The Problem: Terrorism in the world
Terrorism, which has been around for as long as people can remember, has been on the
rise for the past ten years. Terrorists use murder, kidnapping, hijacking, and bombings
to almost always achieve a political purpose. These radicals are not just subject to the
United States, terrorism is all over the world, in every way, shape and form.
There are many different types of terrorism, for many different purposes. The primary
reason for terrorist acts are to force a change in their nation's government. If
terrorists are not satisfied with there government's political positions, they may end up
taking the matters into there own hands. Another reason for terrorist acts are because
of hate towards a race, nationality, or religion. For example, in 1972 the Palestine
Liberation Organization invaded Israeli dorms in the Munich Olympics, and held the
Israeli athletes hostage until Israel would agree to release Palestinian terrorists that
were captured in Israel. When Israel refused to comply with the terrorists demands, they
blew up two helicopters which held the Israeli athletes, killing the whole team. This
was one of the many cruel types of terrorism. In recent years, terrorism seems to be at
a new high and attacks are more violent than in the past.
With terrorism being so secretive and having no forewarning, it has been a real problem
to deal with. The governments of many countries have tried to stop these cowardly acts,
but they just seem to be on the rise. I have a few ideas that might work
Solution:
Since there are no fool-proof ways to predict when a terrorist will strike next, there
can really be no complete answer to this problem. Even though there is no way to totally
eliminate terrorism, my solutions may still prove valid.
With the bombing of the World Trade Center, and the federal building in Oklahoma, rental
moving trucks have been used to hold the bomb. An idea I have for this type of attack,
would be to take a still photograph or a video tape of the people who rent the trucks,
along with there Social Security numbers. I Would have installed in every rental truck
an electronic fume detector that could be tied into a national satellite network, to let
investigators know what kind of materials the truck is carrying. For example, if the
truck was carrying dynamite, the sensor would relay the message to the satellite that
this truck is carrying hazardous material. In turn, the dispatchers could send the
message to the Federal Bureau of Investigations who then would send the bomb squad to the
location of the truck, and arrest the individuals driving and defuse the bomb.
It seems as though terrorists choose to place the bombs in parking garages below or
inside buildings. Another idea I have for this is to screen all vehicles entering
government buildings that may be a target for an attack. This in itself might make
terrorists more leery about entering a building carrying any type of explosive device.
The use of metal detectors on people entering government buildings along with dogs that
can sniff out bombs in vehicles can also help the situation.
One of the most lethal types of terrorist attack are hijackings on planes. There have
been a number of hijackings, which then lead to a bombing of the plane in midair. In
1986, a Pan-American Boeing 747 airplane blew up in midair killing all passengers aboard.
One of the leading terrorist groups took responsibility for this action. Again in the
late 1980's a Transworld airline flight was hijacked and made several stops before
commandos rushed the plane and killed some of the terrorists. Unfortunately, the
terrorists had taken several lives on the plane and even dumped one of the passengers
that they had killed, out of the plane onto the tarmac. One of the problems with these
type of terrorists is that, it is too easy to get a bomb into the baggage section, under
the plane. This is easy for them, because unlike carry-on luggage, the actual luggage is
not X-rayed for contraband. Some of these bombs work off of a timer and ignite the bomb
to blow up at a pre-determined time. Another type of bomb works off of the altitude of
the plane. Once the plane reaches the set altitude, the bomb will explode. I suggest
that the actual luggage should be scanned for explosives that would be dangerous to the
passengers. Since the only luggage that is scanned at this time is the carry-on luggage,
and individuals that go through the metal detectors. I recommend that all luggage being
loaded in the belly of the aircraft, also go through a metal detector being scanned by
trained eyes. This would prevent any bombs from being loaded onto the plane.
Another type of plane bombing is called the "Suicide Bomber", this is a terrorist who
straps the bomb to his body, making it harder to stop them from boarding the plane,
because you cant see it by the human eye. Unfortunately, metal detectors don't pick up
plastic explosives that a terrorist could carry on board. Another idea for this would be
to have a bomb sniffing dogs at every metal detector, which could work in terms of
stopping the bombs before they reach the plane.
Of course, there will always be terrorists who would like to make a change in the policy
of the government. And you will always have radicals who will want to take out their
anger towards a particular race, religion, or nationality. One of the best ways to stop
terrorism is, of course, by monitoring these groups closely for signs of illegal
activity. First of all, the United States of America should form coalition groups with
all of the other nations to monitor terrorist organizations of other nations. The FBI
can be the main organization to receive and filter out all potential terrorist groups.
Once the United States is aware of all the terrorist groups throughout the world and
knows the groups here in the United States, the government will be able to get a tighter
handle on the terrorist group's activities. Now that we can identify all of these
groups, we have to be able to take out the bullets and bomb making equipment from there
hands. To start with, anyone who would like to buy a gun will have to prove there intent
on using it. They would have to supply social security numbers, drivers license,
fingerprints, ballistics of the gun, and, of course, a picture of themselves taken by the
sellers of the gun. This would help ownership of the gun in case it is used it an
attack. Ammunition would have to be kept under the same kind of scrutiny as a gun, and
all the same information would have to be taken down, as if they were selling a gun.
Factories that produce chemicals, fertilizer, and anything else that could be used in
the manufacturing of a bomb, would have to have a license to make these items. When any
of these items are sold, all of the same precautions must be taken as if they were
selling guns, or ammunition. In the case of someone buying mass quantities of any of
these items, it must be reported and approved for sale by the FBI. As in the case of the
Oklahoma bombing, the ammonia nitrate fertilizer, which was the main component in the
bomb, that large quantity which would have first cleared with the FBI, before being sold.
The FBI could have questioned the need for such a large quantity and made a final
decision for the sale. If the buyers would have lied about the need of the fertilizer at
least there would have been a picture tying the ammonia nitrate fertilizer to its buyer.
We might not have been able to stop this bombing but all suspects would now be under
arrest, preventing them from future bombings.
Since terrorist acts are so cowardly, and the loss of life is so great, stiff penalties
should apply. If the person is convicted of the crime, and the crime is murder in any
degree, of any amount. That person should be locked up for life. I don't believe in the
death penalty in this case, because it would just be putting them out of their misery.
When they are sentenced, it will be in a four foot by four foot solitary confinement
cell, with no visitors, and no exercise, ever.
In conclusion, this report has tried to explain a couple ideas that may prove valid,
when put to the test. The only test being real life. If these ideas can make a
difference, and keep one more person safe from a terrorist attack, or deters one more
terrorist from blowing up a building, than this report has been worth the effort.
Bibliography: Adams, James, The Financing of Terror: The PLO, IRA, Red Brigades, M-19
and Their Money Supply (1986); Alexander, Yonah, International Terrorism, rev. ed.
(1981); Alexander, Yonah, and Myers, Kenneth, eds., Terrorism in Europe (1982);
Crenshaw, Martha, ed., Terrorism, Legitimacy, and Power (1982); Dobson, Christopher, and
Payne, Ronald, The Terrorists, rev. ed. (1982);
The Problem: Terrorism in the world
Terrorism, which has been around for as long as people can remember, has been on the
rise for the past ten years. Terrorists use murder, kidnapping, hijacking, and bombings
to almost always achieve a political purpose. These radicals are not just subject to the
United States, terrorism is all over the world, in every way, shape and form.
There are many different types of terrorism, for many different purposes. The primary
reason for terrorist acts are to force a change in their nation's government. If
terrorists are not satisfied with there government's political positions, they may end up
taking the matters into there own hands. Another reason for terrorist acts are because
of hate towards a race, nationality, or religion. For example, in 1972 the Palestine
Liberation Organization invaded Israeli dorms in the Munich Olympics, and held the
Israeli athletes hostage until Israel would agree to release Palestinian terrorists that
were captured in Israel. When Israel refused to comply with the terrorists demands, they
blew up two helicopters which held the Israeli athletes, killing the whole team. This
was one of the many cruel types of terrorism. In recent years, terrorism seems to be at
a new high and attacks are more violent than in the past.
With terrorism being so secretive and having no forewarning, it has been a real problem
to deal with. The governments of many countries have tried to stop these cowardly acts,
but they just seem to be on the rise. I have a few ideas that might work
Solution:
Since there are no fool-proof ways to predict when a terrorist will strike next, there
can really be no complete answer to this problem. Even though there is no way to totally
eliminate terrorism, my solutions may still prove valid.
With the bombing of the World Trade Center, and the federal building in Oklahoma, rental
moving trucks have been used to hold the bomb. An idea I have for this type of attack,
would be to take a still photograph or a video tape of the people who rent the trucks,
along with there Social Security numbers. I Would have installed in every rental truck
an electronic fume detector that could be tied into a national satellite network, to let
investigators know what kind of materials the truck is carrying. For example, if the
truck was carrying dynamite, the sensor would relay the message to the satellite that
this truck is carrying hazardous material. In turn, the dispatchers could send the
message to the Federal Bureau of Investigations who then would send the bomb squad to the
location of the truck, and arrest the individuals driving and defuse the bomb.
It seems as though terrorists choose to place the bombs in parking garages below or
inside buildings. Another idea I have for this is to screen all vehicles entering
government buildings that may be a target for an attack. This in itself might make
terrorists more leery about entering a building carrying any type of explosive device.
The use of metal detectors on people entering government buildings along with dogs that
can sniff out bombs in vehicles can also help the situation.
One of the most lethal types of terrorist attack are hijackings on planes. There have
been a number of hijackings, which then lead to a bombing of the plane in midair. In
1986, a Pan-American Boeing 747 airplane blew up in midair killing all passengers aboard.
One of the leading terrorist groups took responsibility for this action. Again in the
late 1980's a Transworld airline flight was hijacked and made several stops before
commandos rushed the plane and killed some of the terrorists. Unfortunately, the
terrorists had taken several lives on the plane and even dumped one of the passengers
that they had killed, out of the plane onto the tarmac. One of the problems with these
type of terrorists is that, it is too easy to get a bomb into the baggage section, under
the plane. This is easy for them, because unlike carry-on luggage, the actual luggage is
not X-rayed for contraband. Some of these bombs work off of a timer and ignite the bomb
to blow up at a pre-determined time. Another type of bomb works off of the altitude of
the plane. Once the plane reaches the set altitude, the bomb will explode. I suggest
that the actual luggage should be scanned for explosives that would be dangerous to the
passengers. Since the only luggage that is scanned at this time is the carry-on luggage,
and individuals that go through the metal detectors. I recommend that all luggage being
loaded in the belly of the aircraft, also go through a metal detector being scanned by
trained eyes. This would prevent any bombs from being loaded onto the plane.
Another type of plane bombing is called the "Suicide Bomber", this is a terrorist who
straps the bomb to his body, making it harder to stop them from boarding the plane,
because you cant see it by the human eye. Unfortunately, metal detectors don't pick up
plastic explosives that a terrorist could carry on board. Another idea for this would be
to have a bomb sniffing dogs at every metal detector, which could work in terms of
stopping the bombs before they reach the plane.
Of course, there will always be terrorists who would like to make a change in the policy
of the government. And you will always have radicals who will want to take out their
anger towards a particular race, religion, or nationality. One of the best ways to stop
terrorism is, of course, by monitoring these groups closely for signs of illegal
activity. First of all, the United States of America should form coalition groups with
all of the other nations to monitor terrorist organizations of other nations. The FBI
can be the main organization to receive and filter out all potential terrorist groups.
Once the United States is aware of all the terrorist groups throughout the world and
knows the groups here in the United States, the government will be able to get a tighter
handle on the terrorist group's activities. Now that we can identify all of these
groups, we have to be able to take out the bullets and bomb making equipment from there
hands. To start with, anyone who would like to buy a gun will have to prove there intent
on using it. They would have to supply social security numbers, drivers license,
fingerprints, ballistics of the gun, and, of course, a picture of themselves taken by the
sellers of the gun. This would help ownership of the gun in case it is used it an
attack. Ammunition would have to be kept under the same kind of scrutiny as a gun, and
all the same information would have to be taken down, as if they were selling a gun.
Factories that produce chemicals, fertilizer, and anything else that could be used in
the manufacturing of a bomb, would have to have a license to make these items. When any
of these items are sold, all of the same precautions must be taken as if they were
selling guns, or ammunition. In the case of someone buying mass quantities of any of
these items, it must be reported and approved for sale by the FBI. As in the case of the
Oklahoma bombing, the ammonia nitrate fertilizer, which was the main component in the
bomb, that large quantity which would have first cleared with the FBI, before being sold.
The FBI could have questioned the need for such a large quantity and made a final
decision for the sale. If the buyers would have lied about the need of the fertilizer at
least there would have been a picture tying the ammonia nitrate fertilizer to its buyer.
We might not have been able to stop this bombing but all suspects would now be under
arrest, preventing them from future bombings.
Since terrorist acts are so cowardly, and the loss of life is so great, stiff penalties
should apply. If the person is convicted of the crime, and the crime is murder in any
degree, of any amount. That person should be locked up for life. I don't believe in the
death penalty in this case, because it would just be putting them out of their misery.
When they are sentenced, it will be in a four foot by four foot solitary confinement
cell, with no visitors, and no exercise, ever.
In conclusion, this report has tried to explain a couple ideas that may prove valid,
when put to the test. The only test being real life. If these ideas can make a
difference, and keep one more person safe from a terrorist attack, or deters one more
terrorist from blowing up a building, than this report has been worth the effort.
Bibliography: Adams, James, The Financing of Terror: The PLO, IRA, Red Brigades, M-19
and Their Money Supply (1986); Alexander, Yonah, International Terrorism, rev. ed.
(1981); Alexander, Yonah, and Myers, Kenneth, eds., Terrorism in Europe (1982);
Crenshaw, Martha, ed., Terrorism, Legitimacy, and Power (1982); Dobson, Christopher, and
Payne, Ronald, The Terrorists, rev. ed. (1982);
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