September 11 Attacks and Greater Jihad Essay

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Terrorism
The purpose of this paper is to study and look at how terrorism has changed post 9/11, to the current and future times. The United States is currently fighting the war on terror. But who is the enemy to the war? Can terrorism actually be considered an enemy? The answers to these questions are difficult to answer and defend, depending on the circumstances. But the key constant to the question is, there is no internationally agreed definition of terrorism. Common definitions of terrorism refer only to those violent acts which are intended to create fear/terror, are perpetrated for an ideological/political goal, and deliberately target or disregard the safety of civilian targets. Throughout this paper there will be historical facts, evidence, theories, and analysis to support my argument how terrorism has changed over time. The language of terrorism that we, as Americans read it as, on September 11, 2001, two American airplanes flew into the World Trade Center and another into the Pentagon, while yet another suspiciously crashed in a deserted Pennsylvania field. Blasted on our television screens across America, were images of fire, destruction, chaos and death. Framed in colors of red, white and blue, were news headlines such as “The Attack Against America” But the opposing statement always used is “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.” The individuals who flew the airplanes into the World Trade Center and another into the Pentagon, while successfully hijacking another plane which was targeting either the White House or the Capital Building in Washington D.C. were trying to achieve a freedom with jihad, a religious duty of Muslims. Jihad requires Muslims to "struggle in the way of God" or "to struggle to improve one's self and/or society. Jihad is furthermore known as the lesser struggle which is the fight for Islam, and with the greater jihad as the personal struggle to be a good Muslim.
The word "terrorism" is politically and emotionally charged which compounds the difficulty of providing an accurate definition of terrorism. Some research studies by scholars have shown there to be over 100 different definitions of terrorism. A less politically and emotionally charged meaning of terrorism is a better defined term used for terror. The word "terror" comes from a Latin word meaning "to frighten.” My definition of terrorism is a violent act which is intended to create fear, to promote an ideological/political goal, and deliberately target civilians and non civilian targets.
After September 11th Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda group has been linked to many other
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