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Terrorism And United States: Review Of The Pre-Andafter 9/11 Counterterrorism Policies |
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By
Suleyman Ozeren†
& Huseyin Cinoglu ‡
Abstract
In the United States, the response to international terrorism intensified particularly after
September 11, 2001 attacks. The U.S. has reacted to those incidents with unprecedented
policy decisions at the national and international level, including military operations in
Afghanistan, Iraq (although controversial), PATRIOT Act, etc. The effectiveness and
outcomes of these policies will be seen in the long run; however, short-term effects
proved that there are problems resulting from these policies. Pre and post 9/11 era
deserves detail analysis to understand the major shift and their consequences. The
purpose of this article is to review counterterrorism policies of the U.S. and propose
recommendations in dealing with terrorism.
Introduction
Over the past several years, terrorism has been one of the complex issues for
policy makers of the governments, political scientists, and the public. The complexity of
the terrorism has emerged not only from the definition of the concept itself but also the
tactics that terrorist groups use, the countries that support terrorist groups, and the
policies and procedures that have been used to counter terrorist actions by the target
countries.
The United States has been no exception to the phenomenon of terrorism. In fact,
the U.S. has been struggling against terrorism for along time; however, the magnitude
and the scope of this struggle have changed dramatically on the day of September 11,
2001. Terrorist organizations have targeted the U.S. citizens, military personnel,
commercial entities, and other U.S. interest for years. But these attacks have been carried
out overseas, except for the first bombing of the World Trade Center of 1993 and the
Oklahoma City bombing of 1995. In fact, the U.S. has not experienced significant
international terrorist attack until 9/11.
The response of the U.S. government to the previous attacks was mainly
retaliatory and involved small military operations against pre-identified targets. Also, the
U.S. has had list of the countries which were identified as “states sponsors of terrorism,"
and these countries were included Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria
(U.S. State Department 1998).
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* Ozeren, S., & Cinoglu, H. (2006) United States Counter Terrorism Policy: Pre and Post 9/11 Evaluations.
In I. Bal (Ed) Terrorism: National and International Perspective. ISRO Publication
† Faculty of Security Sciences, Police Academy, Faculty Memberç
‡ Ph. D. Student, Department of Sociology, University of North Texas
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Comparative Analysis of the Role of Intelligence in Counterterrorism In the United States and Turkey |
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By Ferhat Goktepe
Terrorism has become one of the most pervasive and complex policy
issues that confront the world in present times. It is no longer restricted to threats
of destruction that are made with the objective of securing political ends, and has
ceased to be limited to violent acts. Defining the range and scope of terrorism
has itself become a difficult issue, since it involves elements from various
countries and various nationalities, who may band together for a common cause,
which is generally political. The most difficult aspect of terrorism, however, is the
ambiguity and lack of clarity associated with identifying and isolating the
elements responsible for terrorism and its proliferating activity across the globe.
Enders and Sandler (2002) associate terrorism with the threat of the use of
violence, which in turn is directed towards the achievement of political ends.
According to Jessica Sterne (2003), terrorism is not the kind of enemy that
can be combated on an all out in the open combat basis. Over the years, the
face of terrorism has changed; it is no longer restricted to state sponsored
terrorism but has evolved into specialized local cells with individual terrorist
elements spreading threat in order to achieve their own selfish political or other
ends. Sterne clarifies that in this context, terrorism is not the kind of enemy that
can be combated on an all out open combat basis. She defines terrorism as “a
kind of virus, which spreads as a result of risk factors at various levels: global,
interstate, national and personal”. In some instances, the Governments of certain
countries could themselves function as terrorists when law enforcement power
remains unrestricted (Chalk, 1998). Thus, the response to terrorism could itself
The Role of Intelligence in Counterterrorism - 6
create controversy in its manner of implementation, as highlighted by Warlaw
(1994): “By over reacting or by failing to pull back after wakening or defeating the
terrorists, the state itself may subvert democracy if it employs severe
countermeasures”.
While the face of terrorism itself is difficult to define, more agreement is
emerging on its underlying causes, which have now deviated from purely political
causes into issues that are based on religion. For example, the Turkish Chief of
General Staff has identified the major causes of terrorist activity in Turkey as
being centered on religious fundamentalism and Kurdish separatism
(Sariibrahimoglu, 2005). Within the United States as well, there is increasing
awareness of militant Islam as the unseen enemy that is at the root of terrorist
activity (Pipes, 2002). This has highlighted the difficulties that are faced in
effective counterterrorism, wherein a distinction has to be made between militant
Islamic fundamentalists and the substantial peace loving Muslim population over
the globe. It is impossible to compartmentalize the problem of terrorism to a
particular country or group of people, since there is also secret and unidentified
support that is being provided to terrorist groups from elements that are
sympathetic to their causes in secret.
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The Counter-Terrorism Issue in the U.S. and Turkey’s Policies |
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By Murat Gunbeyi
Why is the attack on the Twin Towers called terrorism, while the killing of
thousands people by invading Iraq for the purpose of bringing democracy to the Middle East is
not? Indeed, international lawyers, experts, and authorities have struggled to define terrorism for
nearly a century, largely without success. In the words of the old cliché, "One man's terrorist is
another man's freedom fighter” (Weiss, 2002) There is no single, universally accepted definition
of terrorism in the literature. Because of the power of individual perspective, it is difficult to
define terrorism easily and accurately. However, according to the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, it can be defined as “the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or
property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in
furtherance of political or social objectives” (FBI, 2005). Moreover, according to other
definitions, it is a special type of violence. It is a tactic used in peace, conflict, and war. The
threat of terrorism is ever present, and an attack is likely to occur when least expected. Terrorism
may be motivated by political, religious, or ideological objectives, and it is the unfortunate
reality that terrorists recognize no rules.
Terrorism with the mean used today entered to the literature after the French Revolution,
leading to the period of political dominance called the Reign of Terror, in 1792-1794. In the
early revolutionary years, it was largely by violence that governments in Paris tried to impose
their radical new order on a reluctant citizenry (Roberts, 2002).
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Counterterrorism In Turkey: Organizational & Operational Structure And Training |
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By
Suleyman Ozeren, Ph. D.
& Ismail Yilmaz *
The phenomenon of terrorism has plagued countries throughout the world for
centuries. In September 2001, when the United States experienced its first major terrorist
attack on American soil since the World Trade Center bombing of 1993 and the
Oklahoma City bombing of 1995, the American public suddenly became painfully aware
of a variety of fundamentalist religious terrorist groups that had been active elsewhere in
the world for many years. Among these countries, the Republic of Turkey is one of the
many that has been struggling with terrorism for decades.
The purpose of this article is to explore how Turkey responds to terrorism. In fact,
this article will focus on how The Department of Anti-Terrorism operates and coordinates
counterterrorism activities. An overview of terrorist groups, including separatists,
religiously motivated terrorist organizations, and left- wing terrorist organizations in
Turkey will be discussed followed by a detailed examination of how counterterrorism
efforts are coordinated and the training programs that anti-terrorism units go through.
∗ Ozeren, S. & Yılmaz, I. (2006). Counter-Terrorism in Turkey: Organizational and
Operational Structure and Training. In P.C. Kratcoski, D. K. Das, & L. C. Normandin
(Eds) Police Education and Training in Global Society. USA: Lexington Books.
(forthcoming).
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