One of the Largest Epidemics Terrorist Attacks

Over the years Terrorism has drastically changed and has increased in many countries around the world. There have been countless types of terrorist attacks throughout history. Some of these attacks are leaving individuals living in a world of fear and in search to find ways to prevent such attacks. Terrorism roots from early political movements but in more recent years after attacks such as 9/11, The Boston Marathon, and the most recent Orlando Shooting, terrorism has caught the eyes of many individuals and has become one of the biggest epidemics here in the United States.

Over the years terrorism has left many people motivated to find ways to prevent future attacks from occurring. Terrorists typically have many motives behind why organizations and institutions feel the need to commit such violent acts. Terrorist and criminals have many underlying issues that create motives to influence their decision-making in committing such violent acts. The US State Department defines it thusly: The term terrorism means premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine agencies, usually intended to influence an audience (Edward Marks 2004).

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Terrorist commit different acts of violence in order to gain attention as well as power from different groups of bystanders.

Throughout different periods of time in history terrorist attacks have been different, in more recent years many school shootings have occurred. It is hard to really define the cause of terrorism. An individual who is considered a terrorist by society and law enforcement agencies, may not consider themselves a threat because they have a different meaning of what terrorism really is.

There are many key components that affect an act of terrorism such as, family upbringing, availability of weapons, economic background, and target play a huge role in the cause of terrorism. It’s not possible to go back and change a terrorist or a criminal’s family upbringing. When a criminal or a terrorist commit a crime often times they think it is normal because that is what they are used too. They were raised to be a criminal or a terrorist, they do not know any better. In an article titled “International Security” by Max Abrahms, a doctoral candidate in political science says that individuals that are considered terrorists resort to terrorism when the political cost and the expected cost of the political gains do not outweigh the expected benefits of a different form of protest. These strategies seek to defeat terrorism by reducing as if political utility (Abrahm 2008). Terrorist target people in crowds, busses, trains, tourist attractions, they are driven to kill as many people as possible. Success also plays a big key role while planning a terrorist attack. Power and success keeps terrorist motivated to keep committing violent acts of terror. When a terrorist successfully takes the lives of innocent citizens they gain attention by media and viewers, which motivates them to take more action.

“Most agree that terrorism is a set of methods or strategies of combat rather than an identifiable ideology or movement, and that terrorism involves premeditated use of violence against (at least primarily) noncombatants in order to achieve a psychological affect a fear on others than the immediate targets. However, beyond the core meaning of terrorism, there’s a heated disagreement regarding the delimitation of the phenomenon of terrorism, and particularly when it comes down to which terrorism” (Tore Bjorgo). Terrorist do not only commit violent terrorist attacks but can also be considered a criminal who commits crimes such as drug trafficking, bank robbery, theft, and money laundering. Terrorists commit such crimes to support the motives behind their terrorist attacks. Many steps are taken before the actual attack is committed. Once a terrorist attacks occurs government agencies also take many steps in preventing further attacks. Four key actions typically occur in support of a response:(1) gain and maintain situational awareness; (2) activate and deploy key resources and capabilities; (3) effectively coordinate response actions; then, as the situation permits, (4) demobilize (Graeme R. Newman and Ronald V. Clarke). But unlike terrorist law enforcement agencies are not able to plan because they do not know when these incidents are going to take place.

Terrorist attacks start out with many steps and end with a conclusion. They come with an outlined plan that consists of many steps. Terrorist commit attacks in a way to communicate with our society. “Terrorist violence communicates a political message its ends go beyond an enemies’ material resources. The victims or objects of terrorist attacks have little intrinsic value to the terrorist group but represent a larger human audience whose reaction the terrorists seek” (Crenshaw 1981). Terrorist feed off the attention they receive from the media and society after committing violent terrorist attacks. Terrorists have plans, which their plans tend to become very complex. Planning, commitment, and action also play a key role behind the causes of a terrorist attack.  Motivational causes are the actual hardships that people experience at a more personal level, which is the motivation behind them committing these violent acts. With the help of ideology and rhetoric, determining what things really are and convincing individuals and groups to take action becomes easier. Ideologues and political leaders are sometimes able to translate causes from a structural level up to a motivational level, thereby moving people to act. Motivational causes may also be seen as concrete ‘symptoms’ of more fundamental structural causes (Tore Bjorgo). As a society we make decisions every day from going to work, heading to school, or simply just getting up and active outdoors but like us terrorist make those same decisions. Terrorists make day-to-day decision making such as, where exactly they will target based on how successful they will be overall and what kind of attention they will receive from committing that one premeditated crime.

Crime and terrorist attacks occur each and every day by many different offenders. Each and every offender come from a different background and has different motives on why they commit such violent acts. A specific motive is behind every attack. The type of attack a terrorist chooses depends on the anticipated benefits of the act, as well as on the opportunities for carrying availability of weapons, accessibility of targets, and so forth a terrorist group might find the times detonation of a roadside bomb to be more effective than a suicide detonation inside a restaurant (Graeme R. Newman and Ronald V. Clarke). Most of the time the benefits and outcomes of each attack are very different and complex.  Many arguments have taken place whether or not terrorism is a crime with a political motive behind it. A terrorist and criminal both have to have commitment in order to succeed committing an attack. Many terrorists have the mindset that not only will they be putting many other lives in danger but also aware that their own life is at risk. Each offender is motivated by the overall success of the attack as well as the attention they will receive. Many offenders also commit such attacks to gain power. Terrorism may never go away, and many lives will continue to be taken without the proper steps.