Counterterrorism in the Contemporary World, Terrorists Are Thesis

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Counterterrorism

In the contemporary world, terrorists are groups or individuals who use covert warfare to press for political, social, or cultural reform. Rather than using the political process though, they believe that violence is the only way they can prove to the world that their cause is just -- and the psychological terror engendered will engage the world, if not in sympathy, then at least in acknowledgement and fear that their cause is just. For example, in the modern state of Israel, there is some type of incident almost every week. Palestinian terrorists often send suicide bombers into mass transit, restaurants, and schools; all in the name of making the game so violent that Israel will back down simply to stop the terror. This idea that violence will change political and social events often stems from a particular reading of Karl Marx -- in that terror will create and prolong a revolution, which will spring from violence, and like a set of dominoes, eventually take form for drastic social and political change. Thus, for terrorists, the utilitarian approach (the ends or the results justify the means) requires that some will die so that society, in the long-term, changes for the better (Booth, 2002; Kegley, 2002). The history of the millennium has been, quite frankly, a failure in terms of counterterrorism: the large States set up colonies, then dictatorial client states, then forced democracies -- all to no avail. As pessimistic as it sounds, "there is no national authority that can be effective against terrorism" (Lemann, 2010). Accounting for and understanding the impact of these restraints and disincentives to terrorist use of WMD will likely serve as a tool in any counterterrorism campaigns (Parachini, 2003).

Briefly, counterterrorism is the tactic, practice, techniques, and strategies that are used to mitigate terrorist incursions.

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Terrorism may be part of a broad based insurgency; therefore counterterrorism is also part of the political, economic, and foreign policy measures that focus on the reduction of any condition that might engender terrorism itself. One seminal fact that we have learned from 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, to name but two, is the need to harness technology to link multiple agencies to information in both strategic and tactical ways that will help ensure a better, more robust and positive response to any terrorist activity. In addition, linking this data to the operations and management sides allows for a greater integration of both strategic and tactical planning; saving money and providing greater control and ultimately positive outcomes. The solution, of course, is harnessing the power of the Internet and electronic communication to make the process of interagency communication seamless. There are numerous formats for this, but the key element is the structure and nature of using the communication system to provide the needed information on a time sensitive basis (Kiras, 2007, Chapter 7).

Perhaps the most proactive organizational template for a counterterrorism program would consist of three interconnected parts; each feeding into the other, designed to form the basis of intelligence gathering, analysis and planning, and then tactical operations.

Intelligence -- Intelligence is based on the complexities of human security and is non-military in its design. This is a broad level department that requires access to information to the nth level. Since terrorism can include anything from poisoning of the food or water supply to actual weapons of mass destruction, there must be electronic surveillance combined with human intelligence and analysis that occurs to help spot and mitigate trends. The use of computer systems are vital, and the only agency that….....

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