ENGL 1054 NA-BS 1205Cause and Effect Essay (Final Draft) E5 7 July 2003Possible Causes of TerrorismTerrorism is a problem seen in almost every part of our world. Eventhough most people may associate terrorism with the Muslim religion and theMiddle East region, terrorists are not bound to any one ethnic, religious,or political group.
Indeed, the only thing most terrorists have in commonmay be the tactics they use to reach their objective. In Ireland, the terrorist group known as the Irish Republican Army orthe I. R. A, used terror tactics against British troops to try to force theBritish government to recognize the sovereignty of the Irish Republic. InIsrael, a place where terrorism occurs on a daily basis, several differentPalestinian terrorist groups such Infadeh, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad conductterror operations against the Israeli people in an effort to force theIsraelis out of the areas of West Bank and The Gaza Strip.
In the early1980’s, terrorists unhappy with the presence of American troops in Lebanonbombed a U. S. Marine barrack near the city of Beirut in an effort topersuade the American government to remove the troops from the area. Terrorists believe that their cause is greater than the lives that aresacrificed in the process.
Islamic terrorists believe that to give theirlives for Islam makes them a martyr. And, according to the Islamic faith,to die as a martyr carries the greatest reward in Heaven-Ten Virgins. Terror may be the only tactic some groups feel they have when thingsdo not go their way. Such groups may have become frustrated in theirnation’s leaders failure to resolve a conflict and resort to violence toforce their will upon the leaders. They may be so distraught over onenation’s policies that in order to force that nation to change theoffending policy, they resort to acts of terror.
The terror attacks againstthe United States on 11 September 2001, were in response to Americanforeign policy regarding Israel. Thousands of lives were taken in an effortto force the United States to abandon their support of Israel. Much to thedisappointment of the terrorist, however, the end results of those attackswere a galvanizing of the American people and a resolve to bring thoseresponsible for the attacks to justice. Terrorism is a childish act of desperation that occurs whenever acertain group realizes that it is not going to get its way throughlegitimate means and try to force their will by causing more damage andhuman loss and suffering than their opposition is willing to accept, and sosurrender to the will of the terrorists. Of course, this only inspiresother desperate groups to employ the same terror tactics to achieve theirobjectives.
