Terror

Some famous terrorist organizations of the 20th century include the American Ku Klux Klan (founded in 1865 and revived several times since), the Irish Republican Army (founded 1919),the Pakistani Lashkar E Toiba and Jaish E Mohammed, the pre-state Zionist groups Irgun (founded 1931) and Lehi (founded 1940), the Spanish ETA (founded 1959),the Canadian Front de Libération du Québec (founded 1963), the Palestine Liberation Organization (founded 1964), the German Red Army Faction (also known as the Baader-Meinhof Gang, founded 1967), the Italian Red Brigade (founded 1969), the American Weathermen (founded in 1969), the Peruvian Shining Path (active since the late 1960s), the Palestinian Black September (founded 1970), Puerto Rico's Los Macheteros (founded 1976), the multi-Arab group Hezbollah (founded 1978), the Islamic Jihad (active in Egypt and Palestine since the late 1970s) and internationaly acting al-Qaeda (founded in 1988).

Terrorism is exceedingly difficult for governments to control or prevent, especially when some of its practitioners are willing to risk their lives or (in some cases) even to embrace certain death. A few governments such as Iraq, Pakistan, Libya, the United States, Yemen and the countries that supported the Taliban regime in Afghanistan have been accused of promoting or protecting certain terrorist groups.

Based on their writings, many Greek scholars seem to have believed that monarchs and tyrants in general dealt with their subjects in similar ways in order to maintain their personal power. However, city-states practising oligarchy and democracy were also known for sentencing a number of their citizens to death if they were believed to pose a threat to the stability of the current form of government. In some cases, mere suspicion was enough for capital punishment to be used. In others, a confession by the accused or a testimony against them was needed. However, Thucydides mentions several cases where confessions were forced out of prisoners and testimonies out of slaves by means of torture.

During the French Revolution (1789 - 1799), the most severe period of the rule of the Committee of Public Safety (1793 - 1795) was labelled "The Terror" (1793 - 1794), epitomizing state terror directed primarily at the state's own citizens: the Committee's Jacobin adherents became "Terrorists" (with a capital "T"). The Committee's leader Maximilien Robespierre is particularly noted for his fanaticism in pursuing what he believed were honest goals.

Before the 19th century, some terrorists went out of their way to avoid casualties among innocents not involved in the conflict. For example, Russian radicals intent on the assassination of Alexander II of Russia (reigned March 2, 1855 - March 13, 1881) cancelled several actions out of concern that they might injure women, children, elderly persons, or other innocents. When the assassination was finally performed, only the Tsar, his assassin Ignatei Grinevitski and a few members of the Tsar's escort are known to have been killed or wounded -- no "innocents".

Today, the use of terrorism has grown among the alienated owing to the psychological impact it can have on the public through extensive media coverage, and perhaps owing to weapons technology improvements that have made it possible for a "super-empowered angry man" (in the words of Thomas Friedman) to cause a large amount of destruction by himself or with only a few conspirators. Terrorism is often the last resort of the desperate. It can be, and has been, conducted by small as well as large organizations. Historically, groups may resort to terrorism when they believe all other avenues, including economics, protest, public appeal, and organized warfare, hold no hope of success (also see rioting). This suggests that perhaps one approach to combat terrorism is to ensure that in any case where there is a population feeling oppressed, that at least some avenue of gaining attention to problems is kept open, even if the population in question is in the minority on an opinion. Other rationales for terrorism include attempts to gain or consolidate power either by instilling fear in the population to be controlled, or by stimulating another group into becoming a hardened foe, thereby setting up polarizing us-versus-them dynamics (also see nationalism and fascism). A third common rationale for terrorism is to demoralize and paralyse one's enemy with fear; this sometimes works, but can also stiffen the enemy's resolve. Often, several of these reasons may explain the actions of a particular group. In general, retribution against terrorists can result in escalating tit-for-tat violence; however, it is often felt that if the consequences of engaging in terrorism are not swift and punitive, the deterrent to other terrorist groups is diminished.

The existing order within countries or internationally depends on compromises and agreements between various groups and interests which were made to resolve past conflicts. Over time these arrangements become less relevant to the current situation. Some terrorist acts seem calculated to disrupt the existing order and provoke conflicts in the expectation that it will lead to a new order more favorable to their interests.

The first usage of the word terrorism (terrorisme in French) was in France during The Terror, then first usage of this word was for state terrorism.

According to Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón, "State terrorism is a political system whose rule of recognition permits and/or imposes a clandestine, unpredictable, and diffuse application, even regarding clearly innocent people, of coercive means prohibited by the proclaimed judicial ordinance. State terrorism obstructs or annuls judicial activity and transforms the government into an active agent in the struggle for power."

The US operated the School of the Americas in Panama to train Latin American military personnel, formally in counterinsurgency. The alumni often formed the core of security agencies in Latin America that supported military dictators and made use of torture.

Almost all the countries in Latin America have experienced periods of state terrorism under dictatorial or military governments, pushed by the CIA Condor Plan; it was common that the initial three to five years after the coup d'état were characterized by violence, arbitrary detentions, exile, torture, and "disappearances".

The population of the Soviet Union suffered state terrorism during the Stalin era. Millions were arrested, sometimes arbitrarily, forced to sign ridiculous confessions, and executed or sent off to the Gulag labour camps. Communist regimes in other countries also practised state terrorism to control the population, but to a lesser degree than the Soviet Union.

During World War II (September 1, 1939 - August 15, 1945) both the Axis Powers and the Allies were responsible for the deaths of numerous civilians not directly involved in the fighting.

The Nazis systematized the practice of executing hostages in response to resistance actions (considered as terrorist by them).

World War II was also notable for the strategic bombing of cities. Nazi Germany's bombing of London and other major British cities is known as the Blitz and caused the deaths of an estimated 42,000 civilians. The United Kingdom and the United States used fire-bomb attacks on Dresden between February 13 and February 15, 1945. Dresden was largely destroyed and estimates of the number of civilians killed vary from as few as 35,000 to as many as 135,000. The USA's bombing of Tokyo is estimated to have killed 83,000 civilians. The atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima (August 6, 1945) and Nagasaki (August 9, 1945) are estimated to have killed about 70,000 and 39,000 civilians respectively; these numbers do not include longer-terms deaths from radiation poisoning. It has been argued that these acts qualify as state terrorism as they specifically targeted civilian rather than military targets. Others have argued for military justification of these acts as they did manage to somewhat weaken the enemy state. The later two attacks are believed to have forced Japan into surrendering and so ending the war.

Some claim Israeli actions against the Palestinian population are an example of state terrorism. Others disagree, claiming Israeli actions are not aimed specifically at harming Palestinian civilians, but are rather a part of regular warfare, in which civilians sometimes suffer.

State terrorism is backed by state-funded propaganda, ostensibly for "National Security" reasons; the state may argue that the measures are short-term, that the government is in state of war against guerrilla or terrorist groups (sometimes, groups loyal to a previous, deposed government), and that they are working to restore the "Constitution" and "democracy".

The most pervasive elements of state terrorism are detention without judicial process, extrajudicial or summary executions, and secret trials. A terrorist group that achieves power may institute a dictatorship.

States widely classed as 'terrorist' include:

• Chile under Augusto Pinochet (1973 - 1990).
• Iran as an Islamic Republic since 1979.
• Iraq under Saddam Hussein (1979 - 2003).
• Libya under Colonel Moammar Al Qadhafi (1970 -).
• North Korea.
• Romania under Nicolae Ceaucescu (1965 - 1989).
• Saudi Arabia.
• Sudan.
• Syria.
• Yemen.
• Pakistan.

Nationalist terrorists seek to form a separate state for their own group, and try to draw attention to their fight for "national liberation".

Examples of Nationalist Terrorist Groups:

• Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA)
• Basque Fatherland and Liberty -- Euzkadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA)
• Front de Libération du Quebec -- (FLQ)
• Irish Republican Army
• Kurdistan Workers' Party -- (PKK)
• Palestine Liberation Organization -- (PLO)

Religious Terrorism

Religious terrorists use violence to further what they see as divinely commanded purposes. (See also Religious intolerance).

Examples of Religious Terrorist Groups:

• Abu Sayyaf, Philippines
• al-Qaeda, Worldwide
• Armed Islamic Group (GIA), Algeria
• Aum Shinrikyo, Japan
• Egyptian Islamic Jihad, Egypt
• Great Eastern Islamic Raiders' Front (IBDA-C), Turkey
• Hamas, Palestine
• Hizballah, Lebanon
• Islamic Movement of Central Asia, Central Asia
• Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Uzbekistan
• Jemaah Islamiyah, Indonesia
• Kach, Israel
• Moro Islamic Liberation Front, Philippines
• Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Palestine
• The Order, United States

Left-wing Terrorism

Left-wing terrorists wish to undermine or destroy capitalism and replace it with a communist or socialist government.

Examples of Left-Wing Terrorist Groups:

• Brigade Rosse (Red Brigades).
• Japanese Red Army
• Red Army Faction, also known as Baader-Meinhof-Gang
• Weather Underground

Right-Wing Terrorism

Right-wing, or "neo-Fascist", terrorists seek to abolish liberal democratic governments and create authoritarian regimes in their place. They frequently attack immigrants and are both racist and xenophobic, often specifically anti-semitic.

During the 1980s, right-wing Latin American terrorist groups, known as death squads, often consisted of members of the armed forces who acted in an unofficial capacity to terrorize dissidents, generally with the implicit support or protection of high ranking officials. As private groups with overlapping memberships with the military, they were able to carry out a terror campaign on the government's behalf while giving the government a form of plausible deniability. The most famous victims of this campaign of death-squad terrorism in El Salvador were four American nuns in 1980, and Archbishop Oscar Romero also during that year. In a civil trial ending in July of 2002, a jury in Miami, Florida convicted two former Salvadoran defence officials of the torture of three Salvadoran dissidents, and ordered them to pay $54.6 million to the plaintiffs.

In many other cases, right-wing terrorists are among the least organized; most of them belong to various neo-Nazi groups.

Anarchist terrorism was much more prevalent from the 1870s to the 1920s than it is at present. Several heads of state were assassinated, including King Umberto I of Italy (July 29, 1900) and President of the United States William McKinley (September 14, 1901). The justification of Anarchist terrorism was that such acts would make anarchist ideas famous; however, there were also many terrorists and criminals who called themselves "anarchists" but had little in common with philosophical anarchists and often rejected any association with these individuals. This policy was known as "propaganda by the deed". Modern Anarchist terrorists would include Revolutionary Cells, Germany and Squamish Five, Canada. (Neither actually called themselves Anarchists.) Some Anarchists are found participating with the more violent elements of demonstrations, such as the anti-globalism protests in the 1990s and 2000s. There are significant sections of the Anarchist movement which do not support terrorism or violence, including many organizations and individuals that advocate pacifism.

• Benevolence International Foundation, a charity that U.S. authorities accuse of diverting funds to terrorist activities
• Konsojaya Trading Company

Famous Terrorists and Former Terrorists

The classification of a person or group as "terrorist" is nearly always disputed. Below, we list some of the better-known individuals who are regarded as terrorists (or as having been terrorists in the past) by a significant body of opinion apart from the victims of acts with which they have rightly or wrongly been linked. In many, perhaps most, cases there is also a significant body of contrary opinion. Inclusion of many people in this one list does not indicate any type of equivalence between them. We have not included leaders of governments even when they are widely regarded as guilty of "state terrorism".

• Mohammed Atta and his cronies (deceased)
• Yasir Arafat
• Muhammad Atef (deceased)
• Yihia Ayash (deceased)
• Said Bahaji
• Djamel Beghal
• Ramzi Binalshibh
• Menachem Begin (1913-1992)
• David Copeland aka the "London Nailbomber"
• Byron De La Beckwith (1921-2001)
• Riduan Isamuddin, aka "Hambali"
• Luke Helder aka the "Smiley Face" bomber
• Khadaffy Janjalani
• Theodore Kaczynski aka the "Unabomber"
• Amir Khattab (deceased)
• Osama bin Laden
• Tomioka Makoto (deceased)
• Nelson Mandela
• Timothy McVeigh (deceased)
• Khalid Sheik Mohammed
• Imad Murenya
• Hassan Nasseralla
• Terry Nichols
• Abu Nidal (deceased)
• Abd Al-Aziz Rantisi
• Ilich Ramirez Sanchez aka "Carlos"
• Yitzhak Shamir
• Abraham Stern (deceased)
• D. C. Stephenson (1891-1966)
• Mahmoud Tawallbe
• The Weather Underground
• Sheik Ahmed Yassin
• Tohir Yuldashev
• Ramzi Yousef
• Ayman al-Zawahiri

Related articles

Denial of safe havens involves a fairly large military force; however, as in Afghanistan in 2002, once the major safe haven areas are overrun, the large-scale forces can be withdrawn and special forces, such as U.S. Special Operations Forces or the British Special Air Service (SAS), operate more effectively.

In addition, the U.S. Army is involved in increasingly large civil affairs programs in Afghanistan to provide employment for Afghans and to reduce sympathy in the civilian population for parties the United States has designated as terrorist.

The U.S. strategy faces several obstacles:

• Terrorist groups can continue to operate, albeit at a less-sophisticated scale
• The strengths of American intelligence gathering are signal intelligence and photo intelligence gathering. Organizations that avoid use of cellular phones and radios and rely on couriers have a lower profile. On the other hand, such organizations also have a slower planning and reaction time.
• Political opposition to American policies inside countries in which terrorists operate, as in Pakistan, where Al-Qaida and the Taliban have supporters who share religious or ethnic affiliations.
• Legal opposition to American methods of detaining suspected terrorists.

Interrogation methods

A Washington Post investigation published on December 26, 2002 quotes anonymous CIA and other government officials who claim that US military and CIA personnel employ physical coercion during their interrogation of suspects and that US officials believe these practices are necessary and unavoidable in light of the September 11th terrorist attacks. They state that CIA is using "stress and duress" techniques at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, a base leased from Britain at Diego Garcia Island in the Indian Ocean, and numerous other secret facilities worldwide.

The CIA reportedly transfers suspects, along with a list of questions, to foreign intelligence services of countries routinely criticized by the US Department of State for torturing suspects, where they are alleged to be severely tortured with the assent and encouragement of the United States. These countries include Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Syria. One official stated, "We don't kick the [expletive] out of them. We send them to other countries so they can kick the [expletive] out of them." (See also the article on Maher Arar.

Anonymous sources quoted in the Washington Post article have stated that those held in the CIA detention center "are sometimes kept standing or kneeling for hours, in black hoods or spray-painted goggles," and are duct-taped to stretchers for transport. The Post continues that according to Americans with direct knowledge and others who have witnessed the treatment, that suspects are often beat up and confined in tiny rooms and are also blindfolded and handcuffed following arrest. Later, suspects are sometimes "held in awkward, painful positions and deprived of sleep with a 24-hour bombardment of lights" and loud noises. The Post article goes on to say that national security officials suggested that pain killers, on at least one occasion, were "used selectively" to treat a detainee that was shot in the groin during apprehension.

The first target was Afghanistan and the Al-Qaida terrorist organisation based therein. The US demanded that the Taliban government extradite Saudi exile and Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden with no preconditions. The Taliban responded first by asking to see proof that bin Laden was behind the attacks. When the United States refused and instead threatened the Taliban with military action, the Taliban offered to extradite bin Laden to Pakistan, where he could be tried under Islamic law. This offer too was refused. The United States and other western nations then led an attack along with local Afghan anti-Taliban forces, including several local warlords and the Northern Alliance. Many of the Afghani groups had held power before the Taliban came to power, and ruled with human rights records similar to the Taliban. This effort succeeded in removing the Taliban from power. Most Taliban did not fight; they simply went back to their tribe. The weak government in Kabul, the well armed Warlords and the hidden Taliban did not change the situation, that Afghanistan is a unstable country. To date, Osama bin Laden has not been arrested or killed. His words have reportedly come to light from time to time, often via Arabic media outlets, and usually in support of anti-western atrocities, such as the bombing in Bali and Tunisia.

On March 2, 2003, authorities in Pakistan announced the capture of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the suspected mastermind of the September 11 attacks.

George W. Bush named Iraq, Iran, and North Korea as the "Axis of Evil". In US political rhetoric these are called "rogue states" who do not respect international law and often have programs to develop weapons of mass destruction. The use of the word "axis" was more rhetorical than literal; no assertions have been made that Iran, Iraq, or North Korea are in any way politically allied (The former Ba'athist regime in Iraq and the Shi'ite fundamentalist regime in Iran were enemies). The statement has become a lightning rod for opposition to the War on Terrorism and to George W. Bush in particular. Interestingly, the inclusion of North Korea in the "Axis of Evil" subtly served to politically distance the US from the perception that the "war on terror" was a codephrase for a "war against Islam". (For more on opposition, see below.)

The United States and Iraq have been involved in military and diplomatic disputes since the Gulf War in 1990-91, continuing through the remainder of George H. W. Bush's presidency, Bill Clinton's presidency and the beginning of George W. Bush's presidency. On September 4, 2002, George W. Bush announced the Bush Doctrine that the United States had the right to launch a preemptive military strike at any nation that could put weapons of mass destruction in the hands of terrorists. He sought and obtained congressional approval for a strike against Iraq.

Intensive negotiations began with other members of the United Nations Security Council, especially the three permanent members of the Council with veto power, Russia, China, and France, which are known to have reservations about an invasion of Iraq. On November 8, 2002, the Security Council unanimously passed a new resolution, calling for Iraq to disarm or face tough consequences. On November 18, UN weapons inspectors returned to Iraq for the first time in four years. In early December, 2002, Iraq filed a 12,000-page weapons declaration with the UN. After reviewing the document, the U.S., Britain, France and other countries felt that the declaration failed to account for all of Iraq's chemical and biological agents.

On January 16, 2003 U.N. inspectors discovered 11 empty 122 mm chemical warhead components not previously declared by Iraq. Iraq dismissed the warheads as old weapons that had been packed away and forgotten. After performing tests on the warheads, U.N. inspectors believe that they were new. While the warheads are evidence of an Iraqi weapons program, they may not amount to a "smoking gun", according to U.S. officials, unless some sort of chemical agent is also detected. U.N. inspectors also searched the homes of several Iraqi scientists.

In October 2002 North Korea announced that it was running a nuclear weapon development program, in violation of treaties, and said they would be willing to negotiate a new position with the United States. The response from the United States government has been muted; they have stated that North Korea is not as great a danger as Iraq, and do not seem to be willing to pursue the interventionist policy they are advocating for in Iraq.

On August 6, 2003, North Korea and Iran plan to form an alliance to develop long-range ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads. Under the plan, North Korea will transport missile parts to Iran for assembly at a plant near Tehran, Iran.

In February 2002, the U.S. sent approximately two hundred Special Operations Forces troops to the former Soviet republic of Georgia to train Georgian troops to fight rebels from the breakaway Russian province Chechnya, crossing the border for safe haven in their war with Russia. This move drew protests from many Russians, who believed that Georgia should remain within the Russian sphere of influence, and not the United States'. On March 1, 2002, over domestic outcry, Russian president Vladimir Putin met with Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze in Kazakhstan and pledged his support for the American military initiative.

The Bush Administration approved sending about 100 Special Operations forces to Yemen, a power base for Al-Qaida. The Special Operations forces, along with the CIA, are engaged in targeted attacks on suspected Al-Qaida members, especially in the regions of Yemen bordering Saudi Arabia, which are not well-controlled by the central Yemeni authorities.

In January 2002, a U.S. force approximately 1,000 strong was sent to assist Philippine forces. About 600 troops, including 160 Special Operations forces, remain training forces in the Philippines to combat Abu Sayyaf on Basilan. On October 2, 2002, a bomb in Zamboanga killed a U.S. Army Special Forces master sergeant and two civilians. In October 2002 additional Zamboanga bombings killed six and wounded 200. In February 2003, the U.S. sent approximately 1700 soldiers to the Philippines to engage in active combat against Abu Sayyaf, as opposed to training.

Near the end of 2001, Congress relaxed restrictions put into place in 1999 against the U.S. training of Indonesian forces because of human rights abuses in East Timor. In October 2002 the Bali car bombing killed and wounded hundreds of civilians, the majority of whom were foreign tourists.