Terrorism Essay -- Homeland Security, Politics, Social Issues, Media

George Orwell once said, â€Å"Political language— with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists—is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.† In today’s modern society, the world is continuing to become smaller and more interconnected than ever before due to media networks such as Cable News Network (CNN) providing round-the-clock news coverage and the Internet. In the last few decades, both information sources have been instrumental in helping to expose individuals all over the world to new ideas and diverse cultures. However, with this great opportunity to expand one’s knowledge and understanding of humanity, also brings to light other individuals or groups adverse and often dangerous ideologies as well. Philip Seib contends in his book, The Al Jazeera Effect,that â€Å"terrorist organizations such as Al Qaeda have made good use of new media, taking advantage of satellite television news channels’ hunger for content and using it to disseminate propaganda, display hostages, gain exposure, and on a grander scale, they count on the media to help spread terror†(pg. 3). Terrorists are unconventional in their approach to battle and operate with the belief that violence is a worthy cause in order to depose any organization or government that does not share their beliefs. Due to terrorist groups ability to use television and the Internet â€Å"to proselytize, recruit, train, and dispatch orders to their followers, governments—especially those that protect free speech—have been at a loss as to how to deal with the use of mass communication for such evil purposes†(pg. 3). Because of the unconventional nature that terrorists chose t... ...,† this time with Muslims as the primary target†(Dickinson, Keating). The Internet and Terrorism In Gabriel Weimann’s article, â€Å"How Modern Terrorism Uses the Internet† in the United States Institute for Peace Special Report, he states that, the Internet is in many ways an almost perfect embodiment of the democratic ideals of free speech and open communication; it is a marketplace of ideas unlike any that has existed before. Unfortunately, the freedom offered by the Internet is vulnerable to abuse from groups that, paradoxically, are themselves often hostile to uncensored thought and expression. Ironically, the same decentralized network of communication that the U.S. security forces created out of fear of the Soviet Union now serves the interests of the greatest foe of the West’s security services since the end of the Cold War: international terror (pg. 2).