关于恐怖主义动机的研究
在过去的二十年中，恐怖主义组织持续增长。随着大规模杀伤性武器（现在成为WMDs）的不断增加，如何确保这些库存的安全性和怎么不让恐怖分子接近他们是当务之急。但是同样重要的是了解恐怖分子是如何运作的，他们为什么以及为什么不可能有获取大规模杀伤性武器的动机。
自从911事件以后，，恐怖分子的大规模杀伤性武器的威胁更为严峻。恐怖分子从未有过的不同，恐怖主义的目的到目前为止也改变了方向。911不能被定义为典型的恐怖主义，为了理解其中的原因，我们需要了解一下恐怖袭击背后的真实目的。
Terrorist groups have grown persistently in the last two decades. With an ever-increasing arsenal of Weapons of Mass Destruction hereby referred to as WMDs, it becomes imperative to question how safe are these stockpiles and what efforts might terrorists undertake to access them. But it is also equally important to understand how terrorists operate and why or why not may they be motivated to acquire WMDs.
The WMD threat from terrorists gained credence after 9/11. Never before had the ammo of terrorists been so different and the ideology veered so far from what terrorism seeks; 9/11 could not be defined as typical terrorism, and to understand why, we need to look at the objectives behind a terrorist attack.
Conventional violence, as opposed to terrorism, only works on the principle of violence without a higher purpose (ignoring oppression). The act involves two actors, one is the perpetrator of violence, and the other is the victim. For terrorism, three protagonists are involved, first is the terrorist, second being the victim(s), and the last is the audience which is supposed to be affected indirectly through the actions of the terrorists, mainly through fear and anxiety (Ackerman, 2004).
9/11 on one hand was a terrorist attack. Terrorism, under its definition, is the "calculated use of unlawful violence or threat of unlawful violence to inculcate fear. It is intended to coerce or intimidate governments or societies ... [to attain] political, religious, or ideological goals." (DoD, 2001). The world watched as the two towers, symbols of US economic prowess and prosperity, crumbled to the ground. But more important than the symbolic fall of these buildings was the fear instilled into the hearts of US citizens. The terrorists had sent a message; no place is safe.
On the other hand, the attacks caused nearly 3000 deaths as a direct result. Terrorists seek to spread fear, not death. That Tuesday morning, terrorists meant to kill as many people as they could. The scale of the attack led many to believe that this could be act of war (an excuse the Bush administration later used to attack Afghanistan). However, the first aim of terrorism also stood fulfilled. Fear gripped the country and air travel was like never before.
Discussing the factors contributing to terror organizations' motives and their ideology is also paramount. In the 1995 Sarin gas attacks on the Tokyo subway, the perpetrators were religiously rooted, but motivated politically. In the dynamic system of these ideas, it is hard to say which would eventually be the deciding factor. On that day in Tokyo, Aum Shinrikyo, the cult responsible, decided to carry out the attack to divert attention after getting tipped that the police would be raiding their facilities (Richard Danzig, 2011). This attack was one of the first terrorist chemical attacks against a civilian population.
Why the group resorted to using chemical weapons is an important question. Sarin gas is a nerve agent, and is also considered a WMD once weaponized. What Aum wanted to do was to wipe out a large portion of Tokyo's urban population. The group did manage to injure thousands of people travelling on the subway, while killing a few as well. Using conventional weapons, this attack would not have been successful, mainly due to the intricate system of tunnels in subterranean Tokyo, blowing up which would have been nearly impossible. And since the group had pursued Biological weapons before, it was only a matter of transferring knowledge into the chemical warfare program to develop Sarin from ground-up.
The well-known terrorist organisation, Al-Qaeda is known to be in pursuit of WMDs. In a 1998 interview, long before it became a household name, Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden hinted at the group's pursue of WMDs.
We must use such punishment to keep your evil away from Muslims, Muslim children, and women. American history does not distinguish between civilians and military, and not even women and children. They are the ones who used the bombs against Nagasaki. Can these bombs distinguish between infants and military?a
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