Government response to terrorism Free Essay Example, 3250 words

Over the same period, over 50 international organizations were blacklisted as perpetrators of terrorism. Among the blacklisted organizations include Al-Qaeda and Hezbollah. Currently, most organizations involved in terror acts are Islamic militant groups. With respect to terrorism incidents over the past two decades, UK has not been exempted from being targets by violent extremists. Fraser and Staniforth (2012) say that in 2001, a suicide bomber detonated a car bomb outside BBC’s news offices, injuring 1 worker. In June 2007, an Islamic extremist group called Jammat Ul-Furquan conducted a bombardment mission in Glasgow International Airport, which injured only the suicide bomber. Last year, a terrorist named Pavlo Lapshyn detonated an explosive device outside a mosque in Tipton. Origin of Islamic Terrorism In the past, UK used to battle with terrorist groups from Ireland and those from Central European nations. However, the UK government now worries more about Islamic terror groups than radical extremist from other European nations. Islamic terrorism started in the late 1960s as a result of overflowing Israeli-Palestine conflict. In 1968, a terrorist group called Popular front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) successfully hijacked a plane on route to Rome, Italy. We will write a custom essay sample on Government response to terrorism or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now The airline attack was directed towards coercing the Israeli government into giving in on some political demands. After the incident, Western Alliances including the UK joined an operation to support Israeli forces in fight against terrorism. Consequently, sympathizers of Palestine, especially extremist groups from other Islamic nations started siding with Palestine. In addition, radicals inside Europe started aligning with Islamic extremists in order to coerce and intimidate European governments. Currently, Pakistan and Afghanistan features as the two epicenters of Islamic terrorism activities. Current State of Terrorism The UK government did not intensified responses to terrorism until after the 9/11 attack on World Trade Center. In the past, terrorist groups were small extremist organizations engaged in small time bombing of cars and few carriages in train stations. However, terrorism has evolved into state sponsored political strategies. Currently, certain states finances, train and protect militants involved in terror activities. According to Fraser and Staniforth (2012), relationship between these militants and the sponsoring state is based on mutual political interests. For example, Iran is currently engaged in development of a nuclear program.