear weapons. The U.S. strategy concerning international terrorism includes a considerable military module, reflected in its maneuvers in Afghanistan and Iraq, the deployment of the military armed forces in other places for definite missions, and, its cohorts. Progressively more, a wide range of well-funded publicity and charitable activities of radical Islamist groups has led to extended recognition of extremist views in objective populations. To the extent that countries fail to efficiently tackle this cold war of ideology, a growing percentage of the world’s Moslem youth might grow up accepting extremist views that could in due course lead to amplified terrorism.Since terrorism is an international trend, a chief confront facing policymakers is how to make best use of intercontinental assistance and support without unjustifiably compromising significant U.S. national security options and interests. Other noteworthy course of action challenges consist of:
How to reduce the economic and universal liberties as well as the costs of a tightened security and enhanced environment, and
How to fight provocation to terrorism, particularly in occasions where such activity is state countenanced or sponsored.
Terrorists have been capable to grow their own foundations of financing, which range from charities illegal enterprises such as narcotics, NGOs and kidnapping and extortion. Colombia’s FARC is believed to gain hundreds of millions of dollars yearly from criminal actions, more often than not from taxing of, or involvement in, the profitable narcotics trade as well as money laundering. The late Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda rely on a alarming assortment of fundraising procedures comprising legitimate-seeming businesses, Moslem charities and banking associations in the Persian Gulf, as well as a variety of fraud and smuggling activities, and prosperous well-wishers. In addition, intelligence reports are continuing of cross-national associations amongst various terrorist organizations. Of paramount concern to policymakers is the existence of large number of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) or the ways to craft them. All of the five authoritatively chosen state sponsors of terrorism, Sudan, Cuba, North Korea, Syria and Iran, are acknowledged or alleged to have had more or one WMD-related agenda. Two of the countries namely North Korea and Iran have had, or have nuclear weapons-oriented agenda in varying phases of advancement. Terrorists have tried to obtain WMD technology through their own connections and resources. For example, the Aum Shinrikyo cult in Japan was capable of obtaining instructions and technology for manufacturing Sarin, a lethal nerve gas, through acquaintances in Russia early on in the 1990s. The gas was afterward used in an assault on the Tokyo subway in March 1995 that incidentally killed 12 people and injured over 0ne thousand people.
The War on Terrorism
The U.S. reaction to the September 11, 2001 attack on the Twin Tower buildings by airplanes was quick, decisive and wide-ranging. Consequent to THE U.S. bureaucrats putting the responsibility for the attack to the late Osama bin Laden and the Al Qaeda group, there was an proclaimed policy swing from prevention to preemption, commonly termed to as the Bush Doctrine. Given the significantly calamitous results of terrorist assaults by using weapons of mass destruction (WMD), government decision makers considered that the United States may perhaps not afford to sit back, wait for assaults to happen, and then act in response. The country’s military was assembled; and discussions were done on the need to battling terrorism and thus ensuing that Al Qaeda was crippled and this became the top national main concern. Preventative use of military force against foreign terrorist organizations and infrastructure became increasing acknowledged in government policy spheres. A full-scale operation was initiated, using all fundamentals of international and national power, to go after the Al Qaeda and its support and associates and organizations. The operation required gathering the global community, in particular intelligence and law enforcement apparatus, to close up Al Qaeda financial networks and cells. A U.S. military maneuver was started in early October, 2001 against the Taliban establishment which had been friendly to Al Qaeda since 1996 and against Al Qaeda stranglehold in Afghanistan. 136 countries volunteered a variety of military support to the United States, as well as accommodations landing over-flight and rights and for the U.S. military. As a consequence, the Taliban was detached from power and all identified Al Qaeda training locations were destroyed, and a number of Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders were detained or killed. Despite, the killing of the Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden the other top leader Ayman al Zawahiri, and the Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, in fact remain at large, and a reappearance of Taliban militia and warlords is allegedly happening in Northern Afghanistan and Southern Afghanistan. But in March 19, 2003, after an concentrated military upsurge in the Persian Gulf, the U.S. initiated the war against Iraq. While some countries, including Britain acknowledged with categorization of military maneuvers in Iraq as part of the war against terror, others saw it as an needless distraction. The stratagem was modified in September 2006 to comprise, amongst other issues, more prominence on combating ideological assistance for terrorism, or what is now termed as the war of ideas. Consequent to a swift military operation, President Bush relayed on April 15, 2003 that Iraq president was put under arrest by U.S. staff on December 13, 2003, near his place of birth of Tikrit. And in April 2011, President Barrack Obama announced that Osama bin Laden had been killed by the U.S SEALS and later buried at sea to prevent his followers from making his gravel and a place of worship. While the were U.S. troops were still in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Bush government sent out troops to the ex- Soviet Republic of Georgia, Yemen and Philippines, to coach their militaries the methods to fight terrorists. A 2003 National Strategy for Combating Terrorism gave additional prominence to the responsibility of international collaboration, economic development and law enforcement in fighting terrorism. In the perspective of this crusade, the U.S. has put up law enforcement intelligence-sharing and cooperation with other regimes to eradicate the terrorist cells. Specialist accept as true that terrorist cells are in commission not just in sites where they are tolerated or welcomed, but in many other places, as well as U.S. and Western Europe. By 2003, an forceful global law implementation effort had succeeded in putting into detention of roughly 3,000 terrorists and their followers in more than 100 states as well as the freezing of $124 million in material goods in over 600 bank financial records worldwide, as well as $36 million in the U.S. alone. At the G-8 leaders revealed plans, consequently put into operation, to craft a Counter-Terrorism Action Group to support countries in improving their anti-terrorism competence through enterprises such as outreach to nations in the area of counter-terrorism collaboration, and giving facility building support to states with inadequate capability to fight terrorism. A hopeful sign in the anti-terrorism fight has been the obvious eagerness of certain formerly wayward nations to distance themselves from global terrorism and/or advancement of weapons of mass destruction. The now embattled Libya relinquished its WMD agenda on December, 2003, and has collaborated comprehensively with the U.S. and the global population in finishing those plans while Sudan, in collaboration with United States. Intelligence agencies and law enforcement has arrested Al Qaeda associates and so far managed to close Al Qaeda training sites on its areas.
The Threat of Terrorism
Progressively more, worldwide terrorism is acknowledged as a threat to U.S. security, both domestic as well as foreign. Both target and timing choice by terrorists can have an effect on U.S. interests in areas varying from protection of trade to nuclear non- advancement to the Middle East peace progression. There are currently demonstrations in Yemen, Syria, and tensions in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Jordan Syria, and Indonesia some parts of Russia and other Moslem countries. For the reason that of their avowed objective of ousting Western secular allied countries in certain countries with big Moslem populations, such groupings are seen as a fastidious threat to U.S. foreign policy aims. Facing the likelihood that a number of nations may withdraw or reduce their funding of terrorist associations, such groups emerge to be establishing and seeking operating foundations in nations that lack running central administrations or that do not exercise efficient control over their nationwide regions.
For instance, on November, 2003, the Al Qaeda associates were training Indonesian members in the southern Philippines. The dreary region of terrorist activity not functionally associated to any sponsoring or supporting or countries characterizes more and more complex confront for United States policymakers. Contemporary descriptions of terrorism more often than not share one general component. That of politically motivated conducts, even though religious enthusiasm is ever more being acknowledged as an imperative motivating issue, as high-profile actions of such assemblage as Al Qaeda give emphasis to the importance of fundamental religious beliefs in driving terrorist violence, or at least providing an excuse. To demonstrate this, the late Osama bin Laden ordered a fatwah (edict) in 1998 announcing in effect that all those who profess to believe in Allah and his prophet Muhammad should kill Americans everywhere they find them. Furthermore, the development of global and intercontinental criminal associations, as well as the increasing scale and range of such procedures, have resulted in a prospective for prevalent criminal violence with monetary income as the driving incentive.
Conclusion
In spite of all arguments, the existing meanings of terrorism do not consist of the use of violence for monetary income, even in cases where accumulated casualties may result with whole populations getting terrorized. The complicated issue is that internationally, countries and associations historically have been not capable to have the same opinion on a term of terrorism; given that one person’s terrorist is frequently another person’s freedom fighter. To avoid this political limitation, nations have taken the approach of endorsing laws or negotiating gathering which criminalize definite acts such as hijacking airplanes, detonating bombs and kidnapping. Funding of terrorism comes close to a compromise description, by making it a crime to amass or offer resources with the intention of injuring or killing civilians where the idea is to frighten a population or coerce a government. But with the death of Osama bin Laden, it is apparent that terrorism acts might become more prevalent as his followers might want to revenge his death.
Reference
Jeffrey, K. (2001).Osama’s Nuclear Quest: How Long Will It Take Before al-Qaeda Gets Hold of the Most Dangerous of Weapons. NY, OUP.
