Terrorism is one critical area in the world that has caused a lot fear, death and threat to millions around the world. Taliban, Al Qaeda and ETA are some of the major terrorism groups formed in different parts of the world. Al-Qaeda and Taliban are somehow the same. These two terrorist organizations have Islamic roots although they have differences in the doctrines and ideologies. On the other hand, ETA which stands for Basque Fatherland and Liberty is based on the Marxist principles within the Spanish Basque provinces of Alava, Guipuzcoa and Vizcaya. The three are designated as foreign Terrorist Organizations and thus the analysis would look at their similarities, differences in ideologies and activities as well as the main areas of interest.
Al-Qaeda was formed in the late 1980’s by Islamic leaders who were the head. The key player was Osama Bin Laden who played the biggest part through offering the group with funds to carry out their activities. It kicked off as struggle in God’s way (Jihadist) in Afghanistan called Maktab al-Khidmat which later would evolve as global Jihadist movement or organization. By 2008, the largest group had extended to the other countries with fewer members in the Afghanistan.
Taliban on the other hand was founded by Mullah Mohammed Omar. The organization initially comprised of the conservative religious students who believed in Sharia or Islamic law. While Al Qaeda consisted more of the Sunni Muslims, Taliban consisted of individuals with Pashtun identity who took control of Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001. Again the etymology of both name are Arabic where Qaeda means base while Taliban means Student. There are various stories on the coming of the Taliban. One of the stories implies that Mullah Omar together with his students got angry after the rape and murder of some of the boys as well as girls of their family who were on their way to Kandahar. Second story had a version of that a Pakistan based lorry which was shipping mafia had sought the help of Taliban to give then way on the road crossing Afghan to Central Asian Republics of extremists.Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) is a terrorist organization that was founded in 1959 aimed at formation of independent Marxist principle homeland which would encompass Basque Provinces in Spain. The Spanish parliament banned the ETA political wing Batasuna, the political party was charged for supporting the party with funds. This would be followed by another ban of other two political parties in 2008 which were reported to be linked to the Batasuna. A look at the difference in the ideology between the Al Qaeda and Taliban were extremely different. For instance, Al-Qaeda had Sharia law ideology. The writing of Sayyd Qutb influenced qutbism greatly with the senior leaders of the organization. This could be due the fact Islam was way of life according to the Qutbism while the ideology was viewed to be offensive as it armed welfare in Islam advancement. Taliban on the other hand, followed two ideologies, Pashtun and the Sharia law tribal codes thus having some similar concept as those of the Al-Qaeda jihadist. Among these ideologies were forcing the women and men to put on their dress codes, banning of TV as well as videos thus following strict Taliban rules and way of life. Later in life these laws changed and the decisions were made by Mullah Omar alone since he was their leader and their founder.
The operations that have been carried on round the world on terror are majorly on the Al Qaeda and Taliban. For instance six major attacks have been carried out by this group with four of them targeting America. Among these are Yemen attack in 1992, attack on Aden, world trade center in New York attack and the attack in East Africa (Kenya) which led to death of 300 people. The most serious attack carried out by the Al-Qaeda was that on world Trade center in New York which was carried out in 2001, September 11.
Al-Qaeda group are loosely affiliated organization but not cohesive, which include permanent cadre of affiliated terrorists with a structured control and command. This structure organization formation was provided to the United States by associates of Bin Laden in his testimony. This formation structure included management by Osama Bin Laden, with council of advises who included 20-30 members. Again the organization had different committees set up to managing of military operations, Islamic laws, business as well as media.
Taliban on the other hand had its powers in 1994 when Kandahar City was captured together with its surroundings. The operation had the support from the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam in Pakistan. Taliban captured Kabul in 1996 and then they imposed the Sharia law which governed them together with the entire Afghanistan to ban dancing, video films, forced women to wear burgar and follow certain dress code and also forced men to trim their beards. In addition to these laws the law enforces had tough punishment on the law breakers like the thieves and murderers. These were the religious police who had the right to punish such vices. The Taliban’s operations were in Pakistan and Afghanistan with the members who included volunteers from other Islamic countries as well as different Pashtun ethic tribes. They also clashes with other various extremists like Lashkar-e-Islam militants in Khyber region.
Their structures were organized in a way that they were dictators and mysterious people who were classified as alternative government. The organization had neither elections nor political parties. They were headed by Mohammed Omar with his commanders who included the Madrassa teachers or teachers from their educational institution teaching Islam. Commercial and civil cases were handled by the Sharia court as they also collected the taxes. This group had the authority to run most of the crucial impacts of the group including planning and recruiting the attackers.
Finally, ETA was used in conducting assassinations and bombing targeting the Spanish judicial figures, government officials, security and businessmen. Military forces were also targeted by the militia including the tourists as well as journalists. Since it was formed, the group is responsible for 829 deaths all from the Spanish. Some of the major attacks ETA carried out include 2005 car bombing in the midst of Madrid convention center which was targeting the King Juan and Vicente Fox the then president of Mexico who were scheduled to attend the conference. More than 20 people were wounded. Again in 2006b they exploded a garage at Madrid’s Barajas International Airport. In 2009, ETA marked its anniversary with a lot of explosives. These included the attack at the civil guard Barracks that led to injuring of more than 60 people who included children. This was termed as one of the brutal attacks ever carried out by this group.
In 2010, the Spanish judge held ETA guilty of the attacks which 6targeted the assassination of the then Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. This would later lead to arresting of 400 members of this organization between the periods of 2007 to 2010. In 2011 they arrested more people with the help of other international partners and seizing more that 1600 kilograms of bombs and there other members arrested. Currently the organization has lost much of its powers citing the problem as due to arresting of its members and also lack of funds. It could be estimated that members of ETA at loose are less that 100 as man have been arrested and the situation taken into control. There operations are on Basque regions of southwest France and northern Spain. Recently, their base was attacked at Portugal. It can be believed that the group also stays at Venezuela and Cuba.
Again, ETA is having financial short comes as the group announced their publicity in September 2011 as to have stopped collecting taxes (revolutionary taxes) which they used to impose from the Basque business. This tax collection or extortion used to be the major income earner for the organization.
In conclusion, Mullah Mohammed Omar is the leader and the founder of Taliban while the founder and the leader of Al Qaeda used to be Osama bin laden before he got murdered by the forces from United States. The group comprises of the Islamic extremists who are Arabs. It major attacks have been targeting America and its close friends. Some of the major attacks that the group took into action include the attack of the world trade center and the attacks in East Africa in 1998. Their main idea was to get rid of nationalism and socialism as they considered them as non-Muslims concepts. Al Qaeda terrorist organization is usually formed by the Sunni Muslims who utilize Wahabism. Wahabism is considered as the most violent and extreme form of Islam. This could be the reason why they are involved in murders as they encourage their members to shed people’s blood mercilessly. The Taliban on the other had has been dominated by those individuals with Pashtun identity.
Their names are derived from the Arabic meaning. Al Qaeda stands for “the base” and also can refer to “the foundation”. Taliban is derived from the word talib which means “student”. ETA is an acronym which stands for Basque Fatherland and Liberty and it was founded in 1959. Unlike the Al-Qaeda and Taliban, ETA. It targets the Spanish countries. Its doctrines are not as strict as those for Taliban and Al-Qaeda. They seem to be diminishing citing problems with lack of adequate funds. ETA targets Spanish government officials, politicians, military forces, businessmen, journalist and judicial figures. They have committed a lot of attacks in Madrid until the government together with other helpful groups arrested majority of their members. The few left established their bases in Venezuela and Cuba. In 2007 they stopped collection of revolutionary taxes as they used to rely on such funds,. The taxes were being collected from the Basque business. This led to the down fall as they could not afford he funds to carry on with their businesses.
Works Cited
Fergusson, James. Taliban: The Unknown Enemy. Massachusetts: Da Capo Press, 2012. Print.
Law, Randall. Terrorism: A History. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2013. Print.
Riedel, Bruce O. The Search for Al Qaeda: Its Leadership, Ideology, and Future. Massachusetts:
Brookings Institution Press,, 2010. Print.
