WMD Terrorism: Introduction

 
Since the beginning of the 20th century, terrorists have used a variety of tactics, including assassination, kidnapping, hijacking, and bombing, to achieve their goals. The September 11 attacks and the subsequent anthrax letters have focused renewed attention on the possibility of terrorism involving chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear (CBRN) weapons, commonly called weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

Definitions

Terrorism. There is no single, universally accepted definition of terrorism. The word "terrorism" is usually used to describe violence that is political, social, religious, or ideological in nature and that is designed to influence an audience beyond the immediate target or victims of the attack. One widely quoted  definition of terrorism is that used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which describes terrorism as:

"...the unlawful use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives." (28 Code of Federal Regulations Section 0.85)

Terrorism is not a neutral term. Governments use it to describe their opponents and avoid it when describing their allies. This has led to the saying that "one person's terrorist is another person's freedom fighter." Countries therefore cannot agree on an objective definition of terrorism. This poses a problem because if states want to combat terrorism at the international level, they must first agree on exactly what they are fighting against.

WMD. Although large-scale conventional weapons, such as the bomb that destroyed the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma or the airplanes involved in the September 11 attacks, are sometimes described as weapons of mass destruction, usually the term is used to refer to chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear weapons.

WMD terrorism. WMD terrorism, therefore, refers to terrorist use or threat of use of WMD.

Further Reading:

	CRS, Raphael Perl, "Terrorism and National Security: Issues and Trends"
	WMD 411, Anthrax Attacks and Bioterrorism
	WMD 411, Nuclear Terrorism
	NTI, CNS, BW Terrorism Tutorial
	NTI, CNS, CW Terrorism Tutorial
	NTI, CNS, Radiological Terrorism Tutorial
	CNS, Terrorism Page
	The Nonproliferation Review, Sammy Salama and Lydia Hansell, "Does Intent Equal Capability?: Al Qaeda and Weapons of Mass Destruction"
	NTI, CNS, Nuclear Terrorism Tutorial
	NTI, NGO Reports on Nuclear Terrorism