Terrorism and Revolution

The difficulty in defining terrorism is a problem of cultural, political and social perception of violence and of the terrorists political goal, emphasized by the emotional meaning of the term. Some governments tend to label as acts of terrorism any violence committed by the members of the opposition, while political sociologists assert the idea that a proper definition cant be given because the elaboration process itself is part of a larger context that questions the political ideologies and objectives. verybody agrees though that there are two general types of terrorism! national terrorism "exerted by specialized agencies# and the political terrorism "practiced by well trained and strongly motivated groups, at an international or intercontinental level#. The definitions maintain the argument that the perspectives change considering the time and place of the attac$. Terrorism has been around for as long as people can remember, but for the past ten years there%s been a dramatic rise in activity. Terrorists use murder, $idnapping, hijac$ing, and bombings to pursue a political agenda. These criminals are not just subject to the &nited States, terrorism happens all over the world, in every way, shape and form. There are many types of terrorism and terrorists with many different purposes. The primary reason for terrorist actions is to force a change in their nation%s political environment. 'f terrorists are not satisfied with there government%s political positions, they may end up ta$ing the matters into there own hands. (nother reason for terrorist acts is because of hate towards a race, nationality, or religion. 'n recent years, terrorism seems to be at a new high and attac$s are more violent than in the past. )any groups operate within a single nation or region. *thers have branches and operations in many countries. +ecause terrorists generally cannot match the strength of conventional military forces, they often rely on guerrilla warfare. ,ew groups are sprouting all over the place and terrorism being so secretive and having no forewarning, governments from all over the world have form alliances to combat terrorism and terror cells in hope of thwarting any further threats. -hile terrorist threats are numerous in today%s world, the methods used by the &nited States to deter those terrorists, help to ensure that, while some terrorism is inevitable. (s a civilized society we cannot resort to terrorism. veryone has a responsibility to ta$e action. The dependability of a government isn%t what it once. .ounter terrorism has become the main concern for nations across the globe. 'n a time where every nation is many ways connected to one another, the need to protect our assets has become that much greater. Today many countries have special units designated to handle terrorist threats. There are various security agencies, and elite tactical units whose role is to directly engage terrorists and prevent terrorist attac$s. Such units perform both in preventive actions, hostage rescue and responding to on/going attac$s. There doesn%t seem to be and end to terrorism. 't can date bac$ to as long as people can remember and the current trend show that terrorism didn%t just happen but that it%s always been around and it always will be around. Terrorist networ$s such as al/0aeda are still active abroad, and 'raq is becoming a new center for terrorism. There have been no major foreign terrorist attac$s in the &nited States since September 11, but (merica is still vulnerable because of its open society, its long borders, and its vast number of unprotected targets. The challenge for governments is to persuade people that the $illing of civilians by terrorists is

absolutely unacceptable whatever the political motive. -inning the hearts and minds of citizens against terrorism so that terrorists can be isolated and exposed is thus a vital part of successful counterterrorism.