Peer Review Edit: Comprehensive Emergency Management

The current definition of Comprehensive emergency management is not at all concise. It is full of drawn out sentences filled with comma after comma of additional information. The sentences are very long, they need to be reformatted to make better sense of exactly what is Comprehensive emergency management. The definition also talks about CEM being the rise and fall of different systems in the US. There needs to be a more in depth history of how that took place, why that took place, and who made those decisions? CEM’s main intro describes the definition as various laws throughout the US, a better definition would describe and give definition of those laws and how they are currently being used. There are many changes being described in the definition as the birth of certain departments and the fall of other departments along the way of the creation of CEM. There needs to be historical dates set in the definition in order to tell the reader exactly why those changes were made. There needs to better a precise description of the “emergency” plans set in place by the CEM for different types of emergencies that may occur. Another suggestion would be to describe how the leaders of the CEM spell out the plans to the general public when disasters or emergencies do happen.  All in all this definition needs to give better explanation of why the CEM has changed over the years and what the plan exactly means to the general public. All in all a new version needs to be made in order to make proper sense of CEM.

Terrorist Training Camp

Lead Section (cont.)

Terrorists are involved all around the world. Training camps designed to show recruits how to operate weapons, create bombs, launder money, communicate in secrecy, and more. These training camps equip members with the knowledge and skills needed to successfully conduct organizational operations.

Definition

 Military-like encampments that provide terrorist recruits with weapons training, protocol training, skilled veterans, and a secure geographic location for undetected operations from the outside world.Recruits are regularly made aware of the goals and beliefs of the organization. Organizational leaders attempt to cleanse recruits from their outside social connections in order for the recruits to establish identity with the organization. This allows the organization to become the “family” of the recruit, and generate total loyalty to the organization’s goals. Religious principles are constantly pushed into t in order to reincorporate that the organization is embarking on these acts of destruction for the greater good. This allows organization leaders to

Common Traits of Encampments

 Each encampment needs ample security in order to be secluded from the world.Camp recruiters do extensive background checking of each recruit to ensure the security of their organization and locations.  Considering the War on Terrorism from countries like the United States, recruiters are looking for students who match their beliefs and who can be trusted. Recruiters are typically looking for those who are dedicated to the organizations end goals, fit the model, and those who are trusted enough to stay on task.

[1]Camp Diversity (Brief Overview)

  Afghanistan

·         Anti-Soviet Jihad (1980-89)

Purpose: Task of driving Soviet forces out of Islamic territory, Given combat training and religious teachings to their followers. Example: See Osama Bin Laden.

[2]The curriculum at these camps typically included a broad range of learning objectives, including the operation of Stinger missiles, the production of explosives and poisons, vehicle driving and maintenance, basic engineering, farming, and even urban guerilla tactics. These were harsh learning environments: mud huts, dusty classrooms, obstacle courses, mazes of barbed wire, trenches, and of course, no basic utilities.

 Algeria (Early 60s, Early 90s)

·         Armed Islamic Group

Purpose: Driving the French colonial government out of the country.

Teaching combat tactics, explosives production, and weapons handling to new recruits.

  Bosnia (Early 90s)

·         Balkan Mujahideen

Purpose: Providing training to members of the global Islamic jihad network.

Camp was complete with classrooms and a large armory. Recruits learned how to make bombs out of small plastic toys for non-detection. Students were apparently being trained to attack both military and civilian targets, conduct covert bombings, and lay booby traps

 Chechyna (90s)

·         Anti-Russian Separatists

Purpose: to assist the out-gunned Chechen separatists in their struggles against Russian Federal Forces.

Established series of training camps, number and exact techniques is unknown.

  Egypt (40s)

·          Muslim Brotherhood

Purpose: Fed up with the treatment of the corruption in the country's political system, formed a revolution,

Conducted series of bombing agendas to the local government, to this day their are no known affiliates left.

 Indonesia (80s)

·         Jemaah Islamiyah

Purpose: to create a pan-Islamic state uniting Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Southern Philippines.

Trained by the Afghan mujahideen,

  Iraq (2003-)

·         Anti-Coalition Insurgency

Purpose: providing a forum for new terrorist recruits to gain tactical and operational learning, particularly in the area of urban guerilla warfare

Group has a mixed set of members from Sunni extremists to foreign fighters that have caused extreme damage to the civilians of Iraq with the use of bombs and light weapons.

 Japan (90s)

·         Aum Shrinrikyo

Purpose: Using chemical warfare for ideological indoctrination

Developed the group’s capacity to manufacture sarin gas (a deadly nerve toxin), as well as VX, mustard gas, and phosgene gas, which the group used in several attacks on individuals and the general public around Japan

 Northern Ireland

·         IRA

Training included meetings at gun ranges, farmhouses, and even cellars throughout the countryside. With intense weapons laws in the country, imported weapons from countries like America for light weapon resistance. Worked with what was provided in created smaller bombs/traps, created high-tech monitoring equipment, and adapting their weapons for the country itself.Many members improved their bomb manufacturing skills through knowledge acquired in their civilian occupations.

   Peru

·         Shining Path, Tupac Amaru(1996)

Purpose (Tupac Amaru) rid Peru of all imperialist elements.

Shining Path: Occupied entire villages, established revolutionary governments, and organized schools through which they have indoctrinated locals and evaluated their potential as new recruits. Training in and outside the schools has included guerilla strategy, the use of firearms and explosives, and on-the-job training in militant action against government forces, organized peasants, or collaborators with rival organizations.

  Sri Lanki (70s-)

·         Tamil Tigers

Fighting for their homeland. Representing the countries Tamil minority. Use both men and women of all ages for individual assassination as well as mass attacks.

  Sudan (90s-)

·         Islamic Terrorist Group

Purpose: Training to keep the homeland pure of foreign influence

Huge support from the country itself, the Sudanese government has used its territory to provide safe haven, training bases, and staging areas to numerous terrorist organizations.

  Turkey (60s-)

·         PKK

Recruitment has been active since the 60s in small villages with large Kurdish populations. Leaders credit the organization to have been able to provide military and theoretical training in Iranian security installations, traveled with Iranian real and forged documents, had weapons and explosives of Iranian origin and participated in attacks on Turkish citizens and also Iranian opposition militants.

  US

·         Extremist groups

Many different groups across the nation such as; Aryan Nations Church, Sword and the Arm of the Lord, the Christian Patriots Defense League, and even solo acts of terrorism like Timothy McVeigh and the OKC bombing in 1995.

These organizations are similar to those around the world, wanting to cleanse the land of foreign influence. The centers of influence are often times carrying large arsenals of weaponry, under the eyes of the law.

Ø  Physical

Most terrorist organizations incorporate guerrilla warfare. Terrorist recruits must be in good shape in order to withstand the constant challenges of this non-conventional battle tactic. From viewing the ISIS organizations workout video,, terrorist leaders form their physical agendas based off cardiovascular exercise. Their routines are very basic, including; Air squats, tumbling, jumping over smoke, crawling under wire, crouch-walking holding bricks, hand-walking on monkey bars, squats with tires, pushups with tires, marching with tires, crawling with tires, overhead squats with rifles, basic hand to hand combat and self-defense technique, and team log lifts. Terrorist recruits train in full uniform, and often times with weapons in hand. Above all else, terrorist recruits need to be trained for survival as well as being able to perform with little to no nourishment. Recruits need to be able to withstand the elements of their nation. Recruits need to understand that failure is not an option; if success is not attained then they will not be pulled out action, there will be no rescue mission for them. When given a mission, terrorists will accomplish the task for risk of punishment, reprimand, organization seclusion, or even disgrace to themselves and family.

Ø  Psychological

 Depending on the type of organization, religion and “strength of faith” is often a key indicator of the recruit’s status in the organization. Those who are not willing to comply, even after graduation of training, are often punished and sent back to camp to strengthen their religion for any acts of insubordination. Terrorist recruits are often tested on their knowledge of their religion, and are questioned about their knowledge towards rival groups. Recruiters do this for verification that each recruit has the same beliefs, and to ensure organizational unification. Religious verification ensures each member is working towards simultaneous goals without any measure of disbelief. Recruiters use they techniques to exploit or create mental trauma in order to produce a dissociate mind set in the recruit—a condition in which identity and the awareness of the recruit is reset. Typical terrorist recruits are looking to join groups terrorist organizations because they are; angry, alienated or disenfranchised. Believe that their current political involvement does not give them the power to effect real change. Identify with perceived victims of the social injustice they are fighting. Feel the need to take action rather than just talking about the problem. Believe that engaging in violence against the state is not immoral. Have friends or family sympathetic to the cause. Believe that joining a movement offers social and psychological rewards such as adventure, camaraderie and a heightened sense of identity. Internet and cyber skills are also sought after as recruits must be knowledgeable in accessing the web in secrecy to spread the goals of the organization.

References

Keating, Joshua E. "What do you learn at terrorist training camp?." Foreign Policy 10 (2010).

Forest, James JF. "Terrorist Training Centers Around the World: A Brief Review." The Making of a Terrorist: Recruitment, Training and Root Causes 2 (2005). [PDF attached to email.]

Lihou, Norman T., Dr. "Terrorist Indoctrination Turning People Into Killers." Web log post. www.linked.com. N.p., 25 Jan. 2015. Web. 2 May 2017.

Nolan, Hamilton. "A Fitness Critique of the ISIS Terrorist Workout Video." Gawker. N.p., 09 June 2014. Web. 10 May 2017.

DeAngelis, Tori. "Understanding Terrorism." Monitor on Psychology. American Psychological Association, Nov. 2009. Web. 10 May 2017.

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List 1: Counter-Terrorism

There needs to be more factual backed information from the US Armed Forces sites to become credible. There is no citation in the main heading of the article. This makes it seem as though the information is a biased opinion. Their is also talk about counter-terrorism being most like Counter-insurgency, which is the defense of Nationalist terrorist groups. The article needs to give more information about the counter-terrorism tactics of other ideologies of Terrorism. It has little information about the defense of the right or left wing terrorist ideologies. This makes the article more biased towards the actions of Nationalist terrorist groups, which is not even the current wave of terrorism that is effecting most of the world today. ~~~~

List 2: Abu Hafs al-Masri Brigades

The article has some information that is not backed by and sort of citation. The page just gives the reader references to look at other created wiki pages. At the end of the "credibility" section, it states there is not even any factual proof that the group exists. Yet there is a lot information provided to give facts that they did claim attacks on many different occasions. The credibility and proof of the information provided makes the article somewhat hard to believe in. The entire group could be a made up posse who are wanting to take some of the Terrorist fame from the larger more infamous Al-Qaeda. ~~~~

  1. ^ Forest, James (2006). Terrorist Training Centers Around the World. Westport, Conn: Praeger Security International. pp. 296–309.
  2. ^ Forest, James (2006). Terrorist Training Centers Around the World. Praeger Security International. p. 298.