The world has entered a new venue of warfare. War and the formalities of fighting have not seen this kind of drastic mutation since the British Redcoats were forced to change their tactics of line assault. It is the age of terrorism, and as it stands now, terrorism is the voice, both domestically and internationally, for twenty-first century fighting.
The biggest scare of this new reality is terrorism’s ability to multithread, which is its ability to dabble in every corner of our society. From two choleric boys in Colorado, to chemical warriors like Japan’s Aum Shinrikyo, there is a new standard in type and class of modern day opponents. Everyone has the authority to be a threat. This is a disgusting amount of pressure to apply not only on the shoulders of governments, but on the average man, woman and child. In this essay, I shall address the issues of domestic terrorism, biological terrorism as the future element in tactic, and conclude with American policy change recommendations. Columbine high school, the lowest common denominator for any modern day terrorist attack, and subsequently, it is the most eye opening event since the Oklahoma City bombing.
With all the emotions wrapped around this event, my only goal with drawing this as a source is in demonstrating the ego of terrorism, and what a better way to do it than with the microcosms of a high school. To fully understand all the factors of this tragedy is impossible, and to try; is disrespectful to all involved. One can nonetheless piece it together and correctly label it as terrorism. There are terrorists, and there are victims: In this case there were several groups (athletic students, members of other racial groups) who took the brunt. The weapons used in the attack were modified military assault weapons, so it is obvious that the nature of the crime was intended to be severe. And it was.
An admixture of information and aggression has never taken children to a level this low until now. The thing to focus on is the means nevertheless and not the anger. The means was to terrorize, and by no means is there a plain solution for Columbine’s happenings. There are numerous elements in which need to be addressed. The biggest of those problems is a modern one and has to do with men versus man. This is defined that in a world that is quickly becoming a global village, the individual is becoming neglected.
The average man is speaking up, but no one will listen. Society will not listen. Nonetheless, he will be heard if he gets angry. He will have to ventilate with such audacity so that it shakes the community to its very foundation. The man does this by terrorizing using bombs, guns, biological weapons, and others.
He does it for the sole reason to roar at the world, to be heard. If there is more than one perpetrator, the experience is multiplied, and even more disastrous because of the fertility of having multiples; a small army. There is strength numbers, and in a society that allows freedom of assembly, this is a daunting aspect of modern terrorism. Although it is the social issues that oils the wheels of terrorismwheels the vehicle of terrorism, the means to terrorize would not be possible if not for the advancement in weapons, such as chemical and more frighteningly, biological.
Chemical weapons have come a long way, but its development had a plateau in the Cold War, and there is little hope one can have for a technology that statistically backfires, or does not work. There is little that chemical weapons cannot achieve, but as far as research, there has been a shift to a far superior medium that has paramount strength, and is far less clumsy than chemical weapons. It has been called the ‘splitting of the atom’ of the new century. Like the time before the nuclear bomb, engineers, even though a treaty against it has been signed by the major powers, are working quietly and hard to be the first ones to have it for their group or country. Biological weapons are the most advanced technology yet.
A terrorist using crude methods, and stolen goods, could deploy a biological agent in a subway, using a light bulb and a teaspoon of crystallized genetically engineered virus strands, to bring a particular gene pool or race to its death in a community or larger. The technology can do it, it is not science fiction, and Russia, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, Korea, and many others could do it yesterday, so to speak. More startling however is that it is being sold or traded (what Russia did in the late eighties). Groups with enough money can buy it, for what one might pay for a popular illegal narcotic. This is so inherently true in fact, that it was reported that an American resident, living in the mid-west, bought an ounce of a bio-cocktail of smallpox and ebola viruses, using Federal Express as a means of delivery. Had this man not have been picked up on a random tax evasion charge, who knows what he may have been capable of.
Another man in a similar circumstance had the wherewithal to make a strand of anthrax in his kitchen. People like these are tomorrow’s terrorists. Biological weapons appear to have the characteristics of becoming the modern day terrorist’s Swiss army knife. It is sophisticated, epidermal and very small, unlike any other weapon. It has been reported by USAMRIID (United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases) that this is the tool they and the Department ofDefense are expecting to see in the hands of terrorists in the future. Former Central Intelligence Agency director, James Woolsey was quoted saying: “I think the risk of a biological terrorist attack is quite real.
I think a state-sponsored attack with a ballistic missile or something like that is most unlikely, at least against the United States . . . the risk of a terrorist attack is real. In conclusion, It must be reiterated that the age of terrorism is upon us. If not so much of a religious deadlock like it is in Israel, there is a social sickness in the United States, which is breeding this behavior.
It is obvious, because our terrorists are becoming typed. They are white Caucasians, middle class, mid-west, and they are losing their minds. It is the government’s issue however, and there needs to be careful attention for these middle social systems. not sure this is about the middle class, although it is true that the high school terrorist are from that economic group. Perhaps the best way commence such a difficult task is to relieve some pressure off of the middle class through taxes.
Although it was not brought up earlier, the surplus of information that is available to the public cannot be excused, as it key to connecting dots in the complex plans of such terrorists acts. It also encourages children to experiment. A recipe for anthrax should not be accessible on the Internet of course i must challenge you to think about free speech. . (which it is).
It makes it accessible to everyone in the world that way; there needs to be network rules. With regards to bioterrorism, there has got to be more focus on, and thus more money for the United State’s vaccine and antibiotics programs. It would be ideal for United Nation’s to be more focused on these issues as well. As with all technology the governments need to catch up to a new global pace.
