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Defining Terrorism: A Difference of Opinion
In order to
successfully combat
terrorism around the world, there must be a
universal method of identifying potential terrorists or terrorist
organizations. In order to accomplish this task, nations must come to an
agreement on an objective definition of the word
terrorism. Unfortunately, many nations around
the world define
terrorism differently. The lack of a common
definition of terrorism may allow one nation to identify an organization as
terrorist group, while another nation identifies the same organization as a
legitimate group. This is often referred to as, "one man's terrorist is another
man's freedom fighter" (Ganor, 2002). A disagreement such as this may cause
friction between the two nations that could escalate the conflict and ultimately
lead to war. A clearly stated, internationally accepted, definition of
terrorists and
terrorism will ultimately result in the
reduction of tensions between nations and prevent international crises (Payne,
2007).
The first
analytical task facing scholars on terrorism is to define the term (Poland,
2005, p. 2). The English word
'terrorism' comes from the regime de la terreur
that prevailed in France from 1793-1794 (Burgess, 2003, p. 2) When the
definition of terrorism is examined, it appears to be straightforward and easy
to understand. According to The American Heritage Dictionary (n.d.),
terrorism is defined as, "The unlawful use or
threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against
people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or
governments, often for ideological or political reasons." Car bombings, suicide
bombings, assassinations, and hostage taking are generally viewed among most
nations as clear
acts of terrorism. However, the debate begins
when terrorist acts are not so obvious. What many definitions of terrorism fail
to recognize, are the acts of revolutionary or guerrilla forces combating an
oppressive government. There is a major difference between revolutionary or
guerilla forces attempting to over throw an oppressive government and terrorists
using acts of violence and intimidation against innocent civilians to achieve
their ideological, social, or religious agendas.
The United
States of America plays a significant role in the
global war on terror. The United States has
defined terrorism under the Federal Criminal Code. Chapter 113B of Part 1 of
Title 18 of the United States Code defines
terrorism and lists the crimes associated with
terrorism. In Section 2331 of Chapter 113B of the United States Code there are
two definitions of terrorism: International terrorism and domestic terrorism.
The definition of international and
domestic terrorism are identical except for the
fact that international terrorism takes place outside the territorial
jurisdiction of the United States while domestic terrorism takes place inside
the territorial jurisdiction of the United States. The United States code
defines terrorism, in essence, as:
-
Violent acts or acts dangerous
to human life that are a violation of
criminal laws of the United States, or of any
State, or that would be a
criminal violation if committed within the
United States;
-
Appear to be intended to
intimidate or coerce a civilian population;
-
Appear to influence the policy
of a government by intimidation of coercion; and,
-
Affect the conduct of a
government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping.
The United
States Government Interagency Domestic
Terrorism Concept of Operations Plan is
designed to provide overall guidance to Federal, State, and local agencies
concerning how the Federal government would respond to a potential or actual
terrorist threat or incident that occurs in the United States. The purpose for
implementing this plan is to promote an effective and timely Federal response in
the event of a terrorist attack within the United States. In the event of an
actual terrorist attack, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is designated
as the Lead Federal Agency (LFA) for crisis management. The FBI plays a
significant role in the
war on terror, especially within the United
States.
The FBI is
guided by the definition of terrorism contained in Title 18 of the US Code,
Section 2331, Chapter 113B; however, the FBI divides terrorist related activity
into two categories: Terrorist incidents and terrorist prevention (Federal
Bureau of Investigation, n.d.). A terrorist incident is a violent act or an act
dangerous to human life, in violation of the
criminal laws of the United States, or of any
state, to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any
segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives. A terrorism
prevention is a documented instance in which a violent act by a known or
suspected terrorist group or individual with the means and a proven propensity
for violence is successfully interdicted through investigative activity (Federal
Bureau of Investigation, n.d.).
The United
States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is guided by the definition of
terrorism contained in Title 22 of the US Code, Section 2656f(d), which defines
the term 'terrorism' as premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated
against noncombatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agents,
usually intended to influence an audience.
The United
Nations (UN) was formed in 1945 to replace the League of Nations, in the hope
that it would intervene in conflicts between nations to avoid war. The UN
currently has approximately 190 member nations throughout the world. Since the
UN was formed, there has yet to be an agreed upon
definition of terrorism. A short legal
definition proposed by A.P. Schmidt to the United Nations Crime Branch in 1992
defines terrorism as: Act of Terrorism = Peacetime Equivalent of War Crime. The
UN derived an academic consensus definition that was not completely agreed
upon. The academic consensus definition defines terrorism as, "an
anxiety-inspiring method of repeated violent action, employed by (semi-)
clandestine individual, group or state actors, for idiosyncratic,
criminal or political reasons, whereby - in
contrast to assassination - the direct targets of violence are not the main
targets. The immediate human victims of violence are generally chosen randomly
(targets of opportunity) or selectively (representative or symbolic targets)
from a target population, and serve as message generators. Threat and
violence-based communication processes between terrorist (organization),
(imperiled) victims, and main targets are used to manipulate the main target (audience(s)),
turning it into a target of terror, a target of demands, or a target of
attention, depending on whether intimidation, coercion, or propaganda is
primarily sought" (United Nations, n.d.).
After closely
examining the various definitions of terrorism, there are clearly some
similarities. The main similarity among each of the definitions is the
involvement of
criminal activity by terrorists against
innocent civilians. This is a key element because terrorists and terrorist
groups are notorious for targeting civilians with the intent to cause mass
violence and widespread fear among the remainder of the population.
Based on my
research, I believe a fair and objective
definition of terrorism is the calculated use
of violence, or threat of violence, against civilians in order to attain goals
that are political, religious, or ideological in nature, through the use of
intimidation, coercion, or fear. This definition provides a starting point to
help differentiate between groups of potential terrorists. If each group is
examined by their motives, tactics, and beliefs, coupled with a universal
definition of terrorism, nations may be able to
agree whether or not the group should be labeled as a terrorist organization.
Terrorism has become a world wide problem.
There are terrorist organizations in virtually every country around the world.
Therefore, terrorism is not only a
military problem, but a federal, state, and
local
law enforcement problem as well. Networking
among the
military, intelligence agencies, and other
law enforcement agencies has greatly improved
since the 9/11 terrorist attack in the United States. Prior to 9/11, many
agencies did not share intelligence information they received from their
respective sources. Presently, many of these federal, state, and local agencies
now work together with a common goal to prevent another terrorist attack in the
United States. The
Anaheim Police Department, for example, has
several
police officers assigned the Orange County
Joint
Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) which is an
intelligence gathering unit that consists of investigators from various Orange
County police agencies as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other
Federal agencies.
Nations around
the world must work together to combat the most rapidly growing problem we face
today, terrorism. In order to reduce terrorist events, we must come to an
agreement on the definition of
terrorism and how to identify potential
terrorist groups. Without a definition of terrorism, it is impossible to
formulate or enforce international agreements against terrorism (Ganor, 2002).
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Chad Meyer has been a sworn
police officer for the past twelve years and is
currently employed by the
Anaheim Police Department. In that time he has
served as a Motorcycle officer, K-9 handler, and Investigator. He is currently
assigned as an Investigator with the Anaheim PD Crime Task Force.
References
The American Heritage Dictionary. (n.d.). Terrorism.
Retrieved November 10, 2007, from http://www.dictionary.reference.com/browse/terrorism
Burgess, M. (2003, July 2). Retrieved November 10, 2007,
from Center for Defense Information Web site: http://www.cdi.org/friendlyversion/printversion.cfm?documentID=1502&from_page=../program/document.cfm
Central Intelligence Agency. (n.d.). Definition of
Terrorism. Retrieved November 10, 2007, from https://www.cia.gov/news-information/cia-the-war-on-terrorism/terrorism-faqs.html
Federal Bureau of Investigation. (n.d.). FBI Policy
Guidelines and Definitions. Retrieved November 10, 2007, from http://www.fbi.gov/publications/terror/terror2000_2001.htm
Find Law. (n.d.). United States Code, Title 18, Section
2331, Chapter 113B, Definition of Terrorism. Retrieved November 10, 2007, from
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/casecode/uscodes/18/parts/i/chapters/113b/sections/section_2331.html
Payne, C. (2007). World Conflict Quarterly. Retrieved
November 10, 2007, from http://www.globalterrorism101.com/UTDefinition.html
Poland, J. M. (2005). Understanding Terrorism Groups,
Strategies, and Responses (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice
Hall.
United Nations. (n.d.). Definition of Terrorism. Retrieved
November 10, 2007, from http://www.unodc.org/unodc/terrorism_definitions.html
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