Terrorism

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorCollege, Undergraduate January 2002

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Terrorism has become the center of discussion since the attacks of September 11th, and more recently, after the crash of another plane in New York. Terrorism is a type of violence that started hundred of year ago but wasn't as affective as it is right now. Today, terrorism represents a serious threat to our society because, with the highly sophisticated weaponry of the modern world, terrorists can easily wipe out a large area of the population in a fraction of a second.

The weaponry is the main reason why terrorism constitutes a dangerous threat to mankind. In the past, terrorism was something called "national problem" because it happens within the country. Terrorism has we know it now started in Ireland at the beginning of the 19th century with the coalition of the members of the IRA. They used traditional way of murdering such as car bombing or even daylight assassination, especially against political deputies.

These acts provoke fear among the population, but the acts were done with weapon that didn't cause spread damage. The civilians were somehow spared. However, in the modern world, the development of the media allows terrorists to touch a large public from around the world because people have access to news quickly. Therefore, terrorists try to exploit and to maximize this source of information to achieve their requests. With the growth of the power of the media, terrorists look for more attention, thus bigger assaults occur. The more people they kill, the closer they feel they are to their goal because of the massive news coverage they will obtain. Massive killing becomes the trademark of terrorists. A contrast between the past and the present of terrorism appears clearly. In the past, terrorists focused on one single target but today, everybody seems to be a potential target...