Terrorism

            Day after day the news is reporting on a kidnapping or a bombing somewhere in the world. Terrorism is an undiscriminating crime that comes in different types of threats and violence and is used primarily to attain some sort of a political goal in one form or another. Acts of terrorism such hijacking, bombings, kidnapping occur routinely in certain parts of the world making almost anyone a potential victim. Terrorism is frightening and the results are horrifying. Terrorists generate fear through acts of violence, intimidation, and persuasion.
             Terrorism in the Webster's New American Dictionary is defined as "the systematic use of intense fear as a means of coercion." In this day and age, the term terrorism is more than just the use of intense fear as a means of coercion but includes the use of terrorism as a means of revenge and pure sport and also as a means of suppression. While the dictionaries definitions says that it is the use coercion to promote certain ideologies, some of the most cleverly hidden terrorism today is the terrorism used to suppress some ideologies or certain ethnic groups or societies. The popular image of terrorism is of extremist groups trying to rebel or promote their ideologies by blowing up airplanes, buses, government buildings, or taking hostages. By defining terrorism thoroughly, we can begin to look at what terrorism is really about. The use of terror is usually a tool to promote ideologies according to the dictionary but what about the use of terror for revenge?.
             Whether we would like to admit it or not, aircraft terrorism is a very real and deadly subject. Inside nothing more than a small suitcase, a carefully assembled explosive can bring an ending to the lives of countless men, women, and children, with no preference or regard to age, sex, and religion. In a single moment and flash, families are torn apart as their loved ones become victims of terrorism.