In light of the recent terrorist attack in Sri Lanka, African Jotter decided to explore the reason why terrorism is still popular tactic used by several nonstate actors.
Terrorism is a very important issue in the world today. Terrorism involves the use of violence and destruction to instill fear in people in support of a particular cause. Over the last several decades, terrorism is the cause of numerous destructions, a few wars, interstate feuds and the murder of thousands of people.
But if terrorism is so destructive and negative, why does it still exist? Why do groups still resort to use this approach even though it is counter intuitive to their cause? Meanwhile terrorism has rarely been successful in achieving many causes, so why is it still in a phenomenon?
Well, three reasons explain why terrorism still exists.
First, terrorism is a tactic used by smaller groups particularly when they attack bigger and more competent opponents. With states as their primary targets, terrorists know they cannot possibly contend with the military capabilities of their opponents. So they resort to terror tactics to weaken their enemy and make it hard for states to tackle them. Terrorists know that head to head war with state militaries would be catastrophic. Thus terror tactics affords them operational leverage to spread their inhumane and evil causes.
Second, asymmetric warfare of terrorists is aids them to strike global panic. When wars happen, people feel safer by simply relocating and moving out of battlegrounds and other war prone locations. People can also effectively plan and understand when conventional enemy forces are coming to attack them.
But under asymmetric warfare, nobody knows who a terrorist’s target is or when terrorists will strike. Many terrorist attacks even those that are coordinated are difficult to identify and stop. This continues to make terrorism an important arsenal for spreading different causes. For instance, Al Qaeda has used several terrorist tactics against the US and several other countries. Popularly, they resort to the use of asymmetric warfare and guerrilla tactics. Al Qaeda used (and still uses) several active “cells” globally to train, arm and execute terrorist assaults on innocent civilians. This approach helps spread news about their cause around the globe.
Third, the destruction caused by terrorism causes outcry and conversation by people. When attacks happen, people want to know who is responsible, why they did and what they want. This is what terrorists always want: using attacks to strike fear.
Although terrorism is infamously attached to religious fundamentalists, terror campaigns help to draw attention for groups like eco-terrorists.
Eco-terrorists are environmental activists who resort to the use of violence to promote their concerns about environmental problems. They believe activities of some companies, particularly oil companies, is damaging the earth, causing pollution and adversely affecting biodiversity. As a result, they sometimes attack facilities, kidnap workers, and blow up pipelines in order to get people talking about their cause. These acts have been effective at getting people to talk and at gaining the attention of others.
A typical example of an eco-terrorist group was Nigeria’s Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), who operated in the southern oil rich region of Nigeria in order to get oil companies to address oil spills and other issues.
In summary, terrorism is always an evil act and is responsible for the death of thousands of individuals. In this article, I explain three reasons why terrorists value terror tactics as a way to promote their cause.
Terrorism is a very important issue in the world today. Terrorism involves the use of violence and destruction to instill fear in people in support of a particular cause. Over the last several decades, terrorism is the cause of numerous destructions, a few wars, interstate feuds and the murder of thousands of people.
But if terrorism is so destructive and negative, why does it still exist? Why do groups still resort to use this approach even though it is counter intuitive to their cause? Meanwhile terrorism has rarely been successful in achieving many causes, so why is it still in a phenomenon?
Well, three reasons explain why terrorism still exists.
Why Terrorism Still Exists As A Tactic By Non-State Actors
First, terrorism is a tactic used by smaller groups particularly when they attack bigger and more competent opponents. With states as their primary targets, terrorists know they cannot possibly contend with the military capabilities of their opponents. So they resort to terror tactics to weaken their enemy and make it hard for states to tackle them. Terrorists know that head to head war with state militaries would be catastrophic. Thus terror tactics affords them operational leverage to spread their inhumane and evil causes.
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| Osama Bin Laden was a prominent leader of Al Qaeda |
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| Asymmetric warfare is very difficult to counter by conventional military forces |
Third, the destruction caused by terrorism causes outcry and conversation by people. When attacks happen, people want to know who is responsible, why they did and what they want. This is what terrorists always want: using attacks to strike fear.
Although terrorism is infamously attached to religious fundamentalists, terror campaigns help to draw attention for groups like eco-terrorists.
Eco-terrorists are environmental activists who resort to the use of violence to promote their concerns about environmental problems. They believe activities of some companies, particularly oil companies, is damaging the earth, causing pollution and adversely affecting biodiversity. As a result, they sometimes attack facilities, kidnap workers, and blow up pipelines in order to get people talking about their cause. These acts have been effective at getting people to talk and at gaining the attention of others.
 |
| A typical example of an eco-terrorist group was Nigeria’s MEND |
In summary, terrorism is always an evil act and is responsible for the death of thousands of individuals. In this article, I explain three reasons why terrorists value terror tactics as a way to promote their cause.
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