Terrorism: Its Forms and Effects

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In recent years, terrorism has been on the rise. The most famous attack in recent years was that of the destruction of the twin towers in 2001. It caused a massive public outcry at the atrocity of the actions. What most people don't realize, however is that the people who make these attacks, called terrorists, have a goal in mind. People also don't realize that there are many types of terrorism, and are not just limited to the attacker flying planes into famous buildings. The types of terrorism are quite varied, the reasons for each just as much, and the public reaction is never the same for any of them. Terrorism as it is defined is the use of violent acts in order to intimidate or coerce a population into a particular type of action. This means that terrorists will attempt to cause damage to something or somebody in order to convince the rest of the population to do something. Although the most common type of terrorism today consists of blowing something up to kill as many people as possible. This doesn't quite fall under any topic that shall be discussed in this paper. The five types of terrorism being discussed are: bio-terrorism, cyber-terrorism, eco-terrorism, nuclear terrorism, and narco-terrorism. Bio-terrorism is the use of harmful biological agents against a group of people. This entails the release of viruses, bacteria, and toxins to infect the general population (Zalman, Types of Terrorism). There are three different categories of this particular type of terrorism defined by the first three letters of the alphabet. Category A is the most severe level. It is defined as something that can be easily transmitted from person to person, have a high mortality rate, and easily cause fear among the population (CDC... ... middle of paper ... ... the battle alongside the Mexican government in order to stop this atrocious business. Works Cited Blair, Bruce G. "Nuclear Terrorism." CDI - Center for Defense Information - Security Policy Research Organization. 1 Oct. 2001. Web. 10 Nov. 2011. "CDC | Bioterrorism Agents/Diseases (by Category) | Emergency Preparedness & Response." CDC Emergency Preparedness & Response Site. Web. 10 Nov. 2011. Cyberterrorism Defense Initiative. Web. 10 Nov. 2011. "Ecoterrorism: Extremism in the Animal Rights and Environmentalist Movements." ADL: Fighting Anti-Semitism, Bigotry and Extremism. 2005. Web. 10 Nov. 2011. "NarcoTerror.org." Narcotics, Drug Trafficking, And Terrorism: Narcoterror, a Project of Common Sense for Drug Policy. 2001. Web. 10 Nov. 2011. Zalman, Amy. "Types of Terrorism -- Guide to Different Types of Terrorism." Terrorism. 2011. Web. 09 Nov. 2011.

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