Motivations Of Terrorists

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Discussing terrorism and motivations leading to terrorism brings up thoughts of random acts of violence. These acts are mostly considered to be methods of insane men. Most of these modern terrorists follow their own political agenda with each group trying to achieve a particular goal.
There are three types of terrorists in today’s society: the single individual, a certain group, and government funded organization. These terrorists all resemble criminals with one major difference; they are dedicated to a higher cause and are not taking extreme measures for personal gain (Deleon).
An individual terrorist is more likely to be predisposed to acts of violence without any apparent political assignment. An example of an individual terrorist is Lee Harvey Oswald or Timothy McVeigh. These are the people that are only trying to make a statement for their personal higher cause. More often than not, you will find that the terrorist acting alone is a mentally unstable person that is seeking approval for his idea(s).
The next category of terrorist is a group acting together in order to achieve their political or ideological agenda. These groups of people are often found living in oppressed conditions and are seeking extreme measures to bring about change. Such groups have been found in Georgia and Bosnia fighting over ethnic cleansing of a particular area after the Soviet Union disbanded (Wilkinson). Once a group looks at its neighbors and decides to improve its self-defense in order to...

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