Terrorism Exam S2 March 2024

Question 1

What is terrorism?

Answer 1

Terrorism is the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially aginst civilians, in the pursuit of political aims by non-state actors

Question 2

What happened on 9/11?

Answer 2

A group of nineteen terrorists from Saudi Arabia hijacked four aircraft and intentionally crashed them into important US buildings.

Question 3

What did each of the planes fly into?

Answer 3

.Flight 11 crashed into The North Tower (WTC)
Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower (WTC)
Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon
Flight 93’s hijacking gets resisted by passengers and crashes into a field near Pittsburgh.

Question 4

How many people were killed on 9/11?

Answer 4

2,996

Question 5

What did President Bush do after the attacks were committed?

Answer 5

He declared a “War on Terror”.

Question 6

What were some activities carried out by Al-Qaeda prior to the September 11 attacks?

Answer 6

• US embassy bombings in East Africa in 1998
• Attempted Los Angeles International Airport (LAX)
  bombing in 2000
• The bombing of the USS Cole in 2000

Question 7

When and where was Osama Bin Laden killed?

Answer 7

The 2nd of May 2022 in his compound in Pakistan. President Obama was in charge at the time.

Question 8

What methods do ISIL use?

Answer 8

Bombing Campaigns

Attacks on major
landmarks/events

Brutal punishments
following specific
Islamic traditions.

Question 9

What methods do Boko Haram use?

Answer 9

Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping - 276 were abducted.

Question 10

What methods do the IRA use?

Answer 10

Bombing campaigns - normally car bombs or Parcel/letter bombs against Northern Irish people or police.

Question 11

What methods do the Proud Boys use?

Answer 11

Tried to overturn the Democratic election of the US in 2020 in favour of Donald Trump.

Question 12

What is the far-right?

Answer 12

The far-right promotes ultra-nationalism, sexist, xenophobic, racist, homophobic and anti-communist views. They believe in creating a single group of people, who they perceive as superior and wish to exclude all others.

Question 13

Who is Tommy Robinson?

Answer 13

A far-right ‘activist’/professional social
media agitator.

Question 14

What was the murder of Jo Cox?

Answer 14

Jo Cox MP of the Labour Party was murdered by Neo-Nazi white nationalist Thomas Mair. Thomas Mair had Nazi-related material in his home and had been motivated by hate.

Question 15

What happened at the 2017 Finsbury Park attack?

Answer 15

A radicalised man called Darren Osbourne drove a van into pedestrians in Finsbury Parl, London, after looking
for a mosque. One man was killed and nine others were injured.

Question 16

What is Cyber-Terrorism?

Answer 16

Using computer networks to cause destruction or disruption to generate fear or to intimidate people.

Question 17

What is the dark web?

Answer 17

The dark web requires the user to have software (Like TOR browser) or authorisation to access content that is on the World Wide Web and it allows private communication anonymously.

Question 18

Why carry out cyber attacks?

Answer 18

• They can be conducted remotely from anywhere in the
  world.
• They can be carried out anonymously, although many
  groups claim credit for their actions.
• They can be much cheaper to carry out and they don’t
  require weapons, explosives or
  personnel
• The effects can be widespread and very damaging.

Question 19

What does a cyber attack look like?

Answer 19

❖ Backdoor Trojans
❖ DNS tunnelling
❖ Phishing
❖ Ransomware

Question 20

What is the WannaCry Attack?

Answer 20

A ransomware attack in 2017 that affected 200,000 computers. The attack succeeded in disrupting at least 34% of trusts in England. It was eventually stopped by a member of the public. It is estimated to have cost the NHS £92 million.

Question 21

What does GCHQ do?

Answer 21

Trying to suppress the amount of online recruitment propaganda used by groups like ISIS and has helped to limit their physical activities. GCHQ supported operations that prevented 19 terrorist attacks.

Question 22

What is ISIL?

Answer 22

A group of rebel extremist jihadi Islamic fundamentalists. The members of IS were from the Sunni sect within the Islamic faith.

Question 23

What did ISIL want to achieve?

Answer 23

• The group’s main aim was to establish a “Caliphate”, a state/country ruled by a single political and religious leader called a Caliph.
• It tried to attract support from Muslims across the world and demanded that all Muslims swear allegiance to its leader.
• It believed that the enemies of the Sunni people must be destroyed.

Question 24

How did ISIL form?

Answer 24

ISIL formed after former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was toppled. The opportunity arose from the Iraqi government’s unstableness after the war and different groups were competing for power.

Question 25

How many people were killed and injured in the Manchester bombings?

Answer 25

22 killed and 800 injured.

Question 26

What is radicalisation?

Answer 26

Radicalisation is a process by which individuals or groups come to adopt extreme political, social, or religious views and reject all other views.

Question 27

Why are young people in particular at risk of radicalisation?

Answer 27

Because some young people feel isolated and want to belong to something or identify with a group. It often takes place in chatrooms and social media and this makes it very difficult to control.

Question 28

What is counterterrorism?

Answer 28

Counterterrorism incorporates the practices, techniques, and strategies governments and intelligence agencies use to combat or prevent terrorism.

Question 29

What are some conventional methods of countering terrorism?

Answer 29

Intelligence gathering by MI6 and MI5 Scanners - body and shoes Tighter restrictions and airport controls on hand luggage, e.g. no liquids over 100ml.

Question 30

What do MI5 and MI6 do?

Answer 30

MI5 is the British Security Service that deals with all domestic intelligence matters. They work to combat terrorist plots and gather information about attacks in the UK.

Question 31

What are some arguments for sending terrorists to prison?

Answer 31

It takes away their freedom and ability to commit any more attacks, and allows them to think about what they've done. Gain from the prison experience through rehab. Wrong to take someone's life, the government has no right. Differentiate us from the terrorists who have killed people. Possibly they believe in being rewarded in death by their god/s. Death not much of a punishment. Cheaper than death penalty

Question 32

What are some arguments for the death penalty?

Answer 32

Terrorists deserve to be killed. Justice for victims and families. An eye for an eye. Terrorists don't deserve "cushy" and "comfortable" lives in prison, and possibly be released back into society. Fear of prison radicalisation, terrorist spread their beliefs in prison. Possibly helping the recruitment of more terrorists. Deters the attackers. Some would maybe not mind a life in prison, it might even be better than the life they live outside of it.

Question 33

What is the MOAB?

Answer 33

MOAB, or its backronym Mother of All Bombs, is the most powerful non-nuclear bomb America has. It was dropped on an Afghani ISIS cave. However, after air strikes had increased, reported civilian casualty numbers doubled in Iraq and Syria.

Question 34

What happened to former IS leader Al-Baghdadi? targeting leaders of IS

Answer 34

He died during a raid conducted by the US military in northwest Syria. He used to be held in a US detention centre for terrorists and was radicalised there. He blew himself up when he was trapped in a corner.

Question 35

Who did the Trump Travel Ban ban?

Answer 35

It blocked people from Muslim countries from entering America for 90 days. It also included a temporary ban on all refugees for 120 days.

Question 36

What countries did Trump ban?

Answer 36

Syria (permanent, refugees) Iraq Iran Libya Somalia Yemen Sudan

Question 37

What was unusual about the countries Trump banned?

Answer 37

None of the deadly attackers since 9/11 emigrated or came from a family that emigrated from one of the countries affected by the travel ban.

Question 38

What did the third version of the ban include?

Answer 38

It included (cynically) countries that were not Muslim to paint Trump as not racist.

Question 39

What were the protests on the travel ban?

Answer 39

Thousands gathered at airports and outside the White House to protest against the ban, including lawyers who worked for free to help those affected.

Question 40

Why were the protests successful?

Answer 40

The protests were diverse, which was successful because it showed that not just a particular group of people thought it was unjust. Even former Republican VP Dick Cheney spoke out, saying it went "against everything we stand for"

Question 41

What happened at the Manchester Arena?

Answer 41

Salman Abedi detonated a homemade bomb in the foyer after an Ariana Grande concert. His brother had supplied the ingredients, and he was sentenced to life in prison.

Question 42

Why is IS less powerful then it was?

Answer 42

It lost control of its Caliphate. Bombing campaigns carried out by the US and Russian air forces, with support from the UK, French, Syrian and Iraqi governments were largely responsible for the defeat of the brutal regime.