[Answer] CRJ748 – Global and Domestic Terrorism Summary and Ideas on combating Hezbollah via an Alternative Narrative

Description

Complete Paper (3,200 words)

Course: Counter Terrorism Policy for Law Enforcement – CRJ 748

1. Introduction

Terrorism and hate groups continue to plague societies around the world. The threat of symbolic violence in the name of a given ideology around the globe is real and frightening. It is important to study and learn what we can from the organizations that participate in terrorism both locally and globally. This paper will provide a general overview on terrorist groups both domestic to the United States and globally.  The paper will then spotlight Hezbollah and discuss the organization and key elements of the group. Further, this paper will propose several ideas on reducing Hezbollah’s influence without a military intervention.

1. Radicalization and Religion Inspired Terrorism

As previously discussed in our class we established that terrorism is the have-nots, those being a very small number of radicalized persons, oppressing the haves, consisting of society at large. The have-nots oppress through their violent, symbolic acts meant to create a sense of fear and terror to the further the ideology they believe in. I like this way of describing terrorism very much because it first establishes that terrorism is not an ideology but rather the act of violence perpetrated on society at large to further a very small radicalized minority’s ideology. This is mirrored in Randall Law’s booked Terrorism: A History (2009) where he describes terrorism as a “tactic, a means to an end.” (Law, 2009) So this makes it clear that terrorism must be the violent act second only after the ideology has been established within the actor.  Another point that I find helpful is how terrorism is defined by law enforcement. I feel this is most important because law enforcement’s attempt to counter terrorism is the spearhead of society’s response to unsanctioned, anti-social violence. Accord to the CIA terrorism is defined as “… premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents.” (cia.gov). Also worth including is the CIA’s definition of a terrorist group as “The term “terrorist group” means any group that practices, or has significant subgroups that practice, international terrorism.” (cia.gov).

International Jihadist Terrorism

Currently, there are 59 groups listed by the State Department as international terrorist groups (state.gov). Of those groups 36 are active in the Middle East including the Palestine Liberation Front, Hezbollah, ISIS and Al-Qaeda. According to PBS, modern Middle Eastern terrorism arouse following the military victory by Israel in the Six Day War (pbs.org). Palestinian leaders who were, at the time engaging in guerilla warfare with Israel realized that they cannot fight Israeli forces militarily. The Palestinians then began to engage in terrorist activities (pbs.org). This falls in line with the terrorism that fell upon the 1972 Munich Olympic Games where 11 Israeli Athletes competing in the games were kidnapped and ultimately murdered by Palestinian Terrorists.

Since that time, Middle Eastern Terrorism has become a somewhat regular occurrence, both locally in Middle Eastern Countries and throughout the Western World as these and other jihadist terror groups have broadened their aim from Israeli targets to targets throughout the western world. Some examples of terrorism on the western world is the 9/11 attacks in New York by members of Al-Qaeda where nearly 3,000 civilians and first responders were killed, including 343 firefighters. The 2000 attack on the USS Cole where 17 U.S. servicemen were killed by Al-Qaeda…………(Get the full paper for FREE! to view more of the essay).