The Homeland Security agency suspects that there is a terrorist organization forming in Chicago, Illinois. The city of Chicago is home to many attractions, ranging from sports teams to panoramic views of the Sears Tower and the Lake Michigan. Those same attractions make Chicago one of the most vulnerable places for a terrorist attack. It is imperative that we identify the type of terrorist organization that could exist in the city and the surrounding suburbs. We must analyze the terrorist organization and discern its structure. Other equally important assessments will need to be provided on the typology and force multipliers pertaining to the terrorist organization.
Chicago is a city which offers a piece of the “American Dream” to everyone; no matter their nationality, race, or creed. Therefore, it is very easy to blend in with the rest. Terrorist organizations are fully aware of that and can place individual cells around the city and the suburbs in order to accelerate their quest to send the “ultimate” message of religious/political propaganda. These factions are a part of a much larger group with multinational support, which may suggest an umbrella organization (White, 2006, pp. 35 – 38). Within this urban typography, religious/ideological factions may exist (usually composing of men of the same nationality). These may be radicals which view their cause as just. It will be very hard to distinguish which people are terrorists and which are not, as the people of Chicago are very different from each other, and this difference is widely accepted.
In an umbrella organization there are several entities which are responsible for managing supplies, obtaining resources, creating support structures, and gathering intelligence. Such entities constitute the sheltering group which is the “umbrella.” The umbrella serves as a front for terrorist activities, and it represents itself as a legitimate organization, such as a charity or an orphanage. Below this umbrella are “pyramids” which are semi-autonomous and disconnected from the sheltering group. The tasks and orders for the “pyramids” are given during periodic meetings (White, 2006, p. 38). As you can see, the umbrella organization is very effective at hiding its true motives. In essence, the umbrella organization can be a multifaceted force with financial backing and willing participants to carry out terrorist acts.
Granted, this terrorist group may be part of an umbrella organization. We must also consider its force multipliers. Force multipliers allow for increased strength and execution power for terrorist organizations (White, 2006, p. 9). It is fair to assume that one of the force multipliers, which can be identified within such a group, is transnational support. White (2006) states in his book, Terrorism and Homeland Security that “transnational support increases the ability of terrorist groups to move and hide,” which makes it that much harder to carry out counter terrorism efforts against them (p. 9). It is evident that an umbrella organization utilizes many venues to achieve its mission. Religion may be another force multiplier in such a group, allowing for ideological connections with other smaller or multinational groups. When terrorist organizations see “eye to eye” they often join forces, therefore, transnational support and religion are the main force multipliers associated with the possible terrorist organization in Chicago.
In retrospect, the organization in Chicago could possibly be a clandestine cohort of a very effective umbrella organization. It is equally important to understand that religion, politics, and transnational support can serve as the force multipliers for this organization. Kegley (2003) argues that there is no perfect definition for terrorism, and in the end, many definitions are used to define the subject (p. 16). Therefore it is my opinion that the potential terrorist group in Chicago falls under the State Department’s rendition of the definition of terrorism (or at least it is close). This is a summary of the State Department’s definition: noncombatant targets (buildings or people) attacked by clandestine agents in order to intimidate or influence an audience (White, 2006, p. 6).
References
White, J.R. (2006). Terrorism and Homeland Security. (5th Ed.). Belmont, CA: Thomson-Wadsworth.
Kegley, C.W. (2003). The New Global Terrorism; Characteristics, Causes, Controls. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
This was a Criminal Justice program essay in Terrorism. It depicts a hypothetical terrorist threat and organizational preparedness in the city of Chicago. It is not to be misconstrued as anything other than a literary write-up. Hope you enjoyed it.
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