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The Facts:
- The word “Terrorism” originated
in France during that countries’ revolution. It was used
to describe the killings of the revolutionaries’ enemies.
This method inflicted terror on anyone who opposed the revolutionaries.
- While the majority of people agree that terrorism exists no
one can agree on exactly what it is. The most widely accepted
definition is that terrorism is any politically motivated violence
against non-combatants. The issue of “non-combatants”
has also been widely debated.
- The US State Department’s definition of terrorism is:
"Premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated
against noncombatant targets by sub-national groups or clandestine
agents, usually intended to influence an audience." According
to this definition, there were 423 international terrorist attacks
in 2000. The region with the highest number of terrorist attacks
was Latin America, with 192 attacks. The region with the second
lowest number of attacks was the Middle East with 14 terrorist
attacks.
- According to the Emergency Response and Research Center’s
statistics, there were 1106 terrorist attacks, which killed 2494
civilians in the world in 2000.
- Political assassinations, kidnappings, bombings, lynchings
and hijackings can be used as forms of terrorism.
- Many world leaders would suggest that terrorism is just brutal,
unthinking violence. According to many experts, this is untrue.
Experts agree that almost all acts of terrorism have goals and
a strategy.
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What Can You Do?
- Write a letter to a local newspaper or television station stating your opinion about the continued use of terrorism throughout the world..
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