The Truth Behind Terrorism

841 Words2 Pages

When the word “terrorism” is mentioned, one might think about weapons of mass destruction such as bombs and nuclear weapons. But that is not the case presently; terrorism now taken different forms. Terrorism could be observed on a small scale: bullying at school, or on a much larger scale: kidnappings and suicide bombings. Terrorism is defined as “the deliberate use of violence or threat of its use against innocent people with the aim of intimidating them” (Primoratz 129). Terrorism does not bring any positive aspects to society; it kills a person or his/her spirit and also bring great fear and worry to others. For these reasons, terrorism must be stopped before the population of the world declines, people become scared to leave their homes, and countries of the world are not able to make any progress.
According to the National Counterterrorism Center, about 79,466 people were killed as a result of worldwide terrorism. Victims of these terrorist acts are usually unlucky people at the wrong place at the wrong time. The 1998 United States embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya resulted in a lot of deaths to lives of innocent civilians. Most victims, civilians in the area at the time and workers in the embassy had no connection to the government of the United States (Fridell 13). This proves that most people who get killed in terrorist attacks do not deserve their lives cut short as they likely pose no sort of threat to the terrorists. These people are innocent citizens. Osama Bin Laden, former leader of Al Qaeda admitted that terrorists do kill innocent citizens: “We do not have to differentiate between military or civilian. As far as we are concerned, they are all targets” (Fridell 13). This shows that terrorists are just interes...

... middle of paper ...

...ec. 2013.
Fridell, Ron. Terrorism: Political Violence at Home and Abroad. New Jersey :
Enslow Publishers, Incorporated, 2001. 112. Print.
Gabriel, Mark. ISLAM and TERRORISM. Florida: Front Line, 2002. 33-41. Print.
Hartocollis, Anemona. “10 Years and a Diagnosis Later, 9/11 Demons Haunt Thousands.” New
York Times 09 August 2011, n. pag. Web. 8 Jan. 2014.
Jamieson, Alison. Terrorism. New York: Thomson Learning, 1995. Print.
National Counterterrorism Center: Annex of Statistical Information." U.S. Department of
State. U.S. Department of State, 31 July 2012. Web. 06 Jan. 2014.
Primoratz, Igor. “What Is Terrorism?.” Journal of Applied Philosophy 7.2 (1990) : 129–
138. Web Document.
"Post-traumatic Stress Disorder." Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 08 Jan. 2014.
Stewart, Gail B. Understanding Issues: Terrorism. California: KidHaven Press, 2002. Print.

Open Document