terrorism exam 2

State Terrorism

terrorism committed by governments and quasi governmental agencies and personnel against perceived enemies

Sponsors

states or state actors that actively promote terrorism

Enablers

states or state actors that operate and benefit from the environment

Cooperators

those who facilitate counterterrorism efforts

varying degrees of violence from state terrorism

warfare: the conventional military forces of a state are marshalled against the opposition

genocide: wherein the state applies resources toward the elimination of a group

assassinations: the selective application of homocidal state violence, whereby a single person or specified group of people is targeted

torture: used by the state as an instrument of intimidation, interrogatuon, and humiliation

State Patronage

refers to instances where there are direct linkages between a regime and instances of political violence

State Assistance

refers to instances where there are indirect, sometimes covert, likages between a regime and instances of political violence

State support can fall into 4 broad domains

moral support: politically sympathetic sponsorship

technical support: logistically supportive sponsorship

selective participation: espisode-specific sponsorship

active participation: participation in joint operations

types of state domestic authority

1- democracy

2- authoritarianism

3- totalitarianism

4- crazy states

democracy

a system of elected government wherein authority is theoretically delegated from the people to elected leaders

authoritarianism

a system of government in which authority and power emanate from the state and are not delegated from the people

totalitarianism

a system of total government regulation

crazy states

failed states whose behavior is not rational

categories of domestic state terrorism

unofficial repression: vigilante domestic state terrorism

repression as policy: official domestic state terrorism

mass repression: genocidal domestic state terrorism

genocide

act committed with the intent to destroy in whole or in part a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group

Designated state sponsors of terrorism

cuba

North korea

iran

syria

Dissident Terrorism

any form of terrorism committed by nonstate movements and groups against governments, ethnonational groups, religious groups, and other precieved enemies

revolutionary terrorism

the threat or use of political violence effecting revolutionary change

subrevolutionary terrorism

the threat or use of political violence aimed at effecting various changes in a particular political system (but not necessarily aimed at abolishing the system)

establishment terrorism

the threat or use of political violence by an established political system against internal or external opposition

insurgent terrorism

defined as violence directed by private groups against public authorities that aim to bring about radical political change

nihilism

• disdain for the existing social order

• but offer no clear alternative for the aftermath of societal destruction

• goal: to destroy the existing order through armed conflict

  • but they have little forethought to the configuration of a new society

nationalist dissident terrorism

champion national aspirations of groups of people distinguished in some way by their cultural, religious, ethnic, or racial heritage

• end goal is to mobilize that particular group against another group

anti-state dissident terrorism in the united states

In the United States:
 Leftist terrorism predominated in the 1960s and 1970s, at the height of the
Vietnam war
 This changed in the 1980s, when the leftist remnants either gave up or were
arrested
 At that time, right-wing terrorism began to predominate when racial
supremacists, religious extremists, and anti-government members of the Patriot
movement adopted strategies of violence

core/ unifying element of anti-state dissident terrorism

idealized beleif in the ultimate victory of their cause

How are dissident terrorist groups typically organized

small cells

communal terrorism

group-against-group terrorism, wherein subpopulations of society wage violence against each other

sectarian violence

the terrorist cell

Characterized by indistinct command structures and organizational
configurations
• Composed of a hub that may guide the direction of a movement, but
exercises little direct command or control
• Frequent use of the Internet, encrypted communications technologies, and
social networking
 Allows believers to remain linked and to receive guidance and inspiration
• Operational units are typically autonomous or semiautonomous
 Lying dormant for long periods of time
 “Sleepers”
• Primary benefit: Little damage in case of cell elimination

lone wolf model of terrorism

Many incidents of terrorist violence have been committed by individuals or
small groups of extremists who act independently
 Without clearly identifiable associations with terrorist organizations or networks
 Individuals profess an intellectual or ideological identification with extremist causes,
but act on own initiative
 Or may be sent on lone missions by extremist organizations
• Referred to as the lone-wolf model

religious terrorism

a type of political violence motivated by an absolute belief that an otherworldly power has sanctioned and commanded the application of violence

Religion as a primary motivation for terrorism

religion terrorism is often an expression of unquestioned faith in a supernatural purpose

religion as a secondary motivation for terrorism

the primary motivation is often ethninationalist, national independence, or some degree of group autonomy

religious affiliation is an element of national identity, even if the ultimate goal is secular in nature

Christian crusades as they relate to terrorism

during the First Crusade, Western knights captured a
broad swath of land, including Jerusalem and Bethlehem
• Most Muslim and Jewish inhabitants were killed outright
• When Jerusalem was captured in 1099, knights massacred
thousands of Muslim, Jewish, and Orthodox Christian residents
• Characterized by extreme faith in the cause
• Church-sanctioned invasions and atrocities were deemed in
accordance with God’s wishes and therefore acceptable

state sponsored terrorism in Pakistan and india

Hindus and Muslims in Southwest Asia have engaged in intergroup violence
since 1947, when British colonial rule ended
• During and after British withdrawal, communal fighting and terrorism between
Hindus and Muslims led to the partition of British India into:
• Mostly Muslim East/West Pakistan (now Bangladesh)
• Mostly Hindu India
• During the partition, Hindus and Muslims migrated across borders by the
hundreds of thousands

Since independence, conflict has been ongoing
• Including disputed borders, support for religious nationalist terrorist organizations,
development of nuclear arsenals
• Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)
• Pakistan has a long history of supporting insurgent groups fighting against Indian
interests through its intelligence agency, the ISI
• Religious terrorist groups in the Indian state of Punjab and in Jammu and Kashmir
have received Pakistani aid
• High-stakes conflict between two nuclear powers with large conventional armies

typical characteristics of dissident religious terrorism in the modern era

Characterized by personal convictions that they are defending their faith
from attack by nonbelievers
• Or that their faith is an indisputable and universal guiding principle that
must be advanced for the salvation of the faithful

The international mujahideen

The Mujahideen are Islamic fighters who tend to be believers in
fundamentalist interpretations of Islam
• Define their jihad, or personal struggle, to be one of fighting and dying on behalf of
their faith
• Modern mujahideen ideology
• Ideology requires selfless sacrifice in defense of the faith
• Accepting the title means that one must live, fight, and die in accordance with
religious teachings
• Believe in inevitability of victory because war is waged on behalf of the faith
• Trials and ordeals should be endured without complaint because pain suffered in
this world will be rewarded in death

The Al-Qa’ida Network

Seeks to unite Muslims throughout the world in a holy war
• Founded by Saudi national Osama bin Laden
• Features:
• Employs a cell-based movement
• Holds no specific territory
• Does not champion the aspirations of a specific ethnonational group
• No top-down power structure
• Virtually non-existent state sponsorship
• Completely religious in worldview

Religious orientation is a reflection of Osama bin Laden’s sectarian
ideological point of view
• Created by his exposure to Islam-motivated armed resistance
• Inherited between $20-$80 million from his father
• When Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979, bin Laden eventually joined with
thousands of other non-Afghan Muslims to wage jihad
• Bin Laden’s main contribution was to solicit and gather financial contributions
from wealthy Arab sources
• Organized training camps

After the Gulf War, bin Laden and Al-Qa’ida moved to Sudan, where
the network grew into a self-sustaining financial and training base
• Configured with the explicit purpose of: “launching and leading a holy war
against the Western infidels”
• When Al-Qa’ida moved to Afghanistan, it attracted many new recruits
and led to the creation of sleepers in dozens of countries

ISIL/ ISIS

The Rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS)
• In early 2014, a little-known Sunni insurgent movement overran significant
swaths of territory in northern Iraq
• International community was on alert when insurgents began seizing major
population centers in Iraq, including Mosul
• Central tenets
• Refusal to recognize the borders of Syria, Iraq, and other nations
• Waging war to achieve the goal of establishing a new caliphate, or Islamic state
• In June 2014, ISIS leader al-Baghdadi announced the formation of the
Islamic state

The Rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
• ISIS adopted brutal tactics from its inception, especially in the manner it
governed captured territory
• Regularly executed captured soldiers and police officers
• Imprisoned and tortured civilians
• Kidnapped and executed Western civilians
• Engaged in extreme repression and ethnic/religious cleansing of Christians, Shi’a
Muslims, and others
• Formally instituted legalized enslavement of captured women and children, selling
and abusing victims

The Rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
• Successfully inspired thousands of international fighters to join the
movement in Syria and Iraq
• Many were volunteers from North Africa, Chechnya, Europe, Central Asia,
and the US
• Goal of ISIS was to have volunteers return to home countries to wage jihad
• Group also embedded operatives among refugees migrating to Western
countries

Boko Haram

Boko Haram in Nigeria
• Founded in 2002 in northeastern Nigeria
• Have attacked military and police targets, schools, churches, and
other gathering places
• Responsible for thousands of casualties, kidnappings, and population
displacements
• Also attempted to ally itself with other movements, including pledging
allegiance to ISIS

Term Boko Haram loosely translates to “Western Education is
Forbidden”
• A reference to the legacy of British colonial missionary work and the
presence of a significant Christian population in Nigeria
• Numerous attacks against schools and educators have been carried out
• Including the execution of teachers and targeted kidnappings
• Responsible for thousands of deaths and the displacement of tens of
thousands