Causes of International and Domestic Terrorism

As the Twin Towers went up in smoke on September 11, 2001, the question that rose in many Americans' minds was "Why?!" "Why would somebody do this to innocent people who worked in the buildings?" "Why did the men who tried to save victims from the building (firefighters and policemen) have to perish as well?" "What did these people do to deserve to be murdered in such a shocking way?" In the midst of disaster there doesn't seem to be any justification as to why terrorists do what they do, but there are many reasons.

Domestic terrorism can be started by a group of individuals who don't agree with society or how their country is governed. They may commit acts of violence to make a political statement of protest. They may want communism, socialism, or anarchy in their nation. They may want to overthrow their current government/leaders to bring in someone who more closely resembles their ideals. A way of hurting the government they despise is to sabotage the economy. Some terrorists blow up buildings which depletes jobs and causes a deficiency in funds to rebuild. Terrorists of a different religion may live in America and feel that it is their duty to destroy the nation that doesn't believe in what they believe. Putting fear into their victims is a terrorist's goal and not being afraid to die in the process is their means.

International terrorism, such as 9/11, is caused by extremist groups such as: Al Qaeda, [P]IRA, Hezbollah Party, and many others. These groups also want to make political statements. The [P]IRA creates acts of terrorism and bombing when they cross the border of the Republic of Ireland into Northern Ireland (U.K.). They do not believe that N.I. should be occupied by the United Kingdom and have been the source of bombings since the 1960s. Terrorist groups who receive money and food from Iraq and Iran create destruction in the U.S. and in U.S. embassies around the world because of U.S. military occupation in Iraq and Iran. It is also a religious "honor" of these people to die in war, so they make up most of the suicide bombers the world sees. Sabotaging another nation's economy creates a hindrance on the way its society acts. When 9/11 occurred, many Americans were scared and the stock market suffered. The terrorists' goal was achieved. They had sabotaged the economy and put fear into the people of the U.S.

Victims of terrorism are usually innocent civilians and businesspeople. In New York City, a thousand or more people went to work on Sept. 11 and didn't come home to their families because of the acts of terrorism against the U.S. Hundreds of firefighters and policemen were killed on 9/11, also, trying to rescue trapped civilians before the building collapsed. Many journalists are also killed by terrorists because they are so close to the action. A CNN reporter who goes to Iraq knows the risks but goes to get a story and is killed by insurgents as they bomb a military base. Civil leaders and diplomats are assassinated by terrorists trying to overthrow a government. Al Qaeda attempted this on 9/11 but the plane headed for the White House was stopped by some brave civilians.

There are many causes of both domestic and international terrorism. Some causes are the same for both groups. The victims of these acts are innocent civilians just going about their day-to-day lives when attacked. It is a terrible tragedy and the U.N. does what it can to prevent matters from escalating to that point, but they have much more work to do.