Terrorism Organizations
What is Terrorism?
Legacy in the 21st century
Based Terrorist Organizations
Aryan Nation
Ku Klux Klan
Counterterrorism and Prevention
Definitions and Structures
Homeland Security
Patriot Act
The very nature of terrorism, of course, is to engender fear and panic into the population base. Thus, targets are so numerous that complete protection of all is impossible. Targets could include any of the governmental buildings in Washington, D.C., courthouses or public buildings in major cities, malls, churches, and transportation centers in any town. Unless the materials are manufactured in the United States, though, the most likely targets are those that exist in coastal cities with larger port access (Smith, 2001).
Terrorists tend to target places that are media hyped, affect the lives of citizens, and are usually transportation, entertainment, or financially based in larger urban areas. Indeed, for greater efficacy, targets usually involve places where there are large non-combatant crowds, causing panic and disputing the socio-economic system. Investigating terrorism is even more complicated. It may be national, international or a combination of events, often involving dozens of agencies in dozens of jurisdictions. It may be proactive in that it looks to prevent attacks, or reactive in that it works as law enforcement after a crime scene. Indeed, scholars still disagree on a specific and universal definition of terrorism, since some believe there are key elements to some groups that may have subjective definitions. Terrorism is more than armed war; it is psychological and sociological in nature. For instance, one scholar tries to combine the various definitions of terrorism into a coherent unit by noting that:
Terrorism is defined as political violence in an asymmetrical conflict that is designed to induce terror and psychic fear (sometimes indiscriminate) through the violent victimization and destruction of noncombatant targets (sometimes iconic symbols). Such acts are meant to send a message from an illicit clandestine organization. The purpose of terrorism is to exploit the media in order to achieve maximum attainable publicity as an amplifying force multiplier in order to influence the targeted audience(s) in order to reach short- and midterm political goals and/or desired long-term end states (Bockstette, 2008).
Terrorist Groups
While there are dozens of international terrorist groups that operate globally, domestic terrorist in the United States between 1980 and 2010 focuses on less than 20 active groups. Domestic terrorism in the United States is so defined as not only acts that occurred in the U.S., but also by U.S. citizens. Most of these groups are considered to be militant extremists, such that 2/3 of terrorism in the United States was conducted by non-Islamic American extremists, and increased by 95% between 1980 and 2010 (Masters, 2011).
One of the top terrorist groups in the U.S. is a white supremacist, pseudo-religious organization called the Aryan Nation. This group was founded in the 1970s based on the teachings of Wesley Swift, a figure in the Christian Identity movement. The essence of the group is a combination of extreme anti-Semitism combined with political militancy and the belief that Christian doctrine favors the White race above all others. In fact, the RAND Corporation calls the AN the "first truly nationwide terrorist network" in the United States, even though there is no single doctrine, leader and a number of individual sects and organizations (Rand, 2012).
The AN is really more of an umbrella group for right-wing extremists who believe in White supremacy. The organization advocates their view of Christianity, neo-Nazism, with the goal of a national racist state. Until 2000, the AN was centered in Hayden Lake, Idaho, but lost its property and thus the locus for regular festivals, training in guerilla warfare, and a central local for meetings and organizational activities. Since the mid-1990s, the AN has suffered from internal struggles, law suits, tax and criminal issues, and financial difficulties. Currently, the AN has split into three groups, all still considered terrorists by the FBI and Homeland Security: The Order, The Phineas Priests and the White Patriot Party. Still considered dangerous by law enforcement, for the past several years the AN has not been in the media or as psychological active as before (Steiger, 2006).
Another U.S. based group, also far-right and dedicated to the eradication of all non-White groups in the United States has a lengthy history in American culture. This group, the Ku Klux Klan (or the KKK or the Klan), has changed its tactics and organizational efforts since the Civil War. The second Klan, which flourished during the 1920s and 1930s, introduced cross-burnings and vigilantism in the Deep South. The Third Klan, which emerged after World War II, added anti-communism to its list of nemeses, and is classified as both a domestic terrorist organization and a hate group. The current Klan is estimated to have between 5-10,000 members as of 2012, still largely based in the Southern U.S. (SPLC, 2013).
Terrorism Annotated Bibliography Gardner, K.L. (2007). Fighting terrorism the FATF way. Global Governance: a Review of Multilateralism and International Organizations. (13:3). 325-45. FATF, or Financial Task Force, is considered a successful organization in terms of investigating how global terrorism is funded. Without financial backing, the complexities required that go into terrorism attacks would not be possible. Kathryn Gardner argues that other aspects of investigation into potential terrorist organization could benefit from
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