9781422281413

Critical World Issues

Terrorism

Critical World Issues

Abortion Animal Rights The Arms Trade Capital Punishment Consumerism Drugs Equal Opportunities Euthanasia

Food Technology Genetic Engineering Genocide Human Rights

Poverty Racism Refugees Terrorism

Critical World Issues

Terrorism

Glenn Webb

Mason Crest Philadelphia

Mason Crest 450 Parkway Drive, Suite D

Broomall, PA 19008 www.masoncrest.com ©2017 by Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher.

Printed and bound in the United States of America. CPSIA Compliance Information: Batch #CWI2016. For further information, contact Mason Crest at 1-866-MCP-Book. First printing 1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

on file at the Library of Congress ISBN: 978-1-4222-3661-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4222-8141-3 (ebook) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4222-3337-5 (hc) ISBN 978-1-4222-8622-7 (ebook)

1. Southwestern States—Juvenile literature. 2. Arizona—Juvenile literature. 3. California—Juvenile literature. 4. Nevada—Juvenile literature. I. Title. F785.7.L37 2015 979—dc23 2014050200

Critical World Issues series ISBN: 978-1-4222-3645-1

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Table of Contents 1: What Is Terrorism? ............................................7 2: History of Terrorism ........................................17 3: Why Do People Become Terrorists? ................29 4: How Do Terrorists Operate?............................49 5: The Possible Future of Terrorism....................67 6: Can Terrorism Be Stopped?..............................77 Appendix: Foreign Terrorist Organizations ........93 Organizations to Contact ......................................98 Series Glossary....................................................102 Further Reading..................................................104 Internet Resources ..............................................106 Index....................................................................108 Photo Credits/About the Author........................112

KEY ICONS TO LOOK FOR :

Text-dependent questions: These questions send the reader back to the text for more careful attention to the evidence presented there.

Words to understand: ;OLZL ^VYKZ ^P[O [OLPY LHZ` [V \UKLYZ[HUK KLÄUP[PVUZ ^PSS increase the reader's understanding of the text, while building vocabulary skills.

Series glossary of key terms: This back-of-the book glossary contains terminology used throughout this series. Words found here increase the reader's HIPSP[` [V YLHK HUK JVTWYLOLUK OPNOLY SL]LS IVVRZ HUK HY[PJSLZ PU [OPZ ÄLSK Research projects: Readers are pointed toward areas of further inquiry connected to each chapter. Suggestions are provided for projects that encourage deeper research and analysis. Sidebars: This boxed material within the main text allows readers to build knowledge, gain insights, explore possibilities, and broaden their perspectives by weaving together additional information to provide realistic and holistic perspectives.

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1

What Is Terrorism?

F or those who worked in the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, Tuesday, September 11, 2001, began as just another ordinary day. Workers arrived at their offices, made themselves coffee, and opened their mail, unaware that they were about to be caught up in the worst terrorist attack in history. At 8.45 AM a hijacked passen- ger airliner flown by suicidal terrorists was deliberately crashed into the upper stories of the north tower, causing a massive explosion. Eighteen minutes later, another hijacked plane hit the south tower. Soon afterwards both towers col- lapsed, killing nearly 2,800 people. Daria Coard was in the north tower when the plane hit. She and about thirty others were in an elevator heading upwards. It stopped at the eighty-eighth floor. Nine passengers, including

Clouds of smoke billow from the World Trade Center after terrorists crashed hijacked jet airliners into the towers on September 11, 2001. This photo was taken at 9:54 am; five minutes later, the south tower collapsed due to structural damage. The north tower collapsed around 10:28 am. Overall, it is believed that 2,763 peo- ple died inside the towers, making it the deadliest terrorist attack in US history.

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Daria, had just stepped out when they felt a massive jolt. The elevator, with the other passengers still inside, fell back down the shaft. She had no idea how far it fell or what happened to them. Daria and her co-workers began running down the stairs in an effort to get out of the building. They had to step over bod- ies in the stairwell. One injured woman handed Daria her identification, asking Daria to tell her family that she loved them. When they finally reached the ground floor, Daria ran to the entrance. She felt an explosion and was thrown beneath a jeep. Debris was falling all around. She was so scared she did- n’t want to come out from under the jeep. Eventually a stranger persuaded her to come out. What she saw in the moments after that will stay with her for the rest of her life. She saw a shoe under a car. Picking it up she saw it con- tained a leg with nothing attached to it. There was an over- turned stroller containing a crying baby, and a rescue worker with his arm and shoulder missing, screaming and running. Looking up, she saw a number of people jumping or falling out of the building. One couple held each other’s hand as they

hijack— to illegally seize an aircraft, ship, or other vehicle while it is traveling, and force it to go to a different destination or use it for one's own purposes. repressive— exerting strict control over the freedom of others. Words to Understand in This Chapter

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Terrorism

Rescue workers climb across the debris from the collapsed World Trade Center.

jumped. Daria was almost too shocked to move, but she knew she had to save herself for the sake of her children. For weeks after the incident Daria could sleep for only three hours a night. The images of what she had seen that day gave her nightmares. She had to walk with the aid of a cane because of an injury to her knee that occurred during her escape from the building. She and other survivors had lost numerous friends and co-workers. Daria and the other victims of the September 11 attack are among millions of people world- wide whose lives have been affected by terrorism.

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What Is Terrorism?

What is Terrorism? Terrorism is the use of violence against civilians in order to achieve political aims. The three key words in this definition are “violence,” “civilians,” and “political.” Terrorism is always violent, which is what distinguishes terrorist groups from other kinds of organizations, such as political parties. A terror- ist attack, unlike most military operations, deliberately targets civilians. Finally, terrorism is always political. Unlike criminal gangs, whose violence is motivated by greed, terrorists attack in order to achieve some political goal, such as overthrowing a government.

A medical team helps a woman who was injured in the terrorist bombing at the Boston Marathon, April 2013. Two bombs exploded near the finish line, killing three civilians and injuring more than 260 others. Two brothers were responsible for the attack; they were angry at US military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Terrorism

Defining Terrorism

A lthough terrorism is a tactic that has been used for centuries, it is not easy to define. In fact, although the United Nations has been attempting to define the term terrorism since 2005, today there remains no international consensus over the meaning of this term. In recent years, several U.S. government agencies have developed their own specific definitions of terrorism. The U.S. Department of Defense defines terrorism as “the calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear; intended to coerce or to intimidate governments or societies in the pursuit of goals that are generally political, religious, or ideological.” The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines terrorism as “the unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any seg- ment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.” The U.S. Department of State defines terrorism to be “premeditat- ed politically motivated violence perpetrated against non-combatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience.”

While most people who study or write about terrorism agree with the definition above, there is no worldwide agree- ment on exactly what terrorism is. Indeed, many organizations whose activities fit this definition would deny that they were terrorists. This is because the word terrorism is regarded by most people as something bad or negative—terrorists are usu-

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What Is Terrorism?

ally seen as the enemy. Groups that are engaged in violent action to win power in their country are more likely to describe themselves as “freedom fighters” or “revolutionaries.” A former religious leader of the militant organization Hezbollah, which often attacks Israeli towns with rockets and mortars fired from camps across the border in Lebanon, named Sheikh Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah once explained, “We don’t see ourselves as terrorists, because we don’t believe in ter- rorism. We see ourselves as mujahideen who fight a holy war for the people.” Fadlallah argued that Hezbollah attacks on Israeli communities were part of a larger war over disputed territory in Palestine, and noted that civilians are often killed in warfare. Just as violent groups will deny they are terrorists, repres- sive governments often accuse opposition groups of terrorism, even when the rest of the world sees these groups as brave fighters seeking freedom from injustice. Labeling such groups terrorists helps to make any violent action by governments seem more justifiable. Terrorists often accuse the governments they oppose of using terrorism in their attacks on them. However, govern- ments tend to view terrorism as something that only non-gov- ernment groups are capable of. For example, in its definition of terrorism, the U.S. State Department describes those who per- petrate terrorism as “subnational groups or clandestine agents.” It does not include governments within that defini- tion. However, this view of terrorists is relatively recent. Throughout history, there have been many governments that have used terrorism to enforce their authority. This is known as state terrorism.

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Terrorism

Rescue workers standing next to the antenna that was formerly atop the World Trade Center discuss next steps in their rescue efforts, September 2001.

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What Is Terrorism?

This damage to the Pentagon was caused when al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 and crashed it into the building on September 11, 2001. All fifty-nine passengers and crew on the plane were killed, along with the five terrorists. One hundred and twenty-five Americans who were working in the building that morning were also killed.

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Terrorism