The Problem: Terrorism In The World Essay, Research Paper

The Problem: Terrorism In The World

Terrorism, which has been around for as long as people can remember, has

been on the rise for the past ten years. Terrorists use murder, kidnapping,

hijacking, and bombings to almost always achieve a political purpose. These

radicals are not just subject to the United States, terrorism is all over the

world, in every way, shape and form.

There are many different types of terrorism, for many different purposes.

The primary reason for terrorist acts are to force a change in their nation’s

government. If terrorists are not satisfied with there government’s political

positions, they may end up taking the matters into there own hands. Another

reason for terrorist acts are because of hate towards a race, nationality, or

religion. For example, in 1972 the Palestine Liberation Organization invaded

Israeli dorms in the Munich Olympics, and held the Israeli athletes hostage

until Israel would agree to release Palestinian terrorists that were captured in

Israel. When Israel refused to comply with the terrorists demands, they blew up

two helicopters which held the Israeli athletes, killing the whole team. This

was one of the many cruel types of terrorism. In recent years, terrorism seems

to be at a new high and attacks are more violent than in the past.

With terrorism being so secretive and having no forewarning, it has been

a real problem to deal with. The governments of many countries have tried to

stop these cowardly acts, but they just seem to be on the rise. I have a few

ideas that might work

Solution:

Since there are no fool-proof ways to predict when a terrorist will

strike next, there can really be no complete answer to this problem. Even

though there is no way to totally eliminate terrorism, my solutions may still

prove valid.

With the bombing of the World Trade Center, and the federal building in

Oklahoma, rental moving trucks have been used to hold the bomb. An idea I have

for this type of attack, would be to take a still photograph or a video tape of

the people who rent the trucks, along with there Social Security numbers. I

Would have installed in every rental truck an electronic fume detector that

could be tied into a national satellite network, to let investigators know what

kind of materials the truck is carrying. For example, if the truck was carrying

dynamite, the sensor would relay the message to the satellite that this truck is

carrying hazardous material. In turn, the dispatchers could send the message to

the Federal Bureau of Investigations who then would send the bomb squad to the

location of the truck, and arrest the individuals driving and defuse the bomb.

It seems as though terrorists choose to place the bombs in parking

garages below or inside buildings. Another idea I have for this is to screen

all vehicles entering government buildings that may be a target for an attack.

This in itself might make terrorists more leery about entering a building

carrying any type of explosive device. The use of metal detectors on people

entering government buildings along with dogs that can sniff out bombs in

vehicles can also help the situation.

One of the most lethal types of terrorist attack are hijackings on

planes. There have been a number of hijackings, which then lead to a bombing of

the plane in midair. In 1986, a Pan-American Boeing 747 airplane blew up in

midair killing all passengers aboard. One of the leading terrorist groups took

responsibility for this action. Again in the late 1980’s a Transworld airline

flight was hijacked and made several stops before commandos rushed the plane and

killed some of the terrorists. Unfortunately, the terrorists had taken several

lives on the plane and even dumped one of the passengers that they had killed,

out of the plane onto the tarmac. One of the problems with these type of

terrorists is that, it is too easy to get a bomb into the baggage section, under

the plane. This is easy for them, because unlike carry-on luggage, the actual

luggage is not X-rayed for contraband. Some of these bombs work off of a timer

and ignite the bomb to blow up at a pre-determined time. Another type of bomb

works off of the altitude of the plane. Once the plane reaches the set altitude,

the bomb will explode. I suggest that the actual luggage should be scanned for

explosives that would be dangerous to the passengers. Since the only luggage

that is scanned at this time is the carry-on luggage, and individuals that go

through the metal detectors. I recommend that all luggage being loaded in the

belly of the aircraft, also go through a metal detector being scanned by trained

eyes. This would prevent any bombs from being loaded onto the plane.

Another type of plane bombing is called the ?Suicide Bomber?, this is a

terrorist who straps the bomb to his body, making it harder to stop them from

boarding the plane, because you cant see it by the human eye. Unfortunately,

metal detectors don’t pick up plastic explosives that a terrorist could carry on

board. Another idea for this would be to have a bomb sniffing dogs at every

metal detector, which could work in terms of stopping the bombs before they

reach the plane.

Of course, there will always be terrorists who would like to make a

change in the policy of the government. And you will always have radicals who

will want to take out their anger towards a particular race, religion, or

nationality. One of the best ways to stop terrorism is, of course, by

monitoring these groups closely for signs of illegal activity. First of all, the

United States of America should form coalition groups with all of the other

nations to monitor terrorist organizations of other nations. The FBI can be the

main organization to receive and filter out all potential terrorist groups.

Once the United States is aware of all the terrorist groups throughout the world

and knows the groups here in the United States, the government will be able to

get a tighter handle on the terrorist group’s activities. Now that we can

identify all of these groups, we have to be able to take out the bullets and

bomb making equipment from there hands. To start with, anyone who would like to

buy a gun will have to prove there intent on using it. They would have to

supply social security numbers, drivers license, fingerprints, ballistics of the

gun, and, of course, a picture of themselves taken by the sellers of the gun.

This would help ownership of the gun in case it is used it an attack.

Ammunition would have to be kept under the same kind of scrutiny as a gun, and

all the same information would have to be taken down, as if they were selling a

gun.

Factories that produce chemicals, fertilizer, and anything else that

could be used in the manufacturing of a bomb, would have to have a license to

make these items. When any of these items are sold, all of the same

precautions must be taken as if they were selling guns, or ammunition. In the

case of someone buying mass quantities of any of these items, it must be

reported and approved for sale by the FBI. As in the case of the Oklahoma

bombing, the ammonia nitrate fertilizer, which was the main component in the

bomb, that large quantity which would have first cleared with the FBI, before

being sold. The FBI could have questioned the need for such a large quantity

and made a final decision for the sale. If the buyers would have lied about the

need of the fertilizer at least there would have been a picture tying the

ammonia nitrate fertilizer to its buyer. We might not have been able to stop

this bombing but all suspects would now be under arrest, preventing them from

future bombings.

Since terrorist acts are so cowardly, and the loss of life is so great,

stiff penalties should apply. If the person is convicted of the crime, and the

crime is murder in any degree, of any amount. That person should be locked up

for life. I don’t believe in the death penalty in this case, because it would

just be putting them out of their misery. When they are sentenced, it will be

in a four foot by four foot solitary confinement cell, with no visitors, and no

exercise, ever.

In conclusion, this report has tried to explain a couple ideas that may

prove valid, when put to the test. The only test being real life. If these

ideas can make a difference, and keep one more person safe from a terrorist

attack, or deters one more terrorist from blowing up a building, than this

report has been worth the effort.

Bibliography:

Adams, James, The Financing of Terror: The PLO, IRA, Red Brigades, M-19 and

Their Money Supply (1986); Alexander, Yonah, International Terrorism, rev. ed.

(1981); Alexander, Yonah, and Myers, Kenneth, eds., Terrorism in Europe (1982);

Crenshaw, Martha, ed., Terrorism, Legitimacy, and Power (1982); Dobson,

Christopher, and Payne, Ronald, The Terrorists, rev. ed. (1982);

34c