The Rise and Fall of bin Laden, or a Dissent into Cyber-terrorism Essay Example for Free

The Rise and Fall of bin Laden, or a Dissent into Cyber-terrorism Essay Osama bin Muhammad bin ‘Awad bin Laden, best known as Osama bin Laden in the west, is a militant Islamist and the reported founder of the terrorist organization known as al-Qaeda. He stepped on to the global arena in 2001 with his broadcasts on Al Jazeera in direct relation to the September 11th attacks. Since then his faction has had a downfall through the western war on terror, but it is widely believed that this is only a ploy, and that al-Qaeda, along with many other radical Muslim groups are planning to continue their reign of terror on the net. The media has deemed the term for this cyberterrorism, and it is the current threat Osama is expected to pose, but some argue that this is merely western propaganda. Bin Laden has been described as a tall and thin man by the FBI. He is said to be between 6’4’’ and 6’6’’ (193-198cm) in height and weighing about 165 pounds. Left-handed with an olive complexion, he usually walks with a cane, and wears a white turban. He is considered to have a mild mannered temperament and to be very soft spoken. He is thought to only be able to speak Arabic. Never the less, he is believed to be the leader and founder of one of the most heinously acting terrorist groups, known as Al Qaeda Osama was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Al Jazeera referenced his birthday as being March 10, 1957. Osama is a member of the prestigious bin Laden family. His father Muhammed Awd bin Laden had known ties to the Saudi royal family, as well as a prominent business. His father, poor and uneducated before World War I, he immigrated from Hadhramaut to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It was here, where he began to work as a porter. In 1930, Muhammed started his own business; he built his fortune as a building contractor for the Saudi royal family during the 1950’s. It is estimated that Muhammed bin Laden has as many as 55 sons, of which Osama is assumed to be his seventeenth son, but the only from his tenth wife. This led to an upbringing that kept him unfamiliar with his father. Bin Laden attended the secular Al-Thager Model secondary school from 1968 to 1976 where he was raised as a devout Sunni Muslim. The largest denomination of Islam, Sunni Muslims are also refered to as Ahlus Sunnah wal-Jamaa’h which basically means people of the example, or of Muhammad. As a result of King Faisal welcoming exiled teachers from Syria, Egypt and Jordan to Saudi Arabia in the 60’s, it was not too uncommon for members of the Muslim Brotherhood to be found teaching at Saudi schools and universities. During this time, Osama is believed to have been influenced by many of the teachings promoted by these exiles. It is also thought that Osama might have studied economics and business administration at King Abdulaziz University, and that he might have earned a degree in civil engineering in 1979. He is also said to never have graduated from college. Whatever his collegiate experience entails, it is now known that he spent the last 30 years since his college days contributing to the growth of the Muslim Brotherhood known as al-Qaeda, which performed its first military act in 1994. The Talibans first large military operation took place in October 1994 when it seized the Pasha munitions depot and the town of Spin Boldak on the Pakistani border, held at the time by Hizb-i Islami commanders. The capture of the arms dump provided them with an enormous quantity of military materiel, including rockets, ammunition, artillery, and small arms. Green, 2002) These attacks were the beginning of Osama’s reign. Later he would lead al-Qaeda to what they would deem to be the greatest statement of their western disapproval. Osama grew notorious through Al Jazeera, which gained its fame following the September 11th attacks, when the network broadcasted video statements by Osama bin Laden and other members of al-Qaeda. Al Jazeera, which in Arabic means The Island is a television network headquarters located in Doha, Qatar. The networks satellite capabilities enabled it to change the social landscape of the Middle East. Prior to its emergence, Middle Eastern citizens were only able to watch TV channels of stat-censored national stations. Al Jazeera introduced an unprecedented level of freedom of speech for most countries. On September 11th, 2001 Al Jazeera gained worldwide recognition with its broadcasts of al-Qaeda. Osama bin Laden gained an unprecedented level of global familiarity as well. The western fear of terrorism can entirely be credited as a product of his hate, which has complicated the western perception of rightful civil liberty. In her article Al Qaeda, Terrorism, and Military Comissions, Ruth Wedgwood proves that though most American citizens consider terrorism to be a federal and national problem, it is very much a local one. Al Qaeda’s published doctrine maintains that there are no innocent civilians in Western society (Wedgwood, 2002)†¦ She later goes on to analyze the psychological foundation they use to form their tenet and she says †¦this tenet leads it to the gravest of international crime (Wedgwood, 2002). Despite the fear bin Laden has been able to instill in the American people, there are many rumors that his financial backing is not as strong as it was in 2001. This could be the mark of his downfall, or just a shift in the types of terrorist acts al-Qaeda performs. The attacks on 9/11 and the ideology of the Taliban adhere to the power inherent in fear, and exploiting fear is not always a costly venture. The twin towers, the White House and the Pentagon are all symbols of American security and their presence provides a certain level of comfort for our society. Though security officials are trained to counter attacks on our civilization, there was a false faith formed over time that attacks such as 9/11 were inconceivable, nor possible to carryout. Now our country has grown impervious to this type of thought. Western civilization has waged war on the Jihad; securities are enhanced, and we are less likely to be vulnerable to the same form of attacks. Even still, western as well as eastern societies still have a major vulnerability that can exploited through the internet. In his Washington Post article Consultant Hacks FBI’s Computer System Martin H. Bosworth reports on an outside consultant hired by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) who breached the agency’s computer network and gained access to over 38,000 employee’s passwords. The hacker, known as Joseph Colon claimed he used run-of-the-mill hacker techniques that can be easily found on the internet. He gained access to such information as the Witness Protection Program, but can this be defined as terrorism? The United States Department of State defines terrorism as premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by sub national groups or clandestine agents (Gordon, 2003). This interpretation of terrorism becomes a very vague one when the internet is merged with this definition. The product of the two is cyberterrorism, but their have been a wide range of definitions posed since the terms advent in the 1980’s by Barry Collins (Gordon, 2003). Dorothy Denning is a computer science professor at Georgetown University, and one of the country’s foremost respected cyber-security experts. Her views are referred to numerous times in more than a few articles reviewed in this paper. In Denning’s Testimony before the Special Oversight Panel on Terrorism, the most widely cited paper on Cyberterrorism, she defines the term as an act carried out on the internet with the intention to do major, or significant damage to society, the likes of which would impede the process of a community’s civil liberty (Denning, 2000). Denning’s definition is very clarifying because it identifies the difference between a cyberterrorist and a hacker. Where a cyberterrorist acts with the intent of severely impacting the economy or civil morale of the country, a hacker merely causes nonessential or at the most costly damage. For every publication produced that argues cyber-terrorism is a major threat, there is another arguing that it is a hoax. Many of these authors who hold this position argue it is a form of presidential propaganda. In his article, Cyberterrorism: There are many ways terrorists can kill you—computers aren’t one of them, Joshua Green argues that the Bush administration’s infatuation with preaching the dangers of cyberterrorism is one that has become a pattern since September 11th. None are more exemplary of exploiting the public’s misunderstanding of the term, along with their fears, than Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge, which Green proves with this quote by Ridge: Terrorists can sit at one computer connected to one network and can create worldwide havoc, warned Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge in a representative observation last April. [They] dont necessarily need a bomb or explosives to cripple a sector of the economy, or shut down a power grid. (Green, 2002) Green further points out that Ridge’s propaganda is not without merit considering that a survey of 725 cities conducted by the National League of Cities for the Anniversary of the 9/11 attacks s howed that cyberterrorism ranked with biological and chemical weapons at the top of a list made by officials of the single most feared threats (2002). Despite this, it must be remembered that Green’s article was published in The Washington Monthly a little more than a year after the 9/11 attacks. At this particular point information was scarce and Bush’s scare tactics were still at the height of their influence; and yet, Green has enough sense to question the motives behind those who use cyberterrorism as a way to instill fear in the fear in the American public. Green points out that the federal government requested $4. 5 billion in cyber investigative security; Bush appointed Richard Clarke to his created position of cybersecurity czar assigning him an office in the White House, and The Washington Post developed a habit of publishing first page headlines like: Cyber-Attacks by Al Qaeda Feared, Terrorists at Threshold of Using Internet as Tool of Bloodshed, Experts Say (Green, 2002). Green recognizes that all of these actions would be reasonable responses to an actual looming threat, but they fail to muster any sort of rationale considering that, as he states, there is no such thing as cyberterrorismno instance of anyone ever having been killed by a terrorist (or anyone else) using a computer (2002). In sum, despite the lack of proof of the potential threat which cyber terrorism poses. It is agreed by most political and military analysts that al-Qaeda’s next step is in the cyber arena. Never the less, this could also be deemed as a sign of bin Laden’s downfall. There are many rumors that al-Qeada lacks the same sufficient funding they had in 2001, that Osama has grown broke, and that the Jihad will eventually be a distant memory. If this is true, the internet would make for a more affordable method of terrorist attacks. These arguments will potentially prove foolish if bin Laden finds a way to continue his terror through the web. The potential for more tragedy is at the finger tips of al-Qeada literally and figuratively.

Grapes of Wrath Essay: Steinbecks Faulty Logic :: The Grapes of Wrath John Steinbeck

Steinbeck's Faulty Logic in The Grapes of Wrath      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath   chronicles the destruction and chaos of the lives of the dust bowl victims and their families.   The classic novel works on two levels. On the one hand, it is the story of a family, how it reacts, and how it is unsettled by a serious problem threatening to overwhelm it.   On the other hand, the story is an appeal to political leaders that when the common working-class is put upon too harshly, they will revolt.   In this aspect it is a social study which argues for a utopia-like society where the powerful owners of the means of production will be replaced by a more communal and egalitarian community like the ones that spring up along the highway by the migrants seeking a higher ground.   Their lives are destroyed by poverty and the dust bowl and all that matters is finding a more decent life somewhere west.   Survival and getting to a new kind of life are all that matter, so much so that Ma lies next to a dead Granma all night because she is afraid the family will not get through is she seeks help "I was afraid we wouldn' get acrost,' she said.   'I tol' Granma we couldn' he'p her.   The fambly had ta get acrost.   I tol' her, tol' her when she was a-dyin'.   We couldn' stop in the desert...The fambly hadda get acrost,' Ma said miserably" (Steinbeck 237).   Throughout the novel the lure of communism lurks subtly in the background as a reminder that in desperate circumstances, pushed too far, the people will revolt.    The Grapes of Wrath depicts the degradations and abject poverty visited upon immigrants who try to survive in the face of American capitalism where the powerful land-owning companies force them into constant migration and keep them from rising above a poverty level of less than basic sustenance.   The novel focuses on the sacrifices these individuals make for each other, family and friends, and the way their simple lives are inherently worthy of dignity and respect.   However, in the midst of the thousands of others traveling the concrete highway barely keeping body and soul together on the road to a better promise of life in California, these immigrants form a utopia-like community.   Society is recreated each evening among the migrants, where social leaders are picked, unspoken rules of privacy and generosity emerge, and lust, violence and murder breakout.

Look Back in Anger Themes

Major Themes The Angry Young Man Osborne's play was the first to explore the theme of the â€Å"Angry Young Man. † This term describes a generation of post-World War II artists and working class men who generally ascribed to leftist, sometimes anarchist, politics and social views. According to cultural critics, these young men were not a part of any organized movement but were, instead, individuals angry at a post-Victorian Britain that refused to acknowledge their social and class alienation. Jimmy Porter is often considered to be literature's seminal example of the angry young man.Jimmy is angry at the social and political structures that he believes has kept him from achieving his dreams and aspirations. He directs this anger towards his friends and, most notably, his wife Alison. The Kitchen Sink Drama Kitchen Sink drama is a term used to denote plays that rely on realism to explore domestic social relations. Realism, in British theater, was first experimented with in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century by such playwrights as George Bernard Shaw. This genre attempted to capture the lives of the British upper class in a way that realistically reflected the ordinary drama of ruling class British society. Related article: Eric Bartels My Problem With Her AngerAccording to many critics, by the mid-twentieth century the genre of realism had become tired and unimaginative. Osborne's play returned imagination to the Realist genre by capturing the anger and immediacy of post-war youth culture and the alienation that resulted in the British working classes. Look Back in Anger  was able to comment on a range of domestic social dilemmas in this time period. Most importantly, it was able to capture, through the character of Jimmy Porter, the anger of this generation that festered just below the surface of elite British culture.Loss of Childhood A theme that impacts the characters of Jimmy and Alison Porter is the idea of a lost childhood. Osborne uses specific examples — the death of Jimmy's father when Jimmy was only ten, and how he was forced to watch the physical and mental demise of the man — to demonstrate the way in which Jimmy is forced to deal with suffering from an ear ly age. Alison's loss of childhood is best seen in the way that she was forced to grow up too fast by marrying Jimmy. Her youth is wasted in the anger and abuse that her husband levels upon her.Osborne suggests that a generation of British youth has experienced this same loss of childhood innocence. Osborne uses the examples of World War, the development of the atomic bomb, and the decline of the British Empire to show how an entire culture has lost the innocence that other generations were able to maintain. Real Life In the play, Jimmy Porter is consumed with the desire to live a more real and full life. He compares this burning desire to the empty actions and attitudes of others. At first, he generalizes this emptiness by criticizing the lax writing and opinions of those in the newspapers.He then turns his angry gaze to those around him and close to him, Alison, Helena, and Cliff. Osborne's argument in the play for a real life is one in which men are allowed to feel a full range o f emotions. The most real of these emotions is anger and Jimmy believes that this anger is his way of truly living. This idea was unique in British theater during the play's original run. Osborne argued in essays and criticisms that, until his play, British theater had subsumed the emotions of characters rendering them less realistic. Jimmy's desire for a real life is an attempt to restore raw emotion to the theater. Sloth in British CultureJimmy Porter compares his quest for a more vibrant and emotional life to the slothfulness of the world around him. It is important to note that Jimmy does not see the world around him as dead, but merely asleep in some fundamental way. This is a fine line that Osborne walks throughout the play. Jimmy never argues that there is a nihilism within British culture. Instead, he sees a kind of slothfulness of character. His anger is an attempt to awaken those around him from this cultural sleep. This slothfulness of emotion is best seen in the relation ship between Alison and Cliff. Alison describes her relationship with Cliff as â€Å"comfortable. They are physically and emotionally affectionate with each other, but neither seems to want to take their passion to another level of intimacy. In this way, their relationship is lazy. They cannot awaken enough passion to consummate their affair. Jimmy seems to subconsciously understand this, which is the reason he is not jealous of their affection towards one another. The Rise and Fall of the British Empire The character of Colonel Redfern, Alison's father, represents the decline of and nostalgia for the British Empire. The Colonel had been stationed for many years in India, a symbol of Britain's imperial reach into the world.The Edwardian age which corresponded to Britain's height of power, had been the happiest of his life. His nostalgia is representative of the denial that Osborne sees in the psyche of the British people. The world has moved on into an American age, he argues, and the people of the nation cannot understand why they are no longer the world's greatest power. Masculinity in Art Osborne has been accused by critics of misogynistic views in his plays. Many point to Look Back in Anger  as the chief example. These critics accuse Osborne of glorifying young male anger and cruelty towards women and homosexuals.This is seen in the play in specific examples in which Jimmy Porter emotionally distresses Alison, his wife, and delivers a grisly monologue in which he wishes for Alison's mother's death. Osborne, however, asserts that he is attempting to restore a vision of true masculinity into a twentieth century culture that he sees as becoming increasingly feminized. This feminization is seen in the way that British culture shows an â€Å"indifference to anything but immediate, personal suffering. † This causes deadness within which Jimmy's visceral anger and masculine emotion is retaliation against.

History, Origin And Race Of The African Culture - 1339 Words

Africana Studies to me is the study of the history, origin and race of the African culture. A journey taken by Africans where through failures, struggles, challenges, disappointments, and discouragements up to freedom, success and independence one can witness the strong uphold of these people. The African nation and its people have witnessed the most gruesome terrible things that many generations combined can undergo through. From slavery to the Trans-Atlantic trade to colonization of the African countries one can unfold a deep history that lies along. I have taken interest in studying and learning Africana studies not because I come for Nairobi, Kenya but because I want to grasp and comprehend the hidden, unknown, overlooked and underappreciated history of the African continent and its people. For this paper I will focus on slavery mainly the dehumanization of slaves. Dehumanization by definition â€Å"is to treat (someone) as though he or she is not a human being†. 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