Sample Research Paper On Terrorism By Isis From A Criminological View Point

Terrorism is a phenomenon that has continued to affect the global community dating far back to the first century. Terrorism can be defined as a political strategy and tactic or a dignified reaction to inexcusable oppression to bring about political or social change and some see it as a crime, this all depends on the point of view. Terrorism has mostly been identified as a criminal act in countries all over the world due to their heinous acts of violence which are mostly targeted at the weak and innocent (LaFree 2004). The effectiveness of acts of terrorism such as the bombing of the twin towers in 9/11 usually rely on the reaction of more so the government and also that of the public, instilling fear is the ultimate goal of terrorism. Some scholars argue that terrorism may be an act of self-help in order to better understand the criminology of terrorism. This paper therefore seeks to discuss how the terror group ISIS can be analysed from a criminological explanation and to understand their motives regarding recent news on ISIS.
The rapacious nature of terrorist’s violence and the conditions that terrorism emerges from seem to be overlooked in the criminology assessment of terrorism. There are no generally acceptable legal definitions of terrorism and one is innocent until they commit a criminal act. This may include anything from murder, to bombing and kidnaping in the name of a self-proclaimed terrorist group. The approach used to deal with crime cannot be used to address the war of terrorism. Though the acts of terrorism resemble most criminal acts, various factor such as sociological manifestation of public structures is beyond the powers of authorities by definition. Certain factors such fighting against terrorism is political and most terrorists are firm believers in that their cause is just, this tends to conflict aspects of crime in that acts of crime are mostly social and most of the criminals are just insolent.
The Islamic state of Iraq and ash sham (ISIS) has in the last few years grown to become the wealthiest terror group. It is a group that has continued to instil fear into people by carrying out decapitations of journalist and other monstrous. ISIS was part of the Al Qaida terrorist group in 2004 but it later branched out ( McCoy 2014). It was as a result of genocide that saw over 200,000 Syrians massacred as the world quietly watched and stood back. It is an organisation that was born out of pure fright and hate. The group initially received funding by select wealthy people in the gulf but later on the people stopped donating. The group resulted to oil smuggling, extortion, kidnaping for ransom and also from human trafficking. This group is also known for selling female sex slaves all in the aim to raise money for their criminal actions. Their acts have been experienced worldwide with the worst hit countries being Syria and Iraq where the group has managed to acquire control of. Other counties have had their people decapitated, kidnaped and others burnt alive. ISIS’s goal is to create an extensive Islamic caliphate and it is clear that they intend to do that through fear and crime.
One of the most gruesome criminal activities was the beheading of the Japanese journalist Kenji Goto who had gone to Syria to document the stories of the families who had been affected by war. Isis has captured Goto and his colleague Haruna Yukawa and demanded a $200 million ransom to release the journalists. Later ISIS released a video on YouTube that showed Kenji’s decapitated body after the organization murders his fellow Japanese Yukawa, this heinous act of crime hit Japan hard. Japan has now been pulled into the war against terrorism. Even though it is evident that Japan’s association with the Islamic states is of humanitarian actions, where the country’s citizens have been assisting the families affected by war, ISIS doesn’t acknowledge this and used the murder of the journalists as a warning to japan (CNN 2015).
The Jordanian pilot who was burnt alive in a cage was an image that horrified people all over the world. The video shows the pilot being led into a cage and then being set on fire as people watched, cheered, hooted and chanted “god is great”. The group said that the burning of the pilot was pay back for him taking part in air raids against them. The group went ahead and taped the ordeal and posted on the internet. The saddest part of all this was a small boy who commented saying that he would like to capture pilots and burn them after watching the burning of the pilot (CNN 2015). The image that ISIS is creating for the world is one of pure brutality that knows no limits, what is worse is the effect their actions are having on the younger generations in both Syria and Iraq. This eroded moral conduct is a great social deterioration that is bound to lead to increase of such criminal activities in both countries and in parts all over the world.
There was however a sixty year old man Mr Ramadan who decided to take revenge on the ISIS terrorist group for the killing of his eighteen year old son Ahmed basil. The father opened fire on some militants who were at a check point, killing seven of them before he was gunned down. The Iraq eighteen year old had been accused of being a government spy who had infiltrated the organization in order to leak information on Isis’s strategies to the Iraq government. Ahmed was executed together with other men who were also suspected to be government spies. This was done in broad daylight where they were shot by masked men and the taped video was released to the public (CNN 2015). This action by the brave father seemed to stir up support and people all over the world acknowledged his actions against the terror group Isis.
ISIS, through the examination of all their acts of terror, can be described as a savage group of people who don’t care about humanity. The stories mentioned above are only a drop in the ocean as the group has continued to carry out publicly displayed decapitations and mass murder. These actions are clearly criminal actions that should have the various people participating in the mortifying acts convicted. These acts that include murder, kidnapping and human trafficking are all criminal acts that the group has managed to carry out. However the terrorists remain untouched by the Iraq government. Even though the terror group has control of some part of Iraq how comes the government cannot prosecute them. By analysing their actions is safe to say that crime and terrorism may be similar in some point. They are both wrong acts, the subtle difference between crime and terrorism may just be that terrorism is organised crime. ISIS is a group of men who all follow the ruling of a leader, the leader is fearless and they do not cover their faces as they believe they are not scared of anyone attacking them. Orders for attacks or bombing and capture are handed down from the leader. The followers are fiercely loyal to their leader and they give their lives to the working of the terror group.
All acts of terrorism are criminal acts prosecutable in court. However certain gaps in the law of most nations including the United States of America do not have a clear guideline and laws to be in a position to prosecute terrorist on the mere fact of a person identifying with a terrorist group (LaFree 2004). The lack of a legal strategy has led to the flourishing of the terror groups. In the past, the USA has conducted a couple of leader takedown as a strategy to stop terror groups, however this tactic doesn’t work as efficiently as it should because it has just led to increased outrage and formation of worse terror groups. Case in point ISIS, after the death of Osama bin laden the world thought war on terror was over only for Isis to take over with more force than ever. Understanding the difference and similarities between terrorism and crime and incorporating the laws from all countries including the Islamic laws will help establish a full proof system that allows for the full prosecution of terror groups.
Terrorists conduct merciless mass killings which can be compared to the actions of serial killers. This similarity is however not enough to treat the terrorists the same way that serial killers they would be persecuted. This is because serial killers are mostly assumed to have committed the act without any reason it is an act of insolence therefore one is able to convict a serial killer. Terrorists mostly work on the basis of correcting a wrong, in their opinion what they are doing is not wrong if it leads to what they think is a better society. They therefore have a leeway in the aspect of mass murder because it is not in vain and people (their supporters) will see them as heroes. This is how the terror group ISIS is able to get away with mass murder without the Iraq government being in a position to do anything about it. Terrorism comes in various forms and that is another factor that makes it hard to determine the wrong and the right aspects of terror acts. This may range from religious terrorism, where the individuals seem to act in the name of ‘god’, to criminal terrorism such as ISIS where the acts carried out are for the benefit of the organization and state terrorism that may blow over into international terrorism, mostly started by a government against enemies (O'Connor 2007). It is hard to justify that religious terrorists should be prosecuted the same way as the criminal terrorist due to the reason behind the movement and what reasons would justify state terrorism as right and religious terrorism wrong. However some aspects in criminal terrorism could be used to better understand how criminology can be used to convict the participants in terror acts.
Terrorism is a broad form of political and social injustice that requires the cooperation of all countries, the use of legal resources, religious considerations, and psychological analysis of all factors that lead to the development of a terrorist organization. The stories discussed above clearly depict the senseless brutality of terrorist groups such as ISIS and the torment that people affected directly and indirectly have to go through. It is an unnecessary organisation that should be dealt with head on with intelligent strategy. As Mr Ramadan acted with the courage of a thousand men against the acts of Isis it is possible to use criminology to do away with terrorism and terror groups such as ISIS.

References

LaFree, G., & Dugan, L. (2004). How does studying terrorism compare to studying crime.
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McCoy, T. (2014). ISIS Just Stole $425 million, Iraqi Governor Says, and Became the
‘World’s Richest Terrorist Group,’. Washington Post.
Dr. Tom O'Connor (2007) The Criminology of Terrorism: History, Law, Definitions,
Typologies, http://www.cultsandterror.org
Gibbs, J. (1989). "Conceptualization of terrorism." American Sociological Review 54: 329-
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World News, Middle East CNN.com retieved 23/3/2015 http://www.cnn.com