Transcript Slide 1

TERRORISM
Terrorism has existed for centuries in one form
or another.
The events of Sept. 11/2001 placed terrorism
close to home and made us look at this issue
in a new way.
Terrorism has had many definitions.
“A terrorist’s main goal is to create a state of terror
in the minds of particular persons, or the general
public. Terror is created through murder or
assassinations, kidnappings, bombings and
hijackings. Anything that makes the public feel
unsafe and scared. The public looks to the
government for a solution. Terrorism’s goal is to
make the government in power look inept at
stopping them. The terrorist must strike frequently
and must have the act publicized. Media
recognition is key to a terrorist.
The government in order to counter the terrorist
acts must remove some civil liberties (spot checks,
searches, arrests, curfews etc.) The general
population will become angry and frustrated, not at
the terrorist but at the governments lack of success
at stopping the terrorists. Eventually the terrorist
believes the population will overthrow the
government and place the once terrorists in charge”
The above was the definition that I was given when
I was in school.
An example of this definition was the terrorism
that was affecting Europe and especially Italy in
the late 1970’s. The Terror group known as the
‘Red Brigades’ were terrorizing the population
with shootings and bombings of government
officials. All in the name of communism. This
group went as far as kidnapping and murdering
the Italian Prime Minister Aldo Moro.
The general population was never targeted but
they were extremely scared, frustrated and
anxious. Eventually the population grew tired of
the attacks and directed their anger not at the
government but at the terrorist – they had gone too
far. The police was successful in arresting some
key figures and the movement slowly died out.
Germany, Japan, France had similar problems.
September 11th brought out a new type of
terrorism. Today the U.S. army defines terrorism
as:
“The calculated use of violence or the threat of
violence to attain goals that are political,
religious or ideological through intimidation,
coercion or instilling fear.”
The U.S. army categorizes two types of
terrorism:
Domestic Terrorism: where terrorist activities are
directed at the government without foreign
direction – eg. The Unabomber or Timothy
McVeigh
International Terrorism: When there is a foreign
connection like the 9/11 attacks.
Terrorism has existed throughout history:
• Ancient Greeks used it for psychological warfare
against their enemies.
• Jewish ‘Zealots’ opposing Roman occupation.
• The Spanish Inquisition used terrorism to control
religious heresy.
• The resistance fighters in France and Europe
during the German occupation.
• The American colonies during British
colonialization.
• Anarchist in the late 1900’s in Europe.
Governments have used terrorism to force
obedience from their general population (called
State Terrorism) (Dictatorships – Totalitarian):
• Stalin in Russia
• Hitler in Germany
• Mussolini in Italy
• Sadam Hussein in Iraq
• Pinochet in Chile
The list goes on.
The U.S. has even been accused of helping
(called ‘State sponsored terrorism) some of
these dictators that were sympathetic to U.S.
foreign policy:
• The Shah in Iran
• Battista in Cuba
• even Sadam Hussein in Iraq at one time
Some terrorist groups have fought for freedom or
for sovereignty from a country:
• The FLQ in Quebec
• The Kurds in Turkey and Iraq
• The Tamils in Sri Lanka
• The IRA in Ireland
• The Basques in Spain
Terrorists try to cause widespread fear and
anxiety (psychological). They hope to break
down the normal social order:
• The Aum Shinrikyo group in Tokyo. More about
this group later.
• The Unabomber who was against the spread
of technology
• Tim McViegh who thought the government was
too powerful
Terrorist are hard to catch. They don’t wear
uniforms. They blend in with the population. They
work in a cell structure. They may remain dormant
for years.
The causes of terrorism can also vary:
• They can be geopolitical - over land, boundaries
or freedom
• They can be ideological – communism vs.
capitalism
• They can be religious – Islam, Judaism,
Christianity.
• They can be economical – Rich vs. Poor
• They can be cultural – French vs. English
• They can be in the form of what the CIA calls
‘Blowback’ – an unintended response due to
American foreign policy
“One person’s terrorist is another person’s
freedom fighter”
Nelson Mandela fought against Apartheid in
South Africa. Some saw him as a terrorist, he
was imprisoned. Yet he won the Nobel Peace
Prize.
The tragic events of 9/11 was a terrorist act, but
some would say it was a necessary step to stop
the expansion of the U.S. (especially in the
Muslim world) and the survival of the Islamic
religion.
Even the weapons of terrorist have changed over
the years:
• Torture and Kidnapping
• Knives
• Guns
• Conventional bombs
• Hijackings and skyjackings and using airplanes
as weapons
• The Internet (Cyber-terrorism) – the western
economy depends on electronic communication.
• Chemical weapons
• Biological weapons
• Nuclear weapons
The last three are called ‘Weapons of Mass
Destruction (WMD) due to their killing and
destructive power. Thankfully they have yet to be
used on a large scale.
Key questions for a terrorist to ask before using
a WMD are:
1.Where do I get the necessary materials to
build a weapon of mass destruction?
2.How do I build one?
3.How will I deliver the weapon?
Luckily the answers to these questions are
either too expensive or technologically beyond
the reach of a terrorist.
Let’s look at each individually.
Chemical Weapons:
Chemical agents kill or incapacitate people,
destroy livestock or ravage crops. Chemical
agents are odourless and tasteless and are difficult
to detect. They simply travel with the wind and can
have an immediate affect.
In 1995 an extreme religious group called Aum
Shirikyo (in Tokyo, Japan) released a nerve gas
called Sarin into the Subway system. They simply
held their breath, dropped bags containing sarin
onto the train platform and broke the bags with
umbrella tips and ran.
Twelve died, over 1 000 were injured. If the sarin
was a bit more pure and the dispersal system
more sophisticated, tens of thousands could have
died.
Biological Weapons (Bioterrorism)
Biological agents are infectious microbes or
toxins used to produce illness or death. They can
also be spread by airborne particles and
contaminate water and food. Antidotes are
needed to combat biological weapons.
Weeks after Sept. 11, letters containing Antrax
spores were sent through the mail to media and
government outlets. Several people died. Anthrax
can kill 90% of its victims.
One big concern is the use of the Smallpox virus
as a biological weapon. For centuries smallpox
claimed the lives of millions of people. But through
global cooperation and vaccination the virus was
eliminated. The virus is officially kept in two places
on earth, one in the U.S and one in Russia. Other
countries are believed to have or want to purchase
the virus. Smallpox killed 300 000 000 million
worldwide in the 20th century. Hopefully the virus
will not get into the wrong hands. Smallpox has a
50% mortality rate. Vaccinations were stopped in
the 1970’s. We all saw what SARS did, not only to
the unfortunate people who died but to the entire
economy and health system of Toronto.
Nuclear Weapons
The greatest fear is a terrorist using nuclear
weapons. The effects of a nuclear explosion and the
radiation it releases should be well known.
• A terrorist could buy a nuclear bomb.
• Build a nuclear weapon, but first you need to buy
weapons grade uranium or plutonium, you then need
the money and technology to build it.
• You then need a method of delivering and
detonating the bomb.
A cheap man’s nuclear bomb has been called a
‘Dirty Bomb’.
A dirty bomb consists of conventional explosives
(TNT) to spread radioactive material.
• A terrorist could also try and blow up a nuclear
power plant and release radioactive material that
way.
It is unnerving to write about all the methods a
terrorist could use to hurt people on a large scale.
People must feel safe as they go about their lives,
working, traveling and raising their children.
Containing the threat of terrorism involves the
process of ‘counter-terrorism’ or anti-terrorism’
The government of a country could do the following:
• Spy and interfere with the planning and
organization of terrorist activity. In doing some of
this there would be an invasion of privacy and
certain general and ‘taken-for-granted’ freedoms
might be taken away from the general public. This in
itself is a problem.
• Arrest, interrogate and even torture the suspected
terrorist and get information from them.
• Bring back the death penalty.
• Assassinate them secretly.
• The above three have moral implications.
• Militarily attack countries that harbour, train or
support terrorists. Does a country have the right to
invade another, especially when no formal war has
been declared. You need some kind of proof. We
have seen the problems the U.S. and Great Britain
have had with the invasion of Iraq and the claim
that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. We
also saw how the U.N. did not approve of a war
and tried to find these weapons with inspectors (the
inspectors didn’t find any). The U.S. and British
forces went in anyway.
• Warn the world of a terrorist threat. George Bush
coined the phrase ‘Axis of Evil’ – North Korea, Iran
and Iraq.
• Stop the money flow of the terrorist and monitor
international banking.
• Put up economic sanctions on the country thought
to support terrorists.
• Protect your targets with security, surveillance and
detection systems.
• Implement a warning system:
The U.S. has developed ‘Operation Liberty Shield’.
This system warns the population of the threat of a
terrorist attack. Low = Green, Guarded = Blue,
Elevated = Yellow, High = Orange, Severe = Red.
Canada in November 2001 amended its antiterrorism bill (C-36). This bill included new police
powers of arrest and detention. It also tighten the
definition of the words ‘terrorist act’ to exclude
illegal strikes and native blockades. It also looked
at the right to protest. Another bill (C-42) called the
Public Safety Act, allows the minister of defense to
create military zones if there is a threat to national
security.
The final strategy to remove or stop terrorism is to
me by far the best one. It also happens to be the
most difficult and complicated to implement.
‘Remove the conditions that cause terrorism to
develop in the first place.’ This is called the ‘root
cause’.
Give people a legitimate way to address their
grievances.
Try to solve the economic, social and geopolitical
issues that cause hatred and anger that can lead to
terrorism.
Remove the inequality of wealth. In its purist sense
Globalization promises all this. No more borders,
no more poor, everyone working for the betterment
of each other. Everyone accepts, even tolerates
each others differences.
Imagine!!! (John Lennon)
A major source for this slide show was:
Canada and the World, Backgrounder: Terrorism, January, 2002
The End!