TERRORISM AS ASYMMETRIC WARFARE

Terrorism as Asymmetric Warfare (Weapon of the Weak)



Table of Contents

Introduction3

Discussion3

The Changing Face of Terrorism5

The Threat From Political-Cause International Terrorism6

Terrorist Targets Of The Twenty-First Century8

Conclusion10

References11

Terrorism as Asymmetric Warfare (Weapon of the Weak)

Introduction

In the US, the expression “asymmetric warfare” has flowed and ebbed in common practice. Current rate in its usage has appeared to equivalent failures and successes of America's armed battles. Nowadays, the weaker forces are using terrorism as Asymmetric warfare against more powerful forces. Terrorists have a vast array of methods at their disposal. Conventional terrorist techniques, such as bombings and shootings, remain staples of the terrorists' arsenal. Firearms and explosives remain readily available throughout the world, and when combined with surprise and overwhelming force at the point of attack, they are still very potent. In addition, the vast amounts of chemicals available for sale in the civilian market may also be converted into instruments of death, such as Timothy McVeigh's use of a fertilizer to make a bomb which he used to destroy a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995. New technologies such as Nuclear terror, Chemical weapons and biological weapons are threats as well. This paper discusses the use of terrorism as asymmetric warfare and a weapon of weak people.

Discussion

Throughout the 20th century, terrorism served as an essential weapon of those unwilling, or unable, to confront a stronger opponent on the battlefield. By a series of violent acts, terrorists hoped to destroy their opponent's will to fight. For example, the al-Qaeda group seeks, among other things, to force America to abandon its interests in the Middle East by inflicting large casualties on the American people, and in that way to influence public opinion. Such attacks had borne fruit in the past: after Islamic fundamentalists bombed a U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, the United States withdrew from that country. The March 11, 2004 bombings by al Qaeda-related terrorists in Madrid, Spain, helped turn out of office a pro-American government. (Bailey, 2009)

Terrorists have a vast array of methods at their disposal. Conventional terrorist techniques, such as bombings and shootings, remain staples of the terrorists' arsenal. Firearms and explosives remain readily available throughout the world, and when combined with surprise and overwhelming force at the point of attack, they are still very potent. In addition, the vast amounts of chemicals available for sale in the civilian market may also be converted into instruments of death, such as Timothy McVeigh's use of a fertilizer to make a bomb which he used to destroy a federal building in Oklahoma Cit in 1995. (Rogers, 2001)

Organizationally and logistically superior armed forces are frequently unable to win the Small War against irregular forces. Standing armies involved in asymmetrical wars with nonstate actors tend to use conventional strategies and the tactics of regular warfare. The irregulars are often able to compensate for their technological and logistical inferiority by using the tactics and strategy of guerrilla warfare. Standing armed forces tend not to recognize the specifically political nature of Small Wars ...