What is Terrorism?

Terrorism is defined as "activities that involve violent acts or acts that are dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law...[and] appear to be intimidate or coerce a population, to influence the policy of a government by intimidation and coercion, or to affect the conduct of the government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping" (Definitions of Terrorism in the US Code). In other words, terrorism is a violent or dangerous act intended to control people through intimidation.

Upon hearing the term "terrorism", most Americans think of 9/11, "Four coordinated terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda, an Islamist extremist group, that occurred on the morning of September 11, 2001... The attacks killed 2,977 people" (FAQ About 9/11). It is the most fatal and most famous attack on America in history, and it is the event that sparked American involvement in the Middle East (particularly in Afghanistan and Iraq. Some Americans hear terrorism and think of the Boston Marathon bombings on April 15, 2013, the most recent terrorist attack on America.

Terrorist groups are most commonly associated with the many Islamic extremist groups that exist in the Middle East. Among the most famous are al-Qaeda, the perpetrators of the 9/11 attacks, the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), a groups determined to rid Palestine of Jews and return it to Arab control. Most of these groups are Islamic extremists, or groups of people who are "driven by an interpretation of Islam that believes that Islamic law is an all-encompassing system proscribed by Allah which must be instituted by a global Islamic state" (Understanding Islamic Extremism). These groups are extremely anti-western and have a strong dislike for America and other western world powers who forced Palestinians out of the Islamic holy land (present-day Israel) so that the Jews could have their own land. However, there are several terrorist organizations that are not radical Muslims. For example, the Taliban, the former governing body of Afghanistan, is considered to be a terrorist organization based on its harsh, inhumane treatment of its people. Most terrorist governments were led by one ringmaster, such as Hitler in Germany, Pol Pot in Cambodia, Castro in Cuba, and Hussein in Iraq.

For decades, terrorist groups have wreaked havoc on the world by using threats and violence to control or coerce people. Since the attacks on September 11, America, among many other countries across the globe, have increased their striven to increase awareness of terrorism and put an end to it. While the the war on terror is far from over, great strides have been made in the 21st century. As former president George W. Bush shouted to rescue workers at the side of the World Trade Center collapse, on the afternoon of September 11, 2001, "I can hear you! I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you! And the people who knocked these buildings down will hear all of us soon!" (George W. Bush: Bullhorn Address to Ground Zero Rescue Workers).

This is one of the most famous images of the Vietnam War, of a Vietcong supporter holding a gun to the head of an innocent South Vietnamese man.