Terrorism Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Terrorism - Assignment Example The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), or the Tamil Tigers are known to be the pioneers of suicide bombing, yet, they are seen as ‘liberators’ by local Tamils. Thus, the answer to whether the Tamil Tigers are terrorists or not is a complicated one that is dependent on subjective, biased analysis of power politics of Sri Lanka. 2) In the aftermath of the attack on the World Trade Center, the question of terrorism as a justifiable means to achieving liberation has been hotly debated within the United States of America. While many believe that terrorism, an act of harm, can never justify a quest for national freedom, there are also arguments that see terrorism as understandable under certain circumstances. The use of violence in Apartheid South Africa, in pre partition India and during the Iranian revolution, for example, has given voice to social, political and religious demands. Even so, the major drawback of acts of violence is that they affect everyone without dis crimination (Saul). A bomb blast in a shopping market may put pressure on the government, but the ones who are directly affected, injured or killed in the attack suffer regardless of their political alignment. The injustice of terrorism taints its legitimacy, and makes it an undesirable means to achieving a noble goal. 3) Faith-based natural law is justified by religious extremists in the modern world since they see their faith as the ‘one true way’ for eternal salvation (Wallis). All those believing in the truth are perceived as virtuous men while all ‘disbelievers’ are seen as worthy of violent punishment for disobeying the Divine Word. The problem with such an approach lies in the fact that there is not one religion that claims monopoly of the truth, but many religions, including Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Hinduism are part of a grand tug of war of what the true faith is (Aslan). As a result, innocent lives are put at stake by religious extremists who find legitimacy for their violent acts in religious scriptures. However, examples from history and modern day extremism give us evidence of how faith-based natural law is used to achieve political ends. Religious zealotry and fanaticism is used to power economically and politically motivated agendas. Faith-based natural law therefore does not serve to justify violent acts committed against innocent people. 4) Projected trends for the future of faith-based terrorism can be explained through the help of a five pronged model. First, there is a need to establish that in today’s world of sophisticated communication methods, the spread of extremist religious propaganda is inevitable. Not only is the World Wide Web an easy platform for religious groups to spread their thoughts and ideologies amongst everyone, television and print media also play a crucial role in popularizing support for such groups. Secondly, in the wake of the US war against Iraq, a CIA report for 2005 has rev ealed that a â€Å"new generation of Islamist Extremists† (Martin, 153) has been created, which poses serious threat to future world security. Thirdly, Al Qaeda has evolved into a symbolic representation, which continues to influence thoughts, along with, fourthly, the globalization of the Jihadi movement. Lastly, religious extremism is strongly present and growing within the Christian thought,