1.0 Introduction
A country can face problems of poverty, hunger, literacy and many others. But the spreads of terrorism is the most terrifying of all. There are more than 200 definitions for terrorism. Some said that terrorism is the use of violence as a means of coercion for political purposes. Common definitions of terrorism refer only to those violent acts which are intended to create fear disregard the safety of the civilians. Some other definitions now include acts of unlawful violence and war. Usage of the term has also been criticized for its frequent unfair linking with Islamism or jihadism, while ignoring non-Islamic organizations or individuals. (Wikipedia, 2013)
Terrorism happen hundreds of years ago ever since 1800, when over 3000 Freedmen and their Republican Party allies were killed by the Ku Klux Klan and well-organized movements of violence. The terrorist attack continue until today where even in just this year almost 100 terrorism that happen in term of shooting, bombing, suicide bombing, and rocket attack.
Until now, one of the famous terrorist attacks that ever happen is the September 11 attack which is an attack by the Al-Qaeda by hijacking four passengers’ airliners and crashed the World Trade Center complex in New York City. In total, almost 3,000 people died in the attacks, including the 227 civilians and 19 hijackers who aboard the four planes. Even though this terrorist attack happened more than 10 years ago the impacts of this attack still worry the nation until today. There are so many causes that lead to terrorism but the two main causes is the social and political injustice. People choose terrorism when they are trying to right what they perceive to be a social or political wrong and when they have been stripped of their land or rights. (Zalman). As Claudius Claudianus, an Egyptian Latin poet, said, “He who strikes terror in others is himself continually in fear”.
The objectives of this terrorist attack can be diverges, whether to attract public attention, encourage empathy to their unjust situation, demonstrate the inability of the state to provide security, force the state into cruel reactions that dishonour the government or even to provoke widespread civil uprising to change the government, or form a separate state. No matter what the reason or objectives of terrorism, whether for positive or negative reasons, can it ever be justified?
2.0 Thesis statement
Every individual have a different interpretation on terrorism. Some believe that terrorism is a violent act while others believe that it is an act to defend their right which can also be called as freedom fighter. Some people believe that terrorist is someone who kills people even the people that he never met before not because that person ever did any wrong to him but to generate fear and terror. Whereas, a freedom fighter is consider as a person who is part of an organized group fighting against a cruel and unfair government or system. The concept of terrorism may be controversial as it is often used by state authorities to delegitimize political or other opponents, and potentially legitimize the state’s own use of armed force against opponents. At the same occasion, one man’s terrorist can be another man’s freedom fighter.
Terrorism has been practiced by a broad group of political organizations to further their objectives. It has been practiced by both right-wing and left-wing political parties, nationalistic groups, religious groups, revolutionaries, and ruling governments. An permanent characteristic is the indiscriminate use of violence against civilians for the purpose of gaining publicity for a group, cause, or individual. This act of terrorism will bring more of negative impact rather than positive to a nation. It can affect the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the employment rate, the value of currency, the performance of stock market and the governmental debt. Therefore, can terrorism ever be justified? I believe that terrorism can never be justified. This is because there are other options instead of terrorism, terrorism does not work and the end does not justify anything.
3.0 Content and Development/Body 3.1 Argument 1 Terrorism can never be justified because there are many other options instead of terrorism where there are always peaceful and democratic ways that we can used to solve problem. Even when these ways seem to be not working, we still have other moral actions that we can use such as non-violent protest instead of using terrorism. The use of violence in terrorism will affect in so many areas. Beyond deaths and injuries, highly prevalent forms of violence have serious lifelong non-injury health consequences. Terrorism will just make the situation worst and creates a cycle of violence and suffering to the surrounding people, killing innocent people like women, children and old people. (Terrorism : Justification for). As Mahatma Gandhi has said, “The pursuit of truth does not permit violence on one’s opponent. Thus, I believe that peaceful approached is better that violence approach. We can kill so many people easily but no matter what, is it equivalent to what we are about to received?
3.2 Argument 2 Terrorism does not work. Terrorism is an evil act, which can cause fear, destruction, and even loss of human lives. According to SiliconIndia, the top country that is worst hit by terrorism is Iraq where the terrorism index there is approximately 9.56. Around 1800 people were killed in the 2011 terror attacks and the number of lives lost in wars and protest is climbing up every year. People that are powerful, heartless, and selfish use it in order to carry on an evil purpose. Terrorism will just bring hatred and anger to the community that it targets. It will oppose each part opinion and end up with no compromise. With terrorism, a lasting and peaceful settlement will not be able to achieve and the conflict will continue forever. Nothing is achieved to improve the lives of the people in whose name terror has been used. (Terrorism : Justification for)
3.3 Argument 3 The end of terrorism does not justify anything. Terrorism is a one-side act, which is only for their own good; this is what we mean by “selfish act”. The success of terrorism is not guaranteed. It is a gamble to kill people in the hope of achieving something else. At first glance, violence may appear to be a superior technique for resolving conflicts or achieving desired ends because it has obvious and tangible strategies and weapons. However, nonviolence way is more likely to produce a constructive rather than a destructive outcome, it is a method of conflict resolution that may aim to arrive at the truth of a given situation and it is the only method of struggle that is consistent with the teachings of the major religions. (Weber & Burrowes). Let me take India as an example. In 1993, there was a terrorist attack at Bombay where the terrorist allocated 13 bombs in Mumbai. It was the most destructive bomb explosion ever happen in India which was coordinated by Dawood Ibrahim, the leader of a terrorist group which stood in opposition of India. The single-day attacks resulted in over 350 fatalities and 1200 injuries. Even though, the purpose of terrorism is mostly to solve problems, the probability of solving that problem is still unknown. This is because of the uncertainty whether the act of terrorism will result in solving the problems or even making things worse.
4.0 Conclusion As a conclusion, terrorism has become a global threat and needs to be controlled from the grass root level to the international level. Terrorism cannot be controlled by the law enforcing agencies alone. The world has to unite in order to face this growing threat of terrorism. Without terrorism, the world would become a better place to live in. Terrorism is a form of destroying humanity, the way people should live their life, and their thoughts. Terrorism is a form of cowardly, underhand and undesirable act. They are stupid and stubborn, as they chose not to negotiate peace, but to use every evil means to reach their aim. (“Anti-terrorism” Lesson Package).
Thus, I would like to restate again that terrorism should never be justified because there are other options instead of terrorism, it does not work and in the end it does not justify anything. No matter what, whether the attacks are small or big, terrorism must get a full stop. No religion has instructed their followers to kill the followers of the other religion. Killing innocent public does not give any justice to the Nation. Some even consider the terrorism as a war. But in reality it is completely different, killing soldiers or killed by soldiers in war zone is for rescuing purpose to save their own homeland. Hence fight in war zone is for security but “terrorism” calling as a war is to break the security.
5.0 References
“Anti-terrorism” Lesson Package. (n.d.). Retrieved December 26, 2013, from Why we should not turn to terrorism: http://www2.hci.edu.sg/y08hci0118/DtoD/terrorism_whyshouldnot/index.html Terrorism. (2013). Retrieved December 25, 2013, from Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism Terrorism : Justification for. (n.d.). Retrieved December 26, 2013, from Debatewise: http://debatewise.org/debates/2779-terrorism-justification-for/ Weber, T., & Burrowes, R. J. (n.d.). Nonviolence: An Introduction. Retrieved December 26, 2013, from http://www.nonviolenceinternational.net/seasia/whatis/book.php Zalman, A. (n.d.). The Causes of Terrorism. Retrieved December 25, 2013, from About.com: http://terrorism.about.com/od/causes/a/causes_terror.htm
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