Free Global Terrorist Groups Essay Sample
Ideology: Religion
There is an emerging new trend in terrorist attacks different from those that operated in the cold war. The new terrorist groups are religious fundamentalists who prefer the use of Weapons of Mass Destruction, (WMD) to launch attacks. Terrorists groups motivated by religion and use of WMD are Al-Qaeda, Aum Shinrikyo, and Hizballah. “These groups have different attitude towards violence—one that is extranormative and seeks to maximize violence against the perceived enemy essentially anyone who is not a fundamentalist Muslim or an Aum Shinrikyo member.”
Group Objectives and goals
Aum Shinrikyo’s attach on the Tokyo subway was not much of a success as only a few people were killed. Had the masterminds of the terror attack put dangerous batch of sarin. In addition, the group planned attach on World Trade Center, (WTC) in 1990 failed to kill massive numbers of people due to wrong handling of bomb. In both the Tokyo attack and WTC, the targeted massive killings did not meet expectation. The mission failed to some extends. On the other hand, the operations were successful due to increased fear of potential attacks targeting the United States and its allies. Successful attacks also show how the groups use sophisticated technology and skilled personnel to their advantage.
Strategic Objective
Disorientation and provocation
Target type
The target type is expressive to show retaliation to the U.S. and its allies consequences of bombing their territories; for instance, cruise missile attack of Bin Laden’s base in Afghanistan in 1998. Some leaders of the terror groups promised to assassinate former president Clinton in retaliation. The terror as mentioned, it a threat to security departments of the U.S. and innocent citizens.
Logistical needs
Weapons: use of weapons of mass destruction
Source of fund: the founder, Osama Bin Laden who was perceived to have inherited their father’s properties, adequately funds Al-Qaeda. Hizballah is also a religious and well-funded terror group. It is believed that Bin Laden and other top leaders funded the estimated $500,000 September 11 attack in the U.S.
Expertise: Terror groups employ expertise in the field of information technology, IT, Engineering, sciences, and finance to help in infrastructure development and in operatives. “Aum Shinrikyo’s Shoko Asahara recruited a scientific team with expertise needed to develop WMD.” Aum Shinrikyo had an elaborate IT support system in Japan with the government and other industry players. Other logistical needs include travel documents, motor vehicle, and deceitful means of entering a country like bribing security officials among others.
Type of Operations
Aum Shinrikyo started engaging in the use of WMD as early as the 1990s and since then, the group continues with the use of WMD. The group became a concern for many after its attack on Tokyo subway in the year 1995. Since then, the world recognized the disastrous nature of terrorism with religious ideals. Satisfaction drawn from causing such disasters is pride of giving a blow to the enemies regardless of public disapproval. Aum Shinrikyo intention is to seek for state of anarchy, which is a great satisfaction to members. Al-Qaeda on the other hand adopted the tactics of Egyptian Islamic Jihad, (EIJ) that is, “fully co-opted group whose own use of martyrdom was developed and refined in Egypt during the 1990s.” EIJ uses complex suicide attacks that are difficult to uncover.