Reply to your peers on the topic understanding terrorism

Reply to your peers on the topic understanding terrorism :

John Gress

Week 5 Discussion

Boko Haram is a terrorist organization that I was not very familiar with when we started the class, but one that has caught my interest. Prior to this class, I really only knew them from the hashtag “#BringBackOurGirls and seeing then First Lady Michelle Obama holding the poster up. This is an terror group that favors using women and children to conduct suicide bombings to help gain world stage attention. The number of female bombers took off after they kidnapped 247 females between the ages of 16 and18 years old (Kriel 2017). This event along with the sudden jump in female suicide bombers, as young a 7 grabbed national headlines putting Boko Haram in the national headlines and captured the attention of leaders around the world, who had previously chalked it up to a local issue with domestic terrorism. Boko Haram has killed almost 35,000 people over the last 6 years and displaced more than 2 million residents. There has been a spillover effect in the region where Boko Haram has tried to expand and they have lost the headline grabbing attacks they had 4-6 years ago. I do not believe these tactics represent an emerging enviroment in terrorism because we have not seen these tactics carried out to this extreme and Boko Haram while still operating is nowhere near as effective as they were before they entered the national spotlight. If anything I think it is an example of what not to do, unless you are only looking for the headlines and nothing to maintain your control in the region.

Reference:

Kriel, R. (2017). Boko Haram Favors Women, Children as Suicide Bombers, Study Reveals. CNN. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2017/08/10/africa/boko-haram-women-children-suicide-bombers/index.html

Bruce Summers

Summers: week 5

Anyone that has turned into the news over the last few years and witnessed ISIS trying to create their desired “Caliphate” in Syria and Iraq, cannot really believe the headlines on the CNN Newsroom banner that says, “ISIS lures women with kittens, Nutella.” (Taub, 2015). ISIS was recruiting fighters and targeting females to join their ranks at the height of their offensive in 2015. The article states that during the time of publication, ISIS had two female brigades. They were not fighters but were used to help in a “policing role.” It was much easier for the ISIS females to help control other females in the territory that had been captured. With the strict Muslim laws, these ISIS females can search other females without causing additional concern. Other females have been recruited to become wives of the fighters and to help in recruiting. Females are drawn to the Religious extremism as well as their male counterparts. They also have deep motivation to rid their land of the infidels. It helps to promote a sense of a common cause among the organization.

References:

Martin, G. (2018). Understanding Terrorism: Challenges, Perspectives, and Issues. Sage Publications, Inc. Thousand Oaks, CA.

Taub, A. (2015). No, CNN, women are not joining ISIS because of “kittens and Nutella.” Retrieved from: https://www.vox.com/2014/10/20/6987673/isis-women.

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Reply to your peers on the topic understanding terrorism