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Terrorists & Terrorist Groups
This title provides an examination of several of the most dangerous and influential terrorists and terrorist groups throughout history. The chapters include biographical information on individual terrorists along with historical information about the groups they belonged to and the actions they carried out.
96 pages, ebook
First published October 7, 2005
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May 15, 2025
TERRORISTS AND TERRORIST GROUPS is one of four volumes. This volume covers Hamas, the Shining Path, The Irish Republican Army (IRA), Timothy McVeigh, and Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda. Now some may say that one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter, but that is just a perversion of the truth. The goal of Freedom Fighters is to free their people because they love them or want to make conditions better for them, and hopefully for their descendants. Terrorists propaganda claim they want the same thing but they don't care who they kill, even if it is the ones they claim to be crusading for, and the ultimate goal is not freedom, but rather to replace those in power with their own undemocratic rule. As a matter of fact, they welcome the killing of the innocent, and especially children. Hamas uses human shields for two reasons. Shielding their bunkers with schools and hospitals make the targeting of bunkers difficult, and if the bunkers are destroyed along with the innocent then that makes for excellent propaganda for their cause. The Shining Path killed those they were supposed to be helping indiscriminately. The leader, Abimael Guzman, killed anyone who didn't follow him blindly. The IRA targeted military and political opponents but the innocent were often collateral damage, or even killed as a reprisal. McVeigh intentionally targeted the innocent because they accepted the status quo. Osama purposely targeted civilians along with the military even though his own religion forbade this.
Hamas
I wondered whatever became of Yasir Arafat? The last I heard of him was when he and Gaddafi were scared to death that they would be blamed for 9/11. It seems that Arafat and his Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) had changed their tactics to work for the advancement of Palestinians through education and business opportunities. This didn't suit Ahmed Yassin who founded Hamas. His interpretation of Islamic teachings led him to declare all out war on their enemies as well as collaborators, meaning Araft and the Palestinian Authority. The Hamas are not above using youths to attack or threaten Israeli military and when the soldiers feel threatened enough to use lethal force the Hamas instigators, bravely standing on the sidelines, film it and claim genocide. Hamas is recruiting supporters in this country, many in colleges of all places! Hamas supporters recently disrupted students studying for final examples at Columbia University by taking over the library and passing out pamphlets glorifying a terrorist killed by Israeli troops. That frightens me as it is only a matter of time before some nut in a bomb vest walks into a crowded mall.
The Shining Path
Abimael Guzman was the founder of The Shining Path in Peru. Some say he was the Shining Path due to his charisma and tight reins he held over the organization. Studying his background one would think he was such a nice young man who would go far. Over the years he came to idolize such tyrants as Fidel Castro and Mao Tse-tung. They taught him to use violence to get what he wanted, killing anybody who got in his way. Originally, he was a champion of the poor and oppressed. Becoming paranoid and distrustful of any who questioned him in the least, he would have them killed. Some say that he even had his wife killed in staged suicide. Any civilian not supportive of him was killed as well. His terrorists caused the depopulation of hundreds of villages and left about 27,000 dead. Eventually he was captured and is now serving life.
The Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army has been in existence longer than any other group. Unlike other terrorist groups it is not dependent on just one or two leaders. Ireland is composed of two territories, or 'countries.' The Republic of Ireland (Eire) is the larger and predominantly Catholic. In the northeast is the territory of Northern Ireland, sometimes referred to as Ulster, where the majority are Protestants.
"More than one observer has noted that while Ulster has plenty of Catholics and plenty of Protestants, it has a severe shortage of Christians."
Though Ulster is where most of the fighting takes place, the IRA bombings have at times spread to England. Having read extensively on World War II, it saddened me to hear that they killed Lord Louis Mountbatten by placing a bomb on his boat. Since the Easter Rising in 1916 England has been involved in events in Ireland. So even though it appears that the fighting is of a political nature it is more of a 'tit for tat' between the two religious groups in Ulster. While the Protestants get support from England, the American Catholics support the Irish Catholics. I feel that if they don't work things out both sides will have a lot to answer for at The Second Coming.
Timothy McVeigh
Timothy McVeigh was another of those 'normal' young men like Abimael Guzman growing up. Some have tried to point out that he was into guns and being a survivalist as if that was a latent bearing on how he turned out. That is politically correct hogwash. If that was the case then this country would be in a lot more turmoil than what there is. McVeigh was influenced by events at Ruby Ridge and Waco. I can understand him being upset with what happened at Ruby Ridge. Imagine having a sniper shooting your young son in the back as he is running home and then another shooting your wife in the face as she is holding her infant! Randy Weaver sued the government for that and as the government won't "deny or admit" to anything, they did settle out of court. The same evil character that was in charge of Ruby Ridge went on to Waco, where some feel he made sure there were no survivors this time. But like Yassin and Guzman, McVeigh's sense of patriotism morphed into a hate of any not supportive of him and his ideas. So like other terrorists he would target innocent civilians as well as those he felt responsible. His bomb killed 168 people. It was the largest attack before 9/11. He was caught and executed for his crime.
Osama bin Laden
Like Guzman, Osama bin Laden was the mastermind behind al-Qaeda. Being a wealthy Saudi he practically funded the recruiting, training, feeding, lodging, and arming of his own private terrorist organization. Of course he covered his tracks well enough to claim he wasn't responsible for the havoc he caused. He was involved in the fighting against the Soviets in Afghanistan, but by the time of the Gulf War he felt that American troops should not have been allowed to 'pollute' Saudi sacred soil. His hate grew, for various reasons, until he hated all Americans. Hence, the events of 9/11. Since the book was published he had gone into hiding, but US forces tracked him down and killed him. The story is that he was buried at sea.
This review has been rather long but people should be aware of what goes on in our world.
Photos and maps are included.
Hamas
I wondered whatever became of Yasir Arafat? The last I heard of him was when he and Gaddafi were scared to death that they would be blamed for 9/11. It seems that Arafat and his Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) had changed their tactics to work for the advancement of Palestinians through education and business opportunities. This didn't suit Ahmed Yassin who founded Hamas. His interpretation of Islamic teachings led him to declare all out war on their enemies as well as collaborators, meaning Araft and the Palestinian Authority. The Hamas are not above using youths to attack or threaten Israeli military and when the soldiers feel threatened enough to use lethal force the Hamas instigators, bravely standing on the sidelines, film it and claim genocide. Hamas is recruiting supporters in this country, many in colleges of all places! Hamas supporters recently disrupted students studying for final examples at Columbia University by taking over the library and passing out pamphlets glorifying a terrorist killed by Israeli troops. That frightens me as it is only a matter of time before some nut in a bomb vest walks into a crowded mall.
The Shining Path
Abimael Guzman was the founder of The Shining Path in Peru. Some say he was the Shining Path due to his charisma and tight reins he held over the organization. Studying his background one would think he was such a nice young man who would go far. Over the years he came to idolize such tyrants as Fidel Castro and Mao Tse-tung. They taught him to use violence to get what he wanted, killing anybody who got in his way. Originally, he was a champion of the poor and oppressed. Becoming paranoid and distrustful of any who questioned him in the least, he would have them killed. Some say that he even had his wife killed in staged suicide. Any civilian not supportive of him was killed as well. His terrorists caused the depopulation of hundreds of villages and left about 27,000 dead. Eventually he was captured and is now serving life.
The Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army has been in existence longer than any other group. Unlike other terrorist groups it is not dependent on just one or two leaders. Ireland is composed of two territories, or 'countries.' The Republic of Ireland (Eire) is the larger and predominantly Catholic. In the northeast is the territory of Northern Ireland, sometimes referred to as Ulster, where the majority are Protestants.
"More than one observer has noted that while Ulster has plenty of Catholics and plenty of Protestants, it has a severe shortage of Christians."
Though Ulster is where most of the fighting takes place, the IRA bombings have at times spread to England. Having read extensively on World War II, it saddened me to hear that they killed Lord Louis Mountbatten by placing a bomb on his boat. Since the Easter Rising in 1916 England has been involved in events in Ireland. So even though it appears that the fighting is of a political nature it is more of a 'tit for tat' between the two religious groups in Ulster. While the Protestants get support from England, the American Catholics support the Irish Catholics. I feel that if they don't work things out both sides will have a lot to answer for at The Second Coming.
Timothy McVeigh
Timothy McVeigh was another of those 'normal' young men like Abimael Guzman growing up. Some have tried to point out that he was into guns and being a survivalist as if that was a latent bearing on how he turned out. That is politically correct hogwash. If that was the case then this country would be in a lot more turmoil than what there is. McVeigh was influenced by events at Ruby Ridge and Waco. I can understand him being upset with what happened at Ruby Ridge. Imagine having a sniper shooting your young son in the back as he is running home and then another shooting your wife in the face as she is holding her infant! Randy Weaver sued the government for that and as the government won't "deny or admit" to anything, they did settle out of court. The same evil character that was in charge of Ruby Ridge went on to Waco, where some feel he made sure there were no survivors this time. But like Yassin and Guzman, McVeigh's sense of patriotism morphed into a hate of any not supportive of him and his ideas. So like other terrorists he would target innocent civilians as well as those he felt responsible. His bomb killed 168 people. It was the largest attack before 9/11. He was caught and executed for his crime.
Osama bin Laden
Like Guzman, Osama bin Laden was the mastermind behind al-Qaeda. Being a wealthy Saudi he practically funded the recruiting, training, feeding, lodging, and arming of his own private terrorist organization. Of course he covered his tracks well enough to claim he wasn't responsible for the havoc he caused. He was involved in the fighting against the Soviets in Afghanistan, but by the time of the Gulf War he felt that American troops should not have been allowed to 'pollute' Saudi sacred soil. His hate grew, for various reasons, until he hated all Americans. Hence, the events of 9/11. Since the book was published he had gone into hiding, but US forces tracked him down and killed him. The story is that he was buried at sea.
This review has been rather long but people should be aware of what goes on in our world.
Photos and maps are included.
November 6, 2015
Pros: This book is the only book in my school library that contains any information on the IRA.
Cons: Doesn't say anything about ISIS.
Cons: Doesn't say anything about ISIS.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews