Historical reference to U.S. counter-terrorism practices, and how Essay

Historical reference to U.S. counter- terrorist act practices, and how these practices have been developed - Essay typefaceTwo members, besides the introductory one, deal with key issues in crafting the US counterterrorism strategies, plot of land the third section lays a particular emphasis on the current approach to countering acts of terror and terrorist networks. Thus, the final section discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the current US counterterrorism policy and draws a conclusion about its effectiveness. Introduction As a general rule, terrorism is unsusceptible to exact definition insofar as certain interpretations could justify violence, especially actions conducted under the monetary standard of politics, which is otherwise unacceptable (White, 2012). Thus, as White (2012) states, terrorism denotes different things to different people, being called either basal war or crime in one or another period of history. On the other hand, according to White (2012), terro rism itself, along with the counter-terrorist responses, are practices that have always been in transition while Ambassador Michael Sheehan (retd) points out that terrorism is both provoked and sustained by technological progress, development and, maybe most notably, globalization (Alexander & Kraft, 2008). In that regard, the smaller the world has become, the more capable terrorists would appear whether in ground of communication, travel, funding, or weaponry (Alexander & Kraft, 2008). The advent of global-oriented terrorism in the 1990s, being represented first and foremost by Islamic Jihad- and al-Qaeda-led activities worldwide, appears a powerful argument in favor of that statement (Anderson and Sloan, 2009). In his foreword to maturation of US Counterterrorism Policy, Ambassador Sheehan (retd) concluded that the US counterterrorism policies generally present a perspective on the evolution of terrorism itself (Alexander & Kraft, 2008). Being largely preoccupied with traditi onal interstate conflict and counterinsurgency, the US case warrantor establishment first recognized the terrorist threat in the early 1970s while the increasing frequency, substantially extended reach and magnified lethality of terrorist dishonours in the 1980s and 1990s up to the post 9/11 era, firmly shifted the focus of attention on terrorism in order to become US national security policys top priority (Sheehan in Alexander & Kraft, 2008). Correspondingly, the US counter-terrorist responses and tactics reflected the outgrowth complexity of terrorist threat worldwide, including weapons of mass destruction, cyber-terrorism, etc. (Lia, 2003). The Times of Blissful Ignorance There have been numerous acts of terrorism across the world in modern times, but the United States became a prime terrorist target as late as the 1980s until then, the term terrorism had been applied to various groups, including revolutionaries, anarchists, nationalists and violent left-wing activists, who in the first place targeted European citizens and governments (White, 2012). As the meaning of terrorism fluctuated over time, the forms of terrorist activity also fluctuated between group violence, bacchanalia and guerilla warfare (White, 2012). In turn, the tactics employed by terrorist organizations varied from kidnapping to assassinations and bombings, including suicide ones. The attack on the