Terrorism report

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Revision as of 06:21, 13 September 2006

Report - Intro to Army of God

The Army of God is a radical, primarily Christian anti-abortion terrorist conglomerate who believes that violence is a viable option for combatting abortion. They believe in the use of force to "defend innocent life (born and unborn)", and have targeted abortion clinics and murdered abortion doctors to achieve their ends. According to the declaration in the Army of God manual, the conglomerate officially "declared war on the entire child-killing industry". They justify their tactics through "one life for one life" - that is, to take the lives of those who perform abortions and those who advocate abortion. According to their declaration, these acts are not performed due to a hate of those who perform these abortions, but rather out of a love for the victims of abortion. A few terrorists who have attacks abortion clinics have linked themselves to the Army of God, including Clayton Waagner and Eric Rudolph.

The Army of God has condoned and carried out high profile attacks over the years. Eric Rudolph, apprehended in May of 2003, carried out the bombings in Olympic Park in Atlanta, Georgia in 1996, killing one person and wounding over 100 others, as well as for the bombings of a known abortion clinic and a gay bar, where secondary bombs were placed to go off after emergency teams arrived. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced in July of 2005 to five consecutive life sentences, to avoid the death penalty. Another case involving a member of the Army of God was that of Clayton Waagner, who in November of 2001 was involved in a hoax involving white powder sent to over 500 abortions clinics with notes that claimed that they had been exposed to anthrax. He was apprehended in December of 2001 and was sentenced to 19 years in federal prison for those and other crimes.

The Army of God, though very militant and violent, is really a threat to freedom of choice rather than the nation as a whole. Their actions overall seem to be that of a very small and violent underground organization, and its members carry out few attacks, while others in the name of the Army of God commit these crimes and are fully endorsed in their name and the name of God.

conclusion -

2. I do not believe the Army of God has a legitmate excuse for the acts that they have committed - in fact, I find that their actions are hypocritical. They kill in order to stop killing, and perform their acts to "save innocent lives". Their actions, however, have resulted in the deaths of people not even linked to abortion, from receptionists to off-duty police officers. Even without the hypocrisy, it is hard to justify murdering another person, period. They are able to show their beliefs in other, non-violent ways, but have chosen to cross the line.

3. I think it's not exactly a factor of where one lives that determines one's stance on terrorism - rather, it's whether my people are being terrorized, or are the ones doing the terrorist acts. But since these groups pose a possible threat to the United States, I can say it shades the way I percieve their beliefs. I have never been one to agree with extreme beliefs and actions, and these terrorists are no exception. MY problem is not with their beliefs, but what they do in under the banner of their beliefs - actions that are more often than not unnecessary, and taken way too far.

Annotated Bibliography

"Army of God Letters Support Accused Bomber Eric Rudolph." CNN.Com. 18 Mar. 2002. 02 Sept. 2006 <http://archives.cnn.com/2002/US/03/18/army.god.letters/index.html>. The group, Army of God, support Eric Rudolph who bombed abortion clinics and a lesbian club. People were killed and injured.

"Army of God." Wikipedia. 02 Sept. 2006. 08 Sept. 2006 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Army_of_God>. The actual beliefs of the Army of God group and a list of the people they support.

"Anti-Abortion Extremists | Army of God." NAF - National Abortion Federation. 12 Sept. 2006 <http://www.prochoice.org/about_abortion/violence/army_god.html>. A summary of what the Army of God is, and a few of their core beliefs.

LTTE- Report

 The LTTE, or Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are an alleged freedom fighting group that uses terrorist tactics to push for its political agendas. Situated mainly in Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka, the Tigers have had tensions with the Singhalese government for a period of about 30  years. The organization was first started by Velupillai Prabhakaran and a small group of Tamil university students  in 1972 as the Tamil New Tigers, or TNT. The main cause for the formation of the TNT came after 25 years of failed negotiations for a Tamil State within the Northern and Eastern parts of Sri Lanka. At the time, many young Tamil students felt that the Singhalese government was not seriously listening to their concerns and resorted to forming groups which had more violent methods of demanding a separate Tamil state.  
  The first significant terrorist attack of the TNT occurred in 1975 when Alfred Duraiappah, the mayor of Jafna, Sri Lanka,  was assassinated by members of the TNT. Following the assassination of Duraiappah, a few other police officials were assassinated, and a few banks were robbed in order to provide funds for the goals of TNT. In 1976, TNT joined a group of militants headed by S. Subramanian to form the LTTE. As the years progressed, the violence committed by the LTTE grew, as did the group itself. In 1984, the group created its first sea branch called the Sea Tigers, which have been very successful in fighting against the Singhalese Navy. In 1987 the group form the Black Tigers, an elite faction of the LTTE responsible for suicide attacks on political, miltary, and economic targets. In 2001,  negotiations moderated by Norway were held between the LTTE and Sri Lanka. The LTTE dropped its cry for a separate Tamil State and a cease-fire agreement has been put into effect. However, even during the so - called cease- fire, tensions are still high between the Singhalese government and the LTTE.  
   Although claimed to be a freedom fighting group by its supporters, the tactics that have been used by the LTTE definitely show that they are a terrorist group. Within the past 30 years, many people have fallen victim to the assassination plots of the LTTE. Key figures that have been assassinated over this period include : Rajive Ghandi (former Prime minister of India), Ranjan Wijeratne ( Sri Lankan Cabinet member and former general), Lalith Athulathmudali (Sri Lankan Cabinet member), Ranasinghe Premadasa ( President of Sri Lanka), Gamini Dissanayake (Presidential Candidate), and Major General Parami Kulatunga ( 3rd highest ranking officer in Sri Lanka). 
 The tactics that the LTTE has used also violate many conventions set by the Geneva Convention and other international peace treaties, including:  the use of child soldiers, ethnic cleansing of the Sri Lankan and Muslim population in Tamil areas, assassination of political figures, and the use of suicide bombers to accomplish their agendas.  29 countries recognize the LTTE as a terrorist group, among them are India, the United States, Malaysia, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the European Union. The LTTE is not a freedom fighting group, but a terrorist group and threat to world peace.