Учебно-методическое пособие для аспирантов

Terrorism

1. 
   Read the article. Comment on the meaning of the highlighted words and expressions; summarize the text.
   

Top al Qaeda operative killed in Somalia, officials say

A top al Qaeda operative in East Africa, Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, was killed at a Somali checkpoint in Mogadishu, Kenyan and U.S. officials told CNN Saturday.

Mohammed, a citizen of both Kenya and Comoros, was long sought in Somalia for his alleged role in the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Mohammed’s death “a significant blow to al Qaeda, its extremist allies and its operations in East Africa.”

“It is a just end for a terrorist who brought so much death and pain to so many innocents in Nairobi, Dar es Salaam and elsewhere – Tanzanians, Kenyans, Somalis, others in the region and our own embassy personnel,” she said.

Somalia’s information minister, Abdirahman Omar Osman, confirmed Saturday to CNN that Mohammed was one of the dead, calling it a “huge success” for his country’s security forces.

But Osman said despite the success, Somalia needs “the support of the international community to beat Al-Shabab,” referring to an al Qaeda-linked group that controls large parts of the country.

The United States considers Mohammed a senior al Qaeda operative in East Africa, accusing him of being an architect of the embassy bombings that killed 225 people.

American officials also believe Mohammed was involved in attacks on an Israeli-owned hotel and airliner in Kenya in 2002, and have offered a reward of up to $5 million for information leading to his apprehension or conviction.

U.S. President Barack Obama’s adviser on national security issued a statement Saturday calling Mohammed’s death “another huge setback to al Qaeda and its extremist allies.”

John Brennan added that the death “provides a measure of justice to so many who lost loved ones because of the actions of this terrorist.”

II. Read the text. Extract the topical vocabulary.

Throughout human history, there have been many threats to the security of nations. These threats have brought about large-scale losses of life, the destruction of property, widespread illness and injury, the displacement of large numbers of people, and devastating economic loss.

Terrorism is the use of force or violence against persons or property in violation of the criminal laws for purposes of intimidation, coercion, or ransom.

Terrorists often use threats to create fear among the public; try to convince citizens that their government is powerless to prevent terrorism; get immediate publicity for their causes.

Acts of terrorism include threats of terrorism; assassinations; kidnappings; hijackings; bomb scares and bombings; cyber attacks (computer-based); and the use of chemical, biological, nuclear and radiological weapons.

High-risk targets for acts of terrorism include military and civilian government facilities, international airports, large cities, and high-profile landmarks. Terrorists might also target large public gatherings, water and food supplies, utilities, and corporate centers. Further, terrorists are capable of spreading fear by sending explosives or chemical and biological agents through the mail.

(from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
III. Render into English.

Следственный комитет заявил, что теракт в Домодедово раскрыт.

Следственный комитет России, возглавляемый Александром Бастрыкиным, совместно с оперативными сотрудниками ФСБ1 и МВД2, объявили о раскрытии теракта, совершенного 24 января 2011 года в аэропорту «Домодедово». Смертником оказался «уроженец одной из республик Северного Кавказа», заявил прессе официальный представитель Следственного комитета Владимир Маркин. При этом он не стал раскрывать имя террориста. «Несмотря на то, что следствию известно его имя, мы сегодня не будем его называть в силу определенных обстоятельств. В настоящий момент идут следственные и розыскные мероприятия, направление на установление и задержание организаторов и пособников этого террористического акта», пояснил Маркин. Он особо подчеркнул, что теракт был совершен не случайно в зале прилетов международных рейсов. По версии следствия, теракт был направлен в первую очередь на иностранных граждан («Теракт раскрыт?»).

committee of inquiry operatives uncover committed suicide bomber native disclose investigation investigative search identification and detention incidentally according to the investigation

Notes:

1. ФСБ – Federal Security Service of Russia

2. МВД – Ministry of Internal Affairs
IV. Scan the article. Formulate the key ideas expressed by the author.

CONTAINING TERROR

Like communism during the Cold War,
terrorism is a social movement that must be held in check

By Philip Mudd (served as a top terrorism analyst for both the FBI¹ and the CIA²; he left the government in March and is now a senior research fellow at the New America Foundation).
The spike of alleged terrorist plots in this country over the past year seems confusing. Law-enforcement officers have arrested independent plotters in places like Texas and Illinois; a Qaeda-trained individual in Denver; an American involved in the horrific attacks in Mumbai; and now, a young man who planned mass killings in Times Square.

These incidents may seem episodic and detached, particularly if we look at them as separate operations by individuals who may have had some vague connection to Al Qaeda. They make more sense, however, if we understand them as offshoots of a revolution that Al Qaeda aimed to inspire 20 years ago. Like communism during the Cold War, this is an ideology to be contained, not defeated.

The view of our adversaries is simple. To them, we are the pillar upholding “corrupt” regimes in the Muslim world, and they believe that if we’re put under enough pressure, we’ll cut and run. We left Lebanon. We left Somalia. In their minds, we’ll retreat again and again – if they can put the pressure on.

The question Al Qaeda faced before 9/11 was how to increase that pressure. How could a relatively small, stateless organization really take on an adversary as powerful as the United States? It couldn’t – and can’t – at least not alone. The answer is ideology. Al Qaeda wants to spread its revolutionary ideology so the pressure increases everywhere. A thousand points of terror, in locations as far afield as the Philippines and Philadelphia – people who think and act like Al Qaeda even if they’ve never been a part of the organization. So what was once a fairly centralized, active terror organization is now more significant as an inspiration and a movement.

We can see at least three threads of the revolution now: people linked directly to Al Qaeda, like the plotters with backpack bombs in London's subways in 2005; people who join affiliated groups, like the outfit that attacked hotels in Mumbai; and self-recruited individuals. Many Americans thought we were somehow immune to this: Muslims in Europe might get radicalized, but not here in the American melting pot. Such rosy thinking is foolish. This is the age of globalization, in terror as in other things. Chinese economic decisions affect our businesses. But Qaeda ideology, distributed over the Internet by English-speaking clerics, won’t reach us?

Still, there’s cause for optimism. The leaders of this revolution have increasingly faced tough questions about the murders they commit, even from people who share their anger and frustration. (None other than Ayman al-Zawahiri, Al Qaeda’s No. 2, felt compelled to defend himself in an Internet interview in 2008, when he got a question from Algeria about how Al Qaeda justifies killing so many innocents.) Our goal should be to magnify this growing disillusionment. If we overreact to plots and attacks, we risk playing into Al Qaeda’s hands. But we also can't forget the lessons of 9/11 and drop our guard.

1. FBI – Federal Bureau of Investigation

2. CIA – Central Intelligence Agency