Oklahoma City Bombing
On April 19, 1995, Timothy McVeigh detonated a bomb in front of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, committing the single most destructive act of domestic terrorism in United States history (U.S. Department of Justice, 2012). The Oklahoma City bombing, and particularly McVeigh's process of radicalization, is an ideal case study for understanding how the ideology of the militia movement is conducive to domestic terrorism, because although McVeigh and his co-conspirators were not acting in the name of any particular militia group, McVeigh's stated intentions as well as his personal history prior to the bombing indicate an ideological alignment with the militia movement. The case of the Oklahoma City bombing justifies the classification of militias as terrorist or potential terrorist organizations, because it demonstrates how the extremist ideology of the militia movement encourages the radicalization of individuals, even if the larger organizations themselves are…...
mlaReferences
Kraska, P.B. (1998). Apocalypse in oklahoma: Waco and ruby ridge revenged. Justice Quarterly: JQ, 15(3), 577-581.
McBrearty, J. (2008). Patriots, politics, and the oklahoma city bombing. Choice, 45(9), 1626-
U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation. (2011). Domestic terrorism focus on militia extremism. Retrieved from website:
http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/2011/september/militia_092211/
As far as preparedness for the events that happened on April 19, 1995, the federal government could in fact be cited as negligent. However, it was, as epresentative Key points out, not the desire of the government, or even the governor of Oklahoma at the time, to pursue an investigation as to the lack of preparedness for the events that took the lives of 169 people that day.
It leaves unanswered, too, the question of the man referred to as John Doe who was seen with McVeigh that day, and who was described as "Middle Eastern" by witnesses (Allen, 2008). The federal government has said that there was no such man, and that witnesses are confused in their recollections; witnesses adamantly stand by their recollections (Allen, 2008). Why, then, the question arises, would the government take the position that no such man exists? The only answer could be that the government…...
mlaReferences
http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=9008539
Dyer, J. (1998). Harvest of Rage: Why Oklahoma City Is Only the Beginning. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. Retrieved April 4, 2008, from Questia database:
Moreover, the media plays a significant role as well in recognizing terrorism. Due to the media tendencies of quickly abandoning the story once it had lost its drama, issues on terrorism becomes any other news story that could be just thrown away and be forgotten. Thus, it is not surprising then that people fail to appreciate its context, or see it as one part of a long-running historical struggle. (Jackson, 2002).
Aside from these all, there seems to be wrong allocation of resources and focus of the government. Admittedly, one of the hardest parts in combating any terrorist behaviors like bombings and massive killings is that it had become a part of a political issue. It had been become a political issue because politicians begin to make statements about it, and a national political issue when Presidents make statements about it. Only when there were already men who had been direct…...
mlaWorks Cited
Gareau, F. 2004. State Terrorism and the United States: From Counterinsurgency to the War on Terrorism. Clarity Press, Atlanta. Publication.
Hewitt, C. 2002. Understanding Terrorism in America: From the Klan to Al Qaeda. Routledge, New York. p. 1.
Homeland Security Technology." 2006. http://www.issues.org/18.2/bonvillian.html .
Jackson, R. 2002. The Discourses of Terrorism: Myths and Misconceptions Richard Jackson Discusses the Nature of Terror and Questions the Likelihood of Success in the Present
McVeigh's military background had already taught him all that he needed to know about weapons and explosives. He merely needed to obtain the proper materials and build a bomb. Some of the materials were bought and others were stolen. Then it was time to assemble the bomb. As CNN (2004) reports, co-conspirator "Fortier told the court that McVeigh had written to him in the fall of 1994, 'telling me him and Terry had decided to take some type of positive action, and he wanted to know if I wanted to help them.' Prosecutors contend Nichols and McVeigh began buying the fertilizer that was used in the Oklahoma City bomb during that period" (p. 1).
Many people saw McVeigh assembling the bomb at a nearby lake, but no one reported any suspicious activity. As the Homeland Security Newsletter explains, "McVeigh had pulled his yder moving van loaded with 55-gallon drums up…...
mlaReferences
Nichols participated in bomb plans, Fortier says (2004, April 21) CNN online. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/04/20/nichols.trial/index.html
Increased security at public parking garages (2010, May 17). Homeland Security Newswire. Retrieved from http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/increased-security-public-parking-garages
Kenworthy, T. (1997, May 22) Prosecution rests in McVeigh trial. Washington Post, p. A01
feared terrorist acts in the history of United States where Oklahoma City was targeted as the place for criminal act. The intention of this paper is to give a brief overview of the event that took place in 1995 and the conspirators behind this criminal act. Their plot and details of attack have been elaborated in a well form, which discuss every aspect of the activity from plotting of the criminals and the after effects of the horrible incidents upon people who survived.
This horrible event of the history took place on the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Downtown Oklahoma City scheduled for April 19, 1995 and according to the scheduled conspiracy, the criminal act took place right on time claiming hundreds of innocent lives (Giordano, Pg. 5). It is regarded as the most destructive terrorist attacks in the United States after which soon followed the 9/11 attacks on…...
mlaWorks Cited
Giordano, Geraldine. The Oklahoma City Bombing. New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2003.
Hinman, Eve E. And David J. Hammond. Lessons from the Oklahoma City Bombing: Defensive Design Techniques. New York, N.Y.: ASCE Publications, 1997.
Hoffman, David. The Oklahoma City bombing and the politics of terror. Venice, Calif: Feral House, 1998.
Israel, Peter and Stephen Jones. Others Unknown Timothy Mcveigh And The Oklahoma City Bombing Conspiracy. New York: PublicAffairs, 2001.
Terror and Counterterrorism
9/11 is one instance of international terrorism because its planning and preparation transcended the national boundaries of the United States, and thus its perpetrators could have been prosecuted as international terrorists (Definitions of Terrorism in the U.S. Code, 2015). Indeed, the counterterrorism activities before and after 9/11 indicate that there was a substantial and major shift in efforts to better comprehend and fight international terrorism post-9/11. A form of domestic terrorism, on the other hand, would be the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. The methodology involved in this plot was to use homemade items to construct a bomb that would blow up a federal building.
The Oklahoma City bombing occurred in 1995, six years prior to 9/11. Yet counterterrorism had not sufficiently developed in those intervening years to be able to prevent 9/11. Perhaps the reason for…...
mlaReferences
Collins, J. (1997). Oklahoma City: The Weight of Evidence. Time. Retrieved from http://www.webcitation.org/5wow32pJd
Dawson, R. (2013). War by Deception. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK6VLFdWJ4I
Definitions of Terrorism in the U.S. Code. (2015). FBI.gov. Retrieved from https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/investigate/terrorism/terrorism-definition
Gazecki, W. (1997) The Rules of Engagement. Fifth Estate Productions.
There were incidences of the army having supplies but no requests came in for the supplies from FEMA which was supposed to be initiating that.
The lack of the CIA activation also meant there was no unified command on the ground hence the delay of the arrival of the active duty-federal troops in New Orleans. Even though there were in excess of 50,000 troops sent with resources from over 49 states, the operations did not proceed efficiently due to lack of the command from federal Northern Command, which was overseeing the large-scale deployments and operations of the active-duty military (Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, 2006:Pp11).
3. Politics and decision making process
In the event of any disaster, be it natural or an act of terrorism, there is always an attempt to politicize the process of making decisions particularly relating to the search and rescue and general response after the…...
mlaReferences
Department of Homeland Security, (2004). Catastrophic Incidence Annex. National Response
Plan. Pp1. Retrieved October 2, 2012 from http://www.uscg.mil/hq/cg5/cg534/nsarc/Catastrophic_Incident_Annex.pdf
Homeland Security, (2005). Catastrophic Incident Supplement to the National Response
Plan. Retrieved October 2, 2012 from http://publicintelligence.net/catastrophic-incident-supplement-to-the-national-response-plan/
Terrorism
esearch Issues on the Topic of Terrorism
Written into the very word, terrorism is a fascinating social problem worth inquiry. The meaning of terrorism is an act of violence or other that paralyses the individual or society with a feeling of terror. That terror can be a product of the relative infrequency and therefore surprise and seeming senselessness associated with the event, such as in the case of large scale and broad violent acts against larger populations (like 9/11, or the Oklahoma City bombing in the U.S.). The form of terror might also grow out of the expectation of debilitating acts against others as a standard operating procedure during certain circumstances (like the support and at the very least complicity of commanders in times of often ethnic war where women of the "enemy" are frequently and violently raped as an act of aggression and show of power).
Though the impetus and even…...
mlaReferences
Ford, J.D., Adams, M.L., & Dailey, W.F. (2007). Psychological and health problems in a geographically proximate population time-sampled continuously for three months after the September 11th, 2001 terrorist incidents. Anxiety, Stress & Coping: An International Journal, 20(2), 126-146. doi:10.1080/10615800701303215
Rothbart, G.S., Fine, M., & Sudman, S. (1982). On finding and interviewing the needles in the haystack: The use of multiplicity sampling. Public Opinion Quarterly, 46(3), 408-421. doi:10.1086/268737
Question 2
Unfortunately, September 11, 2001 was not the first major terrorist attack that took place on U.S. soil. Prior to 9/11, several other bombings really hit American defenses hard, causing emergency response teams to test their logistics plans like no other way possible. The 1995 bombing damaged 324 buildings, injured 680 people, and killed 168 (Giordano 2002). It was a shocker across the nation, and many emergency response agencies were involved in the aftermath that followed.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency was in charge of the federal relief strategy directly after the bombings took place. FEMA worked with local agencies and law enforcement which were the very first on the scene to deal with the carnage. Efforts of local agencies proved incredibly enduring and efficient, with the bomber Timothy McVeigh being apprehended shortly after the bombing took place. The initial response from local authorities and emergency response teams was stellar, with…...
mlaReferences
City of Hampton. (2012). Emergency operations plan: Abstract. Emergency Management. The City of Hampton Virginia. Web. September 5, 2012 from http://hampton.gov/eoc/iframe.html?linkfrom=main&bc=Emergency%20Operations%20Plan%20%28abstract%29&url=./pdf/eop_abstract_2011.pdf
FEMA. (2011). FEMA Strategic Plan: Fiscal Years 2011-2014. Web. September 2, 2012 from http://www.fema.gov/pdf/about/strategic_plan11.pdf
Giordano, Geraldine. (2002). The Oklahoma City Bombing. Rosen Publication Group.
"
But this seems to be an assumption athe than an established fact. Jugensmeye late points out that Abouhalima denies his involvement in the Wold Tade Cente bombing. If so, how can one know that Abouhalima was "disappointed" to see little damage? One can also see assumptions in the wods Jugensmeye uses. Fo example, Jugensmeye wites that Abouhalima "felt fee to talk about the subject of teoism in geneal and teoist incidents of which he was not accused, including the Oklahoma City fedeal building bombing."
Instead of witing, he "was not involved," Jugensmeye says he "he was not accused," as if Abouhalima could be accused of the Oklahoma City bombing.
Instead of making assumptions about Abouhalima, Jugensmeye could have focused on the contadictions in the actions and views of the Islamist militant and his appaent lack of knowledge in Islamic law. Jugensmeye povides evidence fo that by telling the stoy of Abouhalima's life…...
mlareferences to religious doctrines are almost always abstract and vague. As Jurgensmeyer's discussion of Abouhalima's ideological views demonstrates, Islamists like Abouhalima are not well-versed in Qur'anic studies or other Islamic core texts. It is important to critically examine the views of Abouhalima and other Islamist terrorists and expose their lack of Islamic knowledge and contradictions inherent in their views as this may help in discrediting them in the eyes of most Muslims.
Mark Jurgensmeyer, Terror in the Mind of God: The Global Rise of Religious Violence (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2001), p. 60.
Ibid, p. 61.
Ibid, p. 62.
Ibid, p. 61.
" (Lindsey, 2004, p.1) it is interesting to note that one of the young protestors stated: "[the world leaders] are sitting over there on Sea Island having their little party only talking about how to fix things, but we are over here actually doing something to make things better" -- Laurel Paget-Seekins (Lindsey, 2004, p. 1) the U.S.A. Patriot Act has been touted to do just this - or to make things better in terms of security of American citizens and it is certain that the provisions of this Act have served to increase levels of security for American citizens but this security has come with a cost attached and for some Americans the cost is too high and too intrusive upon their basic civil rights. One such instance of the complexity created within the security paradigm are the no-fly lists that have been implemented in U.S. airports since September…...
mlaBibliography
Bohn, Kevin (2003) Patriot Act Reports Documents Civil Rights Complaints. 31 July 2003. CNN Law Center. Online available at http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/07/21/justice.civil.liberties/index.html
Carafano, James Jay (2007) Securing the Home Front. The Heritage Foundation. 10 July 2007. Online available at http://www.heritage.org/Press/Commentary/ed071107a.cfm
Drew, Kevin (2002) Balancing Life and Liberty: Danger to Civil Liberties when Security is Strengthened - CNN Law Center 10 Sept 2002. Online available at http://archives.cnn.com/2002/LAW/09/05/ar911.civil.liberties/
Houses, spaces raided throughout the Twin Cities (2008) Coldsnap Legal 30 Aug 2008. Online available at http://coldsnaplegal.wordpress.com/2008/08/30/houses-spaces-raided-throughout-the-twin-cities/
September 11th shocked and enraged many people, in the United States and around the world. With that shock came a cry for change, a tightening of the open and free society in which we live. September 11th was an unprecedented occurrence, leaving many people personally affected and still others traumatized by the severity of the events and the seemingly senseless act against civilians. "What happened on September 11 is unparalleled by anything we have ever known. The attacks killed more than 5,000 people, injured tens of thousands more, and caused economic hardship and grief to hundreds of thousands more. From the New York attacks alone, more than 10,000 people lost a parent." (O'Brien, 2001, pg. 425)
This research work will attempt to analyze the real circumstances of change in the border between the U.S. And Canada since September 11th. It will answer several questions associated with the potential or real…...
mlaReferences
Akram, S.M. (2002). The aftermath of September 11, 2001: The targeting of Arabs and Muslims in America. 61-87.
Cornelius, W.A. (2001). Death at the Border: Efficacy and Unintended consequences of U.S. Immigration Control Policy. Population and Development Review, 27(4), 661-680.
Dozier, D. (1998). Employee communications at Kerr-McGee in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing. Public Relations Quarterly, 43(2), 13-17.
Dunn, T.J. (2001). Border militarization via drug and immigration enforcement: Human rights implications. Social Justice, 28(2), 7-18.
3.0 Conclusion
After exploring both sides of the death penalty argument, it's important to remember that neither side supports executions based on racial or financial bias. And, all want to see the defendant having competent defense and receiving the correct verdict. These issues are related to the application of the death penalty rather than the death penalty itself and they can be fixed. The two real differences between those supporting and opposing the death penalty are whether it actually deters crime and whether it is appropriate punishment. There doesn't appear to be a clear answer regarding crime deterrence to put a stake in the ground for one side or the other. The remaining issue, cruel and unusual punishment is entirely subjective based on personal beliefs. Perhaps adequate alternatives to capital punishment such as life without parole would make the abolition of the death penalty more acceptable to some. However, there will…...
mlaBibliography
Carmical, Casey. "The Death Penalty: Morally Defensible?" Available:
http://www.carmical.net/articles/deathpenalty.html
Cases of Innocence 1973 - Present." 8 Oct. 2004. Death Penalty Information Center. Available:
The USA Patriot Act: This was a law that was passed after September 11th. It is giving the police and intelligence officials the power to go after terrorists organizations easier. As it lifted various Constitutional protections when investigating these offenses.
Counter Terrorism: These are the activities that: federal, state and local officials are taking to prevent future terrorist attacks.
Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD): These are weapons designed to inflict large amounts of casualties. These include: chemical, radiological, biological and nuclear.
These different terms are important, because they will help to avoid confusion and will focus the reader on understanding the overall scope of the problem.
Limitations of the Study
The limitations of the study are that the information we are presenting, could be pointing out a number of different problems. Yet, beneath the surface they are failing to identify possible changes that could have already been implemented by federal officials. Meaning, that they may…...
mlaBibliography
39% Say Government. (2011). Rasmussen Reports. Retrieved from: http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/march_2011/39_say_government_not_focusing_enough_on_threat_of_domestic_islamic_terrorism
Al Shabaab American Recruits. (2010). ADL. Retrieved from: http://www.adl.org/main_Terrorism/al_shabaab_american_recruits.htm
Comparative Analysis. (2011). Business Dictionary. Retrieved from: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/comparative-analysis.html
Jose Padilla. (2009). New York Times. Retrieved from: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/p/jose_padilla/index.html
Media on Terrorism
Acts of anti-American terrorism are becoming increasingly common, and more and more are occurring on American soil, according to Columbia political scientist rigitte L. Nacos (Nacos, 1995). According to Nacos, the rise in terrorism is not a matter of flawed national security. It has more to do with the success that terrorists have enjoyed in exploiting the relationships among the media, public opinion and political decision-making (Nacos, 1994).
Nacos believes that the media is "the crucial link in the terrorist's 'calculus of violence,' particularly terrorist spectaculars -- large actions aimed at Americans, like the Iran hostage crisis, the bombing of PanAm Flight 103, and the hanging of hostage Lt. Colonel William Higgins in Lebanon (Nacos, 1994)." In these cases, she says, the terrorists "exploited the free American media. They got an extraordinary amount of attention -- up to two-thirds of the network evening news devoted to the events.…...
mlaBibliography
News Directors on the Defensive in Nashville." (September 16, 1985). Broadcasting, pp. 76-78.
Cohen, N. (1997). Lessons learned from providing disaster counseling after TWA flight 800. Psychiatric Services, 48, 461-462.
Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). (2003). Terrorism and the Media. Retrieved from the Internet at http://www.terrorismanswers.com/terrorism/media.html.
DeFleur, M. & Dennis, E. (2002). Understanding mass communication: A liberal arts perspective (7th ed). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
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