Mail Fraud

Interception of Wire Communications

Obstruction of Justice

Poulsen also faces additional charges for breaking into military computers.

Topic:Terror and Terrorism

TERROR AND TERRORISM

The Definition of Terrorism

In recent years people have confronted such world-wide phenomenon and the most pressing problem as terrorism. Nowadays the term “terror” is a frequently used term. We identify it with fear and threat, explosions and hijacks, with the individual victims of terrorism nightly on television. The main meaning of the word “terror” is “extreme fear” and the main principle of terrorists is “Kill one, frighten ten thousand”. Terrorism is an unlawful, premeditated, motivated use of threat or violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets to achieve political, economical or religious demands and aims. It creates the atmosphere of fear and panic, strong public reaction. Terrorists are

minorities unable to get their way by lawful means and they try to get it 335

by violence and intimidation. They believe that it is morally to use illegal means to promote their own purposes and they are “ freedom fighters”.

The Purpose of Terrorist Activities

The basic aims of the terror organisations are to make doubts about the political system in the minds of people, and to weaken the authority of the government. On the other hand, terrorism is used as a tool by some powers to get political and economic advantages when a group of people creates an atmosphere of fear in the society taken as a target to obtain a profit. As a political tool for struggle, terror is also used for state's weakening another state. The next source of terrorist activity is the difference in ethnic structures or religious beliefs. The leaders of some ethnic groups try to clash the groups of people who have different cultural backgrounds and points of views and use the techniques of terror to destroy unity and order of the society.

The Characteristics of Terrorist Activities

The terrorist organisations want to make great shock and panic on society through their activities. The characteristics of terrorism can be filed as follows:

- Terrorists try to achieve their aims through forming an atmosphere of fear and destruction among the groups determined as targets.

-Terrorism is an unpredictable despotism. Terrorism involves brutal, barbarian methods and weapons.

-Terrorists act in a manner of eye to eye, tooth to tooth.

-Terrorists never recognise any morality or rules. In their point of view, nobody can be neutral, that is, a person should be in favour of them or stand on the opposite side as an enemy.

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From the History of Terrorism

The roots of terrorism are in the activities of racial and religious fanatics in the 1930s. Many terrorist movements arose in the 1960s as a part of the world-wide student protest against US participation in the Vietnam War. They started with non-lethal activities - demonstrations, occasional arson or sabotage. Later terrorist tactics were frequently employed and “improved” by racist groups as the Ku Klux Klan and religious and nationalist groups like the Hezbollah ( “the army of God “), the Palestine Liberation Front, Red Brigades in Italy, Irish Republican Army, etc. The bloodiest operations have been carried out by Arab and Palestinian terrorists since the 1970s: the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics in 1972, more than 60 bombings and hijacks. The hostages, victims and their targets for extortion were US and European citizens.

Present Day of Terrorism

Today’s terrorist activity is different from that of the past. Modern technology, advanced telecommunications and new Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) have changed the nature of terrorism. Nowadays terrorist organizations have a flexible, transnational structure. They work together in funding, sharing intelligence, training, planning, and executing attacks. Terrorist groups in one country or region can draw strength and support from groups in other countries or regions. As the alQaida network demonstrates, this multinational enterprise has its branches in more than 60 countries. Its global activities are co-ordinated through the use of personal couriers and communication technologies — cellular and satellite phones, e-mail, internet chat rooms, videotape.

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Members of terrorist groups travel from continent to continent with the ease of a vacationer or business traveller. They pay their way with funds raised through drug trafficking, credit card fraud, extortion, and money from covert supporters. They use charitable organisations and nongovernmental organisations for funding and recruitment. Money for their operations is transferred through numerous banks, money exchanges. The terrorist organisation’s structure, membership, resources (safe houses, training grounds, reliable communication and financial networks) and security determine its capabilities and reach.

Weapons

As we know, a terrorist act can include two, three or more traditional crimes: bombing, murder, kidnapping, taking a hostage, extortion and hijacking, etc. These crimes are usually committed by wellarmed and prepared groups. The usual weapons of terrorists from the 1960s to the 1980s were guns, knives, poison gas and car bombs. The ease of intercontinental transportation enables modern terrorist organisations to more easily acquire, manufacture, and deploy chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear weapon, or high-yield explosives. While new instruments of terror such as cyber attacks are on the rise, explosives and bioterrorism ( e.g. the Aum Shinrikyo’s efforts to deploy biological weapons and the lethal sarin gas attack in the Tokyo subway in 1995, the contaminated letters in the USA in 2001) have become the urgent problem for the international community.

Combating Terrorism

Terrorist acts are criminal in nature and constitute a serious threat to individuals’ lives or freedom. The struggle against international

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