Terrorism
According to Combs, though the 90's were less violent an era than those in which the world experienced global war, it certainly was a violent decade. A great deal of effort and money are invested into the development and implementation of policies designed to limit and cope with terrorist violence. The reason such an emphasis has been placed on this topic is due to the immense amount of attention that has been attracted. Combs states, "[t]he drama of terrorist-directed events [...] attracts enormous attention in the press and on television worldwide" (7). Terrorism has become a customary method of warfare due to its effectiveness and impact. Many groups have chosen to use terror tactics to advance their political interests, whether liberal or conservative, ideological or nationalist. Terrorist acts have been committed against tyrannical as well as democratic governments and at often times are used as a last resort for revolutionaries whose attempts to alter their system of government have failed or, in some instances, as a deliberate revolutionary tactic before other such methods have been attempted. States have supported terrorism as well. According to combs, "[t]errorism has become, paradoxically, both an instrument
An area of great debate regarding the definition of terrorism is over the misconception that political motives are adequate to establish the political nature of an action. Combs gives two basic criteria for assessing the political value of an action. First, according to combs, "the act at issue must; have occurred during a political revolt or disturbance:" and second, "the act at issue must have been incidental to and have formed part of that same revolution or disturbance" (13). It follows that political motives are necessary but not sufficient to validate an offense as being political in nature. The distinctive feature of terrorism in comparison to political action lies in the illegitimacy of the violence used, in consideration of victims of the offense. Since the September 11th attacks on the world trade centers the United States has been tightening defenses at both the state and federal levels. The newfound power by the government to commence investigations brings the issue of a strengthening centralized government to the forefront of the American political arena. According to Combs, "[n]ations must weigh the cost, in terms of the loss of liberties and freedoms, against the gains in subduing terrorism, recognizing that to sacrifice too many liberties may well be to give terrorists the victory they seek: the destruction of the democratic systems" (286). designed to force radical so
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Approximate Word count = 949
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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