Tuesday, March 28, 2006
What is Terrorism?
Since the 911 attack on the WTC, many Americans have worried about terrorism. Many people have used the word very broadly even to describe acts that don’t constitude to terrorism. At this point, we need to determine the accurate definition of terrorism. What is terrorism? In order to definite terrorism, we should set some criteria in our mind such as target, objective, motive and legitimacy.
Target is one of the special criteria to determine whether some attacks constitude to terror or not. Most terrorists target a general populace than a specific individual or group. For example, if the target of attack is military base and facilities, it may not constitude to terrorism. Objective is another. The main objective of terrorism is to provoke fear and insecurity and to cause public shock and outrage. Motive is also an important factor to determine terrorism. Behind of these acts, there are usually some complex political or religious goals. Legitimacy is the last one of them.
Target is one of the special criteria to determine whether some attacks constitude to terror or not. Most terrorists target a general populace than a specific individual or group. For example, if the target of attack is military base and facilities, it may not constitude to terrorism. Objective is another. The main objective of terrorism is to provoke fear and insecurity and to cause public shock and outrage. Motive is also an important factor to determine terrorism. Behind of these acts, there are usually some complex political or religious goals. Legitimacy is the last one of them.
