Terrorism is often associated with car bombs, kidnapping, and hostage situations. But few know the true definition of terrorism, as there really is no official international agreement upon one. Just like in any conflict, there are two or more viewpoints in every act of terrorism and therefore it is difficult for all sides to come to an agreement upon a definition, as each side will have their own subjective and biased opinion on exactly what terrorism is. Once terrorism can be acceptably defined the world will be able to distinguish what groups are actually terrorist organizations. A globally accepted definition is the first step to fighting international terrorism, as it will allow gove

Operative measures are activities, which are aimed at striking terrorists organizations before they have a chance to attack. These include the eradication of known terrorists, the removal of terrorist funding, and the elimination of public support for terrorist organizations. If the government is able to find the whereabouts of a known terrorist it would be beneficial for them to raid their hideout and either kill them or place them under arrest. This would remove a terrorist from society and prevent future attacks by that individual as well as deter others like him from trying anything in that country. The next step is removing funding. If you cut-off terrorist funding they will not have the money to carry out serious attacks and will be very limited in what they are able to accomplish. Along with funding, terrorists rely heavily on the support of the public and if you are able to show the public that the groups they support are actually terrorists not freedom fighters then you eliminate even more of the terrorist support network. Instead of gaining attention and support from the people for their cause, terrorists will be looked upon as merely criminals and will be hated and their message ignored. Operative measures help dismantle the time bomb that terrorism is, before it can go off.

The US's destruction of bin Ladin's training camps and nerve gas factory was an example of counter-terrorism. It eliminated a place for terrorists to train and a potential chemical weapons attack. Counter-terrorism is the governments' attempt to control, prevent, and deal with terrorism. It can be separated into three distinct components: operative measures, defensive operations, and punitive/legal measures. Complete elimination of terrorism is close to impossible but the effective use of all three aspects of counter-terrorism will help to greatly reduce the number of terrorist acts.

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Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)