War on terror Essay Example for Free

War on terror Essay The statement, â€Å"One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter,† has become a great obstacle in war on terror. In the struggle against terrorism, the problem of definition is a crucial element in the attempt to coordinate international collaboration, based on the currently accepted rules of traditional warfare. Due to that reason the herein literature review includes a work which deals with the legal issues related to terrorism. The relevance of works related to the direct war on terror to this review is obvious. In particular this review includes the works dedicated to the general outline and principals of the study of terrorist organizations as well as works dealing with the study of financial activity of terrorist organizations. The first work under review is the book Terrorism and Organized Hate Crime: Intelligence Gathering, Analysis, and Investigations by Michael R. Mpa Ronczkowski. (2004) Material in this book can provide personnel of different services with an understanding and approach for gathering intelligence and conducting analysis on terrorism-related matters. For me personally this work is valuable due to its clear classification of terror activity. The author distinguishes the following types of terrorists’ activity: Political terrorism, Ecological terrorism, Agricultural terrorism, Narco terrorism, Biological terrorism, and Cyber terrorism. Besides the author defines and presents the peculiarities of each of the type. The important element of the work is that it describes the history and roots of modern terrorism. The book is also distinguished by the wide scope it covers, it doesn’t limit only to the terrorism in the Asia but also deals with domestic terrorism. In case with the USA the author claims that evolution of domestic terrorism, organized groups such as gangs and crime families have a long-standing presence in the U. S. The genesis of domestic terrorism lays in hate. And finally the author suggests the way to distinguish common criminal actions from terror. The criminal group with clear hierarchal structure is a distinguishing feature of terrorism. The article Terrorism, Counterterrorism and International Law examines terrorism and counterterrorism from the point of view of international law. The work highlights the legal vagueness of the notion of terrorism. Thus this work continues an issue discussed in the previous work. The author poses the two disputable questions one in the context of Israel/Palestine: â€Å"Israelis call suicide bombers a terrorist Palestinians call them a martyr. Who is right? † and another one â€Å"Why is the attack on the Twin Towers called terrorism, while the bombing of a hospital in Kabul is not? † International law appears to be unable to give a clear response to these questions. Nevertheless, the author observes that according to the up-to-date situation with international law in certain cases it can identify terrorism. So, the taking of a hostage for the purpose of obtaining the liberation of a political prisoner fits the definition of a terrorist act. The same crime committed solely for the payment of ransom does not. The hijacking of the four planes on September 11 was a megaterrorist act. It is questionable; however, whether the hijacking of a plane bound for Florida to enable the hijacker to land in Cuba fits the general view of terrorism. The search for appropriate methods of fighting terrorism must necessarily include the understanding of the motives that guide the terrorists in their actions. The article Understanding, Responding to and Preventing Terrorism makes an attempt to explain the roots for the terrorism directed at the United States, and the rage that fuelled the attackers on September 11. The author defines the most significant among the reasons that cause such violent attitude towards American nation. Thus he points to the globalization of poverty, Washingtons continued support for Israels treatment of the Palestinians, U. S. bombing and sponsorship of the devastating economic sanctions against Iraq, and the alliance between the United States and Arab monarchies such as Saudi Arabia, where the U. S. maintains a significant military presence. Analysing causes of terror he differentiates certain types of terrorism such as individual terrorism; International State terrorism; State regime or Government terror and some others. However, the author does not focus solely on the faults of the nations that generate terrorist groups but claims the responsibility for the United States bombing of Afghanistan and Israels massacre of the Palestinians which violated international law as well as questions lawfulness of an invasion of Iraq. Finally, this work offers useful suggestions, in the context of international law, for creating peaceful alternatives to respond to terrorism and to deter it in the future. The next work under revision is the journal article State Terrorism and Globalization: The Cases of Ethiopia and Sudan by Asafa Jalata. The article scrutinizes the essence of state terrorism in Ethiopia and Sudan in regional and global contexts. Nowadays Ethiopian and Sudanese states have been formed, consolidated, and maintained by state terrorism and global connections. The Ethiopian state was created by the alliance of Abyssinian (Amhara-Tigray) dependent colonialism and European imperialism, and the Sudanese state by British colonialism known as the Anglo-Egyptian condominium. The work is significant by the study of historical background to the processes of state formation in the two countries. It also explores the global, regional, and local processes through which the modern Ethiopian and Sudanese states emerged. The examinations of connection between terrorism, globalism, and the process of racialization and ethnicization of state power may appear helpful for exploiting a rational means for fighting terrorism. Finally article is useful by its conclusion that in these two countries there can be no multicultural or multinational democracy, peace, stability, or development without removing the conditions that have facilitated external dependency and domestic terrorism. The September 11 attacks constitute a virtually unprecedented threat to security of the modern society and way of life. The attacks have thus evoked a natural demand both for retribution and for measures to keep people safe. The article The Death Penalty an Obstacle to the War against Terrorism? by Thomas Michael McDonnell deals with a fundamental question, namely, whether, as a matter of law and policy, the federal government should use the death penalty against those found to have been involved in the September 11 attacks, in particular, and, more broadly, against those who belong to or have allied themselves with al Qaeda. Meting out the death penalty to international terrorists involves difficult moral, legal, and policy questions. The September 11 crimes were not only domestic crimes, but also international ones. Yet most countries in the world have abolished capital punishment. None of the four currently operating international criminal tribunals is authorized to impose a death sentence. In addition, the advent of the suicide bomber turns the deterrence justification for the death penalty inside out. Might the death penalty help create martyrs rather than discourage similar attacks? Could the imposing the death penalty increase support in the Islamic world for al Qaeda and other extremist groups? These are the question the author raises in this work. The article examines these questions in the context of the Zacarias Moussaoui case, the supposed twentieth hijacker, who, on September 11, 2001, had been held in custody for twenty-six days. It mostly deals with criminal liability imposed not on the actual perpetrators, but on accomplices and co-conspirators, secondary rather than primary actors, discusses current American law and supports the idea of death penalty as one of possible way to prevent or at least impede terrorism. And the last work under consideration is the article by Zachary Abuza Funding Terrorism in Southeast Asia: The Financial Network of Al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya. The author here points out to one of the most influential factor that hinders the war on terrorism as a financing of terrorist organization. Thus he asserts that mechanisms for funding terrorism have continued unabated in Southeast Asia, and to date no terrorist assets or funds have been seized in the region. The knowledge of the financial aspects of terrorists’ activity may considerably accelerate the solution of this painful problem. For example, Al Qaedas financial basis was built on a foundation of charities, non-governmental organizations, mosques, websites, fund-raisers, intermediaries, facilitators, and banks and other financial institutions that helped finance the mujiheddin throughout the 1980s. This network extended to all corners of the Muslim world. The goal of counter-terrorism is to constrict the environment in which terrorists operate and their logistical and financial support networks is one of the most important elements of this environment. This will restrict terrorists’ means to travel, communicate, procure equipment and conduct attacks. This is, as the author suggests, arguably the most difficult part of the war on terror, as terrorist organizations use myriad ways to fund their operations, legal and illegal, overt and covert, with paper trails or without. He finally arrives to the conclusion that tracking this funding has to become a priority for law enforcement or counter-terrorist officials. To assist this investigation he provides with comprehensive account of the way such organizations like Jemaah Islamiya, Al Qaeda get financed. To conclude this critical bibliography I’d like to note that international law is still unable to give a well-defined, clear definition of terrorism. Thus basing only on the international law it is impossible to win the war on terrorism. This war demands the use of such notions as universal human values and justice which are considerably wider than any law and what is more at some circumstances contradict law. But only incorporation of human aspect into the legal process can help to defeat terrorism. Bibliography RONCZKOWSKI, Michael R. Mpa Terrorism and Organized Hate Crime: Intelligence Gathering, Analysis, and Investigations. Boca Raton, FL, CRC Press, 2004. WEISS, Peter. Terrorism, Counterterrorism and International Law. Arab Studies Quarterly. : 2002: 11+ COHN, Marjorie. Understanding, Responding to and Preventing Terrorism. Arab Studies Quarterly. 2002: 25+ JALATA, Asafa. State Terrorism and Globalization: The Cases of Ethiopia and Sudan. International Journal of Comparative Sociology, 46 (1-2): 2005: 79+ MCDONNELL, Thomas Michael. The Death Penalty an Obstacle to the War against Terrorism? Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, 37 (2): 2004: 353+ ABUZA, Zachary. Funding Terrorism in Southeast Asia: The Financial Network of Al Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya. Contemporary Southeast Asia. 25 (2): 2003: 169+ Retrieved April 04, 2006 from http://www. asiamedia. ucla. edu/article. asp? parentid=7520