Terrorism Revisited

Jon Rockwood

Terrorism Revisited

            In the beginning of our class on global terrorism, I defined terrorism as: the use of unconventional violence and terror, deployed by non-state actors against an enemy government or civilian non-combatants, in pursuit of a political goal or agenda. Now, after a semesters worth of analyzing different groups and actions that have categorized as terrorism, I still believe those are core pillars to defining terrorism. To make my definition more condensed, I believe terrorism is the use of unconventional violence, used by non-state actors against non-combatant targets, to achieve a political goal or an ideological agenda. After analyzing multiple accounts of possible acts of terrorism throughout the course has facilitated my ability to support my definition. John Brown and the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) are two examples of non-state actors who used unconventional violence towards non-combatants in an attempt to accomplish their goals.

            John Brown, the pre-Civil War abolitionist, is widely taught in American textbooks as freedom fighter, battling slavery. Though that is a moral cause, the actions and tactics he used against slave owners should categorize him as a terrorist. John Brown used guerilla type tactics when he attacked and murdered pro-slavery men at Pottawamie. Brown also committed arson on many properties of those who supporters of slavery, regardless of if they owned slaves or not. These unconventional tactics of violence at the time were messages to anyone in Kansas that supported slavery was a possible target to be attacked and killed. Ironically, some of the violent tactics that Brown used to keep Kansas a free territory were the same tactics later used by the KKK to show support for slavery, a very immoral cause. John Brown’s strategies used to promote his anti-slavery agenda are terroristic in nature, and therefore he should be considered a terrorist based on his actions.

            The ELF is a domestic environmentalist group that has committed atrocities against companies that, in the ELF’s eyes, are killing the environment. The primary targets of the terroristic attacks are logging companies that operate in the American-Northwest. The group will burn down the logging companies to advocate their goal of saving the environment. Although the group doesn’t kill civilians during their arsons, they decimate lifestyles. By destroying the logging company, not only do they destroy a source of income for thousands of people, they also instill paranoia in the company, fearing if they build another facility it will also be destroyed. This is another example of a group backing a moral cause but uses extreme, unlawful measures to accomplish their goal. The ELF is a good example that terrorists need not kill people but using extreme violence outside of a social norm, against an enemy that is not engaging back at them, and is motivated by an ideological agenda is what categorizes them as terrorists.

                        Terrorism and the ways to combat it will always continue to change for the rest of history. With the changing of terror tactics deployed by those seeking to intimidate others, the definition of what terrorism is will also continue to change. In my opinion, I believe terrorism is the use of unconventional violence, used by non-state actors against non-combatant targets, to achieve a political goal or an ideological agenda. Furthermore, I do not believe that states can commit terrorism nor can terrorism be committed between combatants in an active conflict. Additionally, what separates a criminal from a terrorist is the presence of a political or ideological goal. John Brown and the Earth Liberation Front are both groups that some would not consider terrorists because of the moral causes they fought for. But based on the type of violence they used, against non-combatants in pursuit of ideological goals, they should be categorized as terrorists. By outlining concrete characteristics of what terrorism is, I believe those who commit it will be held responsible for their actions, and the global war on terror will continue to succeed.