Terrorism and Nations Security Concerns Assignment - 207

Terrorism and Nations Security Concerns - Assignment Example Summary - According to Jerrold M. Post, religious terrorism has taken center stage in the 21st century with extremist terrorist organizations such as Aum Shinrikyo and al-Qaeda making headlines. Religious terrorism is an extremist ideology where the terror groups hide under the guise of religious factions, especially Islam, to instill fear in innocent civilians through violence. Such terrorists spread their propaganda based on radical religious ideologies. Hezbollah has been running an anti-Israel sentiment for quite a long time and the terrorist organization has thrived because of strong support from the Iranian government. The terrorist organization has extensively used the media to run its campaign. 1 As an Islamic resistant movement, the Hamas has terrorized the Middle East, particularly Palestine, under the leadership of Sheik Ahman Yassin. Although many negotiations have taken place between Hamas and the Palestinian government, the terrorist organization has stuck to its ideolo gy has rarely had it renounced the absolutist ambitions that it undertakes through suicide bombings.2 In a bid to unearth the inner workings of terrorist organizations, Bruce Hoffman assessed the Middle East terrorism and made a number of astonishing findings. By the year 2005, various terrorist groups, with al-Qaeda taking the lead, had struck in 25 countries, including Israel, Kenya, and the United Kingdom. The number of suicide terrorist attacks stood at 350 by the same years. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) has seized most of Sri Lankan provinces while al-Qaeda continued to terrorize the Middle East and beyond. Terrorism has evolved over the years to the use of suicide bombers, who have been heavily radicalized into believing that through self-sacrifice they receive greater heavenly rewards and in the process, liberate their victims.