Combating Terrorism

By:

Dr. Ali S. Awadh Asseri

(Former Saudi Ambassador to Lebanon)

     Hate, prejudice and ignorance are the other factors motivating terrorists to carry out attacks upon unsuspecting civilians. These crimes are also motivated because of race, religious and sexual preferences. However, not all ethnic crimes are against individuals or property. In the largest domestic terrorist attack in United States history, Timothy McVeigh planned and executed the bombing of the Murrah building in Oklahoma City in 1995 that left 168 dead and hundreds wounded. McVeigh believed that the United States government no longer represented the majority of its citizens and hoped to spark a mass uprising with the attack and restore America to an all-white ethnic government. Ethnic cleaning in Bosnia and Herzegovina or the mass murders committed in Rwanda are other examples of ethnic terrorism. Single-issue terrorists believe so strongly in a cause that they feel compelled to act even individually to convince the world of their sincerity and anything to bring recognition to their beliefs.[1]

(To be continued)

[1] Ibid