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FARC This Main Menu The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia FARC'S Roots Definition of Terrorism International and Domestic Terrorism FARC Online The group uses many different avenues of engagement online How FARC Operates Tumaco, Colombia - Site of the last FARC Terror Attack - A Bombing on the Tansandio Pipeline The "First Period" of Terrorism Transnational terror, Narco terror, and revolutionary ideals Terror Acts V. Crime / Acts of War With examples from FARC Collection of FARC Propaganda Database of FARC Propaganda collected online Sources Cited McCuan Publishing

The Trouble With Defining Terrorism

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In his book, "Inside Terrorism," Bruce Hoffman points out the difficulties of a universal definition of terrorism. He lists various government agencies' definitions and points out the consistency and the differences between them (Hoffman, Page 31). After distinguishing terrorists from other types of criminals, terrorism shows itself to be

Ineluctably political in aims and motives
Violent or Threatens violence
Designed to have far-reaching psychological repercussions beyond the immediate victim or target
Conducted by an organization with an identifiable chain of command or by individuals or a small group of individuals who are influenced/motivated by some terrorist movement and its leaders
Perpetrated by a subnational group or nonstate entity (Hoffman, Page 40)

There is no one sentence that can be an adequate definition of terrorism. This collection of classifications creates a definition that doesn’t demonstrate any particular bias towards a government agency or specific nation. Through this collection, it umbrellas various forms of terrorism and when together, paints a picture of a complete definition of terrorism.

SOURCE: Inside Terrorism, Bruce Hoffman

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Definition of Terrorism James Owen
Contents of this path:
1. The Trouble With Defining Terrorism

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Terror Acts V. Crime / Acts of War