Essay Instructions: Open to all writers!!
Below are 5 essay questions in parentheses. below each essay question is my own research, pay no attention to my own research write 5 new essay questions in your own words. please add at lease one reference per essay question.
also please write 1 page per essay question.
1.(In what ways, if any, are American domestic terror groups and international terror groups forging common ties? Who are their common enemies? Please provide examples to support your answer. Also, you are encouraged to draw from
independent sources to construct your answer.)
The American domestic terror groups and international terror groups are forging common ties through what some experts call “seamless terrorism” where the line between foreign and domestic terrorists operating in the United States may become
unclear (Sloan 1997: 10). As the twenty-first century unfolds, we are witnessing a new merger of extremist ideologies from young people on both the extreme left and
and extreme right of the political spectrum who believe their world views overlap in several areas (Bolden, Olson-Raymer, Whamond, 2001). The creation of sophisticated communications networks via the internet that are linked to like-minded but geographically dispersed groups. The U.S. government policies or US involvement overseas and representations throughout the world are the enemies. The
music scene has become a link to spread racist lyrics of a type of music called oi, which deals in white power and another type called Black Metal music, which sings
about anti-Christian themes. Militant Islamic extremist have established extensive networks throughout the United
States and the vast improvements in modern technology make it easy for them to stay in contact with each other this has a potential to a reaction to U.S. policies and actions
in the Middle East (Bolden et al. 2001).
2.(To what extent has the internet become a tool for domestic terror groups? Where would you strike the balance between freedom of speech and communication via the
internet and inciting and organizing violence? How aggressive should law enforcement authorities monitor the activities of suspected domestic terror groups on
the web (i.e. what should they do)? Would your position remain the same if you knew that federal authorities would then be empowered to enhance their monitoring of you?)
The internet has opened up a new potential threat to the United States called Cyberterrorism. The main weapons in this new threat were computer viruses, programmed to damage software. Logic bombs, which are set to detonate at a certain time and destroy or rewrite data. High energy radio frequency guns that disable electronic targets through high powered electromagnetic impulses affecting all
electronic components in the vicinity (Laqueur 199:75).
With the increasing use of computers by everyone computer hackers continue to use the internet to break into sensitive American military and civil systems. The internet
by being a collection of computers connected through networked communications has allowed an individual to reach a large dispensed audience with information. Its low cost of entry and relative ease of internet publishing help to expand the number of lesser-known individuals espousing an extremist message (Bolden et al. 2001). It has become a platform for them to communicate to each other and recruit
members. The number of people who use the internet is expected to increase and it is very likely that the Web will become an increasingly important information source.
Consequently, ADL expects that it and the rest of the internet will become an even more significant part of the propaganda arsenal of extremist groups. (Source: Schwarts 1996; SPLC Summer 1999). I would strike the balance between freedoms of speech and communications via the internet with inciting and organizing violence by collecting data on known terrorist members and their groups. At this time in our
history we have to give on the individual side to reduce action that could endanger or cause large numbers of causalities by protecting the whole. I do not like the chose, because this is a very sensitive area because giving federal authorities more means to monitor me is also empowering someone to have the potianal to abuse that power.
There would have to be a very strong set of checks and balances to reduce that human factor of an individual or individuals using this in an abusive manner.
3. (Explain how domestic terror organizations rely heavily on common criminal activities to conduct their business. What are some of the common crimes most associated with domestic terrorism? Please provide examples.)
Domestic terror organizations rely heavily on common criminal activities to conduct their business through committing mail fraud, racketeering, robbery/burglary, and violations involving machine guns and destructive devices.
These are used because all terrorist organizations require money, material, transportation, identity documents, communication systems and safe havens to accomplish their aims. Domestic groups are most successful at acquiring false identity documents, manufacturing illegal firearms, armored truck and bank robbery, and murder. An American terrorist cell known as the Aryan Republican Army (ARA). The ARA was a gang of white supremacist who ziggagged across the Midwest, hitting bank after bank for a period of two years (1994-95). In all, the ARA robbed twenty-two banks, netting some $500.000. Those proceeds were used to support a series of terrorist attacks that included armored truck heist attempted assassinations, and bombings. The purpose of all this, as incredible as it may sound, was to overthrow the government (Hamm, 2002a). An American terrorist cell known as The Order raised money through counterfeiting, bank robbery, and a spectacular armored truck heist that netted the group $3.6 million (Flynn and Gerhardt, 1989). According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the money
was “allegedly distributed to white supremacists across the country (Stern, 1996, pg 55). In November 1994, Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols broke into a Kansas limestone
quarry and stole dynamite, Tovex sausages, detonator cord, and blasting caps. Theses explosives were later used in the Oklahoma City bombing (Hamm, 1997)
4.(Describe the most significant findings or information contained in the Hamm report. What is significant about the findings you have identified? What implications
for the criminal justice system are embedded in the findings you have identified? Explain.)
The most significant finding in the Hamm report was the level of crimes being treated as a business of destruction. They have become privatized and self sustaining. The criminal justice system has implications in determing if it is now a crime or an terrorist act now being committed. The report was very enlightening in its report of the
decline in state sponsored terrorism that has caused many terrorist organizations to resort to an alternate means of support through criminal activity. The criminal analysis of the international jihad groups and the domestic right wing
groups and description and use of criminal skills and opportunities were very informative. The main findings of the study was the education on the most successful
method of both detecting and prosecuting. cases of terrorism through the pursuit of conventional criminal nvestigations. The report read more like an education on how we are still learning how they operate and how to stop them. This has been accomplished through the most successful methods of both detecting and prosecuting cases of terrorism is through the pursuit of conventional criminal investigations. The report shows that we have only scratched the surface and continue to learn as we go following each case.
5. (Based on information learned in this course, as well as other courses you may have taken and other sources of information available to you, please explain which is the United States: domestic terrorism or international terrorism. In your explanation, compare and contrast domestic and international terrorism. Also, please indicate whether either type of terrorism is subject to defeat. Or, in a free society such as ours, must we simply learn to live with the annoyance and tragedies of ideological, political, and/or religiously-motivated violence?)
Domestic terrorism has been a problem in our past and will continue to be one in our future. The bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City is undeniably the worst terrorist incident in U.S. history. But the real horror is that the bombing is only a warning shot fired by those who wage civil war in America. There are thousands of people all across the country, armed and ready for this conflict, spreading a message of hate and fear. They are all part of the American militia movement (Stern 1996). When you have a group or individual who has a problem or want to change the government or induce fear on a certain group in our borders we domestic homegrown
terrorism. International terrorism is the greater threat to the U.S. right now and they will continue to be the greatest threat in the future. The international terrorist influence will also have the potential to increase domestic terrorism. The bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City at the time one of the most significant and devasting acts of domestic terrorism in the 1990s. What made this event even more troubling for many was the fact that the perpetrators were individuals with ties to international terrorist who wanted to retaliate against the United States for perceived wrongs to Islamic fundamentalist interest ((Bolden et al. 2001). The United States support of Israel and its role as peacemaker in that region has
generated much of the terrorism against American facilities overseas now on American soil. The United States has been viewed as an appropriate target for Islamic militants due
to its support for their “enemies”. Islamic fundamentalist ideology assumes that the very existence of the secular West is an insult to Islam ((Bolden et al. 2001). Militant Islamic extremist have established extensive networks throughout the United States and now pose the greatest threat of domestic terrorism in the United States
(Emerson 1998). Domestic terrorism is when persons use, or threaten to use, political violence either to undermine or overthrow existing governmental policies or structures, or
to intimidate individuals and groups they perceive as threatening to the social, political,
economic, or ideological status quo (Olson-Raymer, 2001, p 12). International terrorism that members in two or more nations with the intent to affect two or more nations
(Merriam-Webster’s, 2000). I do believe both are subject to defeat, but not to the extent that we will be rid of them. It is a very hard and slow process to combat an ideological
movement. You must find the source of fuel for this hatred and start there. Our free society will never to live with the annoyance and tragedies of this ideological, political
and religiously-motivated violence. We will have to do a better job in using the tools that we have and how and when to apply them. Until we change our own mind set of
thinking to get in tuned with that of our enemy we will continue to make mistakes, which only embolden them.
