Propaganda and Terrorism
Propaganda involves the use of false information to influence peoples opinions and ideas. It may involve manipulation, omitting important information, distorting it or avoiding the truth so that the other person can accept a certain belief. The information delivered is misleading and deliberates and supports the interest of those propagating it (Lutz, 2004).
Terrorism involves the use of fear in order to compel individuals to perform a certain activity. It involves the use of illegal violence and war to intimidate governments or societies. The terrorists perform their activities in pursuit of their goals which are political, religious or ideological. Terrorism has existed for a long period of time. It has been mostly used by the weaker side in a conflict. Terrorists carry their activities in a secret manner and they form in small groups so that they may not be recognized by their opponents (Livingston, Kress Wanek, 1978).
Terrorism involves the use of violence to intimidate people. Activities such as destruction of property are used by terrorists to spread violence. Threats of violence are spread by terrorists so that the propaganda can terrorize the intended persons. Terrorists use propaganda to portray how they intend to cause violence to target individuals (Lutz, 2004).
Activities involving terrorism have the characteristics of causing fear and have long term psychological impact. Attacks by terrorists are conducted in order to promote fear. They are intended to exert psychological fear on the people being attacked. Terrorists attract a large audience so as to spread fear among communities. They attack national symbols to display their might and try to cause fear to the society they are conflicting with (Livingston, Kress Wanek, 1978).
How Governments Have Promoted Terrorism
Some governments have supported terrorism in order to fight their enemies and achieve some economic gains. Saudi Arabia is said to support terrorism through financing terrorists and recruiting individuals for the Al-Qaeda and other similar groups. Some reporters say that the Saudi government has persuaded its people to support terrorism in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and other countries. There has been an increase in the number of Saudi fighters working in these countries. The Saudi government is said to provide military support to the Yemeni government in its efforts to suppress the Houthi Shia population in the north. Saudi government has remained to support international terrorism (Lutz, 2004).
The success of Al-Qaeda terrorist group has been achieved due to the support it has gained. Some nations and states finance and assist in the operations of the group. The environment has changed and terrorist groups change their relationship with nations so as to avoid suspicion. The United States and the United Kingdom are the leading sellers of arms all over the world. They form business friendship with some terror groups in order to sell their weapons to them (Gareau, 2004).
Globalization has also increased the rate of terrorism since people can interact all over the world and communication is no longer a barrier to activities that involve operations where distance is a problem. Terrorists take advantage of failed states to carry out their activities. Most of the failed states have a good relationship with terrorist groups. Terrorists collude with rebel groups in the failed states in order to gain power. They have quick access to the territories of these states since there are mechanisms to suppress their operations. The environment in failed states encourages the flourishing of terrorism since they are able to finance and form strong groups with splinter groups in these countries (Houen, 2002).
Unregulated international economy encourages the flourishing of terrorism. The financing of the terrorist groups is done in a secret manner and the economies of the world cannot regulate their financial systems. No sanctions can be placed upon these groups since there is no controlled system of operating international economic affairs (Alexander Kilmarx, 1979).
The United States have failed to change the policies and programs of the Saudi government that have continued to produce military and suicide bombers. The US government has neglected to sweep terrorism emanating from the Saudi government. This neglect has led to the death of many people including the American armed forces and residents (Livingston, Kress Wanek, 1978).
When Fidel Castro was in power, he used to spread anti-US propaganda in order to create violence that affected the Colombian society. His intentions were to activate anti-American propaganda in order to spread terrorism in the US. Castro supported terror groups with the intention of fighting the Americans (Lutz, 2004).
How Ideals Have Promoted Terrorism
The United States government has perpetrated terrorism due to its activities that cause revenge from other countries. The US government has tried to overthrow more than forty foreign governments. It has tried to terminate more than thirty popular national movements. The government of the United States is known to use weapons of mass destruction. These activities have led to the death of many people. The US conflict has been recognized to affect developing countries with rich natural resources. Many sanctions have been put upon some states by the UN, and the US government implements these sanctions. This has caused retaliation from most governments and some terrorist groups have come up to fight against the American attacks (Alexander Kilmarx, 1979).
Lack of political involvement in the fight against terrorism has caused the increase in the terrorist activities. Lack of political participation has caused the increase in terrorism. The political ideals have promoted terrorism since they lack the agenda of eradicating the problem but instead concentrate on other issues that aim at fueling the situation rather than providing a solution. Politicians have poorly conducted the activities of the government and the current problems being experienced today have been caused by the poor ideals that have been put across by the politicians (Alexander Kilmarx, 1979).
How Propaganda Has Promoted Terrorism
The administration of President G. Bush exaggerated the concept of terrorism. This caused the US government to overspend its resources in the effort to suppress terrorism. The government promoted more terrorism instead of reducing it, since retaliation followed, causing the US residents to become targets by many terrorists all over the world (Gareau, 2004).
The terrorists used propaganda to spread their activities. The Al-Qaeda group has been sending video clips of how they are attempting to attack countries. This has created fear to many countries due to the spread of false information. Many states fear terrorism activities and take every effort to prevent it. When propaganda is spread, the governments put mechanisms to protect themselves. This has promoted terrorism since the governments are not aware of the truth of such propaganda (Houen, 2002).
The mass media has promoted terrorism by inflicting fear and indicating uncertainty in future. The US government withholds some information from the media in order to protect itself from terrorism activities. The government has held the idea that media is a source that is being used by terrorists to spread fear to the government and its citizens. There are certain websites that have been developed to propagate terrorism through spread of fear to those who access the internet sources. The spread of misplaced concepts through the internet has increased and terrorists are using their own websites to instill fear to people. Movies are also used to spread propaganda by terrorists. The Al-Qaeda group has produced several movies to show their plans to attempt terror attacks in some countries (Houen, 2002).
Military campaigns have been carried out to instill fear to the enemy countries. Terrorism is an activity that is done by countries which have no power to fight their rivals. They spread fear through propaganda. Terrorism has been applied as a secondary tactic in war with an objective of spreading fear to the enemy. Governments also instill fear to the citizens so as to maintain state power through the use of propaganda (Gareau, 2004).
Conclusion
Propaganda and terrorism are two words that cannot be separated. Terrorism has been made successful through the spread of propaganda. Political ideals have encouraged the spread of terrorism since many politicians create fear to their own citizens and people from other countries, hence encouraging retaliation from these individuals. Government activities have influenced the growth of terrorism since some states have been seen supporting terrorism through financing and selling arms to these groups.
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