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Counter-terrorism





COUNTERTERRORISM TACTICAL UNITS

See Also: Special forces


Today, many countries have special units designated to handle terrorist threats. Besides various security agencies, there are elite tactical units whose role is to directly engage terrorists and prevent terrorist attacks. Such units perform both in preventive actions, hostage rescue and responding to on-going attacks.

These units are specially trained in Tactics and are very well equipped for CQB with emphasis on stealth and performing the mission with minimal casualties. The units include take-over force (assault teams), Sniper s, EOD experts, dog handlers and intelligence officers.

Examples include: The British Special Air Service , United States Marine Corps Anti-Terrorism Battalion and Force Recon , the U.S. FBI HRT , American Police SWAT teams, the French army ( Gendarmerie ) unit GIGN and police units GIPN and Recherche Assistance Intervention Dissuasion , British , Australia n and New Zealand SAS regiments, Australian Tactical_Assault_Group (East and West), Brazilian Army Special Forces , Israel i YAMAM , Spanish GEO and UEI , Taiwan's Thunder Squad , India's ATS , Canadian JTF-2 and the German Police SEK / MEK and Border Guard GSG 9 .

However, it is rare that military units such as the Israel i Sayeret Matkal , German KSK , the U.S. Navy's DEVGRU or the U.S. Army's Delta Force , actually engage in counter-terrorism operations, as they are largely prevented by either Jurisdiction or laws like the Posse Comitatus Act from operating in their own country.

Thus, the majority of counterterrorism operations at the tactical level, are conducted by state, federal and national , or the Mossad . Obviously, for countries whose military are legally permitted to conduct Police operations, this is a non-issue, and such counter-terrorism operations are conducted by their military.

The majority of counterterrorism operations actually take place at the Intelligence level, through the use of covert surveillance ( HUMINT ), signals intelligence ( SIGINT ), satellite intelligence ( GEOINT or SATINT), and electronic intelligence ( ELINT ). According to the U.S. Army's anti-terrorism level 1 training brief, the majority of Terrorist Cells are exposed during their Surveillance attempts as it is the only time they are visible. By the time they carry out the actual operation, it is usually too late.

Some famous counterterrorist actions of the 20th century include the Entebbe Raid by Israel , the response to the Achille Lauro hijacking, the Munich Olympics hostage rescue attempt and subsequent assassinations, the Iranian Embassy Siege and the Battle Of Mogadishu .


ANTI-TERRORISM

The concept of anti-terrorism emerges from a thorough examining of the concept of " suggests a diplomatic and less confrontational line than counterterrorism. Like its mirror terminology, it is a broad term, though it is invoked far less often.

Since the September 11, 2001 Attacks , leaders in Western nations have emphasized the importance of living a full life with no undue fear, burden, no less valor. This is commonly posited as an average citizen's way to help "defeat terrorism". Prescription of such Reactive behavior has faded from the public discourse in more recent years. In the United States , the Department Of Homeland Security was created and the War On Terrorism has shifted to Diplomatic and other Fronts like Iraq . There had been numerous cases made for the abuse of the term Anti-terrorism as a general umbrella under which cause is formulated to stifle civil liberties and dissipate dissent.


ANTI-TERRORISM LEGISLATION

See Also: Anti-terrorism legislation


In the wake of the London Bombings of 7 July and 21 July 2005 , the term has been used to describe legislative measures in both the United Kingdom and Australia which extend unprecedented powers to law enforcement. Such powers facilitate more aggressive methods of detainment and investigation of persons suspected of terrorism.

The legislation in Australia allows police to detain suspects for up to two weeks without charge, and to electronically track suspects for up to a year. In both countries, with entrenched Liberal Democratic traditions, the measures have been controversial and have been criticised by Civil Libertarian s and Islam ic groups.


COUNTERTERRORISM IN POPULAR CULTURE

  • The counterterrorism espionage operations of Section One (ambiguously set) are the main focus of the plot of '' La Femme Nikita '', created by Joel Surnow .

  • The award-winning TV series 24 , also created by Surnow, is about the Los Angeles branch of the fictional Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU).

  • The book and video game series Rainbow Six is about a fictional counterterrorist team in various fictitious conflicts.

  • The video game series traditionally features fictitious counter-terrorist operations conducted by the United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM).

  • The popular video game '' Counter-Strike '', developed by Valve Software , pits a team of terrorists against a squad of counter-terrorists.

  • Public Security Section 9 is a group in the anime/manga Ghost In The Shell ,that can be considered a counter-terrorist group.



FURTHER READING

  • Ivan Arreguín-Toft, "Tunnel at the End of the Light: A Critique of U.S. Counter-terrorist Grand Strategy," ''Cambridge Review of International Affairs'', Vol. 15, No. 3 (2002), pp. 549–563.

  • Ivan Arreguín-Toft, "How to Lose a War on Terror: A Comparative Analysis of a Counterinsurgency Success and Failure," in Jan Ångström and Isabelle Duyvesteyn, Eds., ''Understanding Victory and Defeat in Contemporary War'' (London: Frank Cass, 2007).

  • Stathis N. Kalyvas, ''The Paradox of Terrorism in Civil Wars'' (2004) in ''Journal of Ethics'' 8:1, 97-138.

  • Ariel Merari, "Terrorism as a Strategy in Insurgency," ''Terrorism and Political Violence'', Vol. 5, No. 4 (Winter 1993), pp. 213–251.

  • James Mitchell, "Identifying Potential Terrorist Targets" a study in the use of convergence. G2 Whitepaper on terrorism, copyright 2006, G2. Counterterrorism Conference, June 2006, Washington D.C.

  • Marc Sageman, ''Understanding Terror Networks'' (Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2004), ISBN 0-8122-3808-7.

  • Dan Sommer, "SD Agent - The ass fucking" (Reykjavik, Iceland) "A Surveillance Detection Manual aimed at detecting the terrorist planning process" available at www.Surveillance-Detection.biz

  • Kuriansky, Judy, Editor, "Terror in the Holy Land: Inside the Anguish of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict" (2006, ISBN 0-275-99041-9, Praeger Publishers).



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