Terrorism & ISIL: Iraq, Syria, & Turkey

Multilateralism

A foreign policy that encourages the involvement of several nation-states in coordinated action, usually in relation to a common adversary, with terms and conditions usually specified in a multi-country treaty, such as NATO.

Cyberterrorism

A form of terrorism that makes use of high technology, especially computers and the internet, in the planning and carrying out of terrorist attacks.

Hackers

People who try to get access to your computer without your permission in order to steal information which they could use for malicious or criminal purposes.

Janet Napolitano

Secretary of Homeland Security

Zero Dark Thirty

A 2012 American action thriller film billed as "the story of history's greatest manhunt for the world's most dangerous man", the film dramatizes the decade-long manhunt for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Also, a humorous way to declare an unknown time in the wee hours of the morning. Especially used by military personnel to describe an unwanted time to be awake or awaken. Usually pronounced "oh" dark thirty.

Christopher Stevens

An American diplomat and lawyer who served as the U.S. Ambassador to Libya from June 2012 to September 11, 2012. Stevens was killed by terrorists when the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, was attacked on September 11, 2012.

Sulaiman Abu Gaith

The son-in-law of Osama bin Laden (conviction in 2014) = proof of effectiveness of tying terrorism suspects in federal civilian courts.

Enhanced Interrogation

This is modern euphemism to minimize what by many people would be viewed as torture. Another word for torture, started by Bush

Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev

___________ are two Chechen brothers suspected of perpetrating the Boston Marathon bombings on April 15, 2013.

Osama bin Laden

(1957-2011) Founder of al Qaeda, the terrorist network responsible for the attacks of September 11, 2001, and other attacks.

Habeas Corpus

Constitutional protection against unlawful imprisonment.

Muammar Gaddafi

Commonly known as Colonel ________ was a Libyan revolutionary and politician who governed Libya as its primary leader from 1969 to 2011. Taking power in a coup d'etat, he ruled as Revolutionary Chairman of the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 to 1977 and then as the "Brotherly Leader" of the Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya from 1977 to 2011, when he was ousted in the Libyan Civil War.

9-11

A series of coordinated suicide attacks by al-Qaeda upon the United States on September 11, 2001. On that morning, 19 al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners. The hijackers intentionally crashed two of the airliners into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing everyone on board and many others working in the buildings.

Bilateralism

A term referring to discussions, negotiations and decisions made by two states on matters of mutual interest. When states recognize one another as sovereign states and agree to develop diplomatic relations, they exchange diplomatic agents such as ambassadors to facilitate dialogues and cooperations that will be exchanged.

Terrorism

Acts of violence designed to promote a specific ideology or agenda by creating panic among an enemy population.

War on Terror

After 9/11, President George W. Bush declared a worldwide "war on terrorism" aimed at defeating international terrorist organizations, destroying terrorist training camps, and bringing terrorists themselves to justice.

Targeted Military Operations

American armed forces also conduct limited actions, such as air strike campaigns and special forces operations.

Edward Snowden

American computer specialist who worked for NSA contractors and said that he was an employee of the CIA and NSA before leaking details of several top-secret United States and British government mass surveillance programs to the press.

Waterboarding

An interrogation technique in which water is forced into a detainee's mouth and nose so as to induce the sensation of drowning

Foreign Aid

Approximately one percent of the United States' annual budget goes toward various foreign aid programs, which include initiatives to improve public health, spur economic development, bolster humanitarian assistance, and aid democratic elections.

Gitmo

Nickname for Guantanamo Bay. American prison for suspected terrorists.

Military Commissions Act

Denies detainees the constitutional right of habeas corpus (protesting their detention in federal courts), states that these detainees will be tried by ad hoc military commissions, and grants retroactive immunity to US officials who may have violated common article 3.

Caliphate

Islamic empire ruled by those believed to be the successors to the Prophet Muhammad. The Rashidun caliphs, who directly succeeded Muhammad as leaders of the Muslim community, were chosen through shura, a process of community consultation that some consider loosely to be an early form of Islamic democracy.

Jeh Johnson

On December 16, 2013, the U.S. Senate confirmed Jeh Johnson as the Secretary of Homeland Security.

Abu Ghraib

One of Saddam's most notorious prisons for dissenters; when Americans took over, it became notorious for a place of torment and humiliation for detainees. In Iraq.

PRISIM

Program that has allowed NSA to collect

Operation Odyssey Dawn

The U.S. code name for the American role in the international military operation in Libya to enforce United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 during the initial period of 19-31 March 2011, which continued afterwards under NATO command as Operation Unified Protector. The initial operation implemented a no-fly zone that was proposed during the Libyan Civil War to prevent government forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi from carrying out air attacks on Anti-Gaddafi forces.

Military Combat

The US can fight its enemies by deploying armed forces to carry out large-scale combat missions.

Diplomatic Negotiations

The United States can seek to eliminate international threats by engaging in diplomatic negotiations, or discussions between high-level government representatives.

National Security Agency

The United States cryptologic organization that coordinates and directs highly specialized activities to protect United States information systems and to produce foreign intelligence information.

Levant

The difference is that the ______ describes a territory far greater than simply Iraq and Syria. It's defined as this: The _______ today consists of the island of Cyprus, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, and part of southern Turkey.

Unilateralism

The doctrine that nations should conduct their foreign affairs individualistically without the advice or involvement of other nations. Any doctrine or agenda that supports one-sided action. Such action may be in disregard for other parties, or as an expression of a commitment toward a direction which other parties may find agreeable.

Military Support

The government can deploy American military advisers to help train and equip local military forces.

Sunni Muslims

The group now known as Sunnis chose Abu Bakr, the prophet's adviser, to become the first successor, or caliph, to lead the Muslim state. A denomination of Islam which holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad's first Caliph was his father-in-law Abu Bakr. Sunni Islam primarily contrasts with Shi'a Islam, which holds that Muhammad's son-in-law and cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib, not Abu Bakr, was his first caliph. Sunni Islam is by far the largest denomination of Islam.

Cybersecurity Act

The purpose of ________________regulation is to force companies and organizations to protect their systems and information from cyber-attacks. Cyber-attacks include viruses, worms, Trojan horses, phishing, denial of service (DOS) attacks, unauthorized access (stealing intellectual property or confidential information) and control system attacks.

Mujahid

A person engaged in jihad is called a ______, the plural of which is mujahideen.

Authorization for Use of Military Force

Allows the president to "use all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks on 9/11.

ISIS

Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.

ISIL

Islamic State of Iraq and Levant. Alternatively translated as Islamic State of Iraq and Syria or Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham.

Bush Doctrine

A policy adopted by the Bush administration in 2001 that asserts America's right to attack any nation that has weapons of mass destruction that might be used against U.S. interests at home or abroad. Also, Preemptive Strike.

Militarism

A political orientation of a people or a government to maintain a strong military force and to be prepared to use it aggressively to defend or promote national interests.

Hezbollah

A radical Shiʿite Muslim organization in Lebanon engaged in guerrilla warfare against Israel. An extremist organization started by Ayatollah Khomeini.

Navy Seals

Sea Air and Land hardcore special force.

George W Bush

43rd president of the US who began a campaign toward energy self-sufficiency and against terrorism in 2001.

Counterterrorism

A calculated policy of direct retaliation against terrorists. incorporates the practice, military tactics, techniques, and strategy that government, military, law enforcement, business, and intelligence agencies use to combat or prevent terrorism.

Jihad

A holy struggle or striving by a Muslim for a moral or spiritual or political goal. The unofficial 6th pillar of Islam: Faith, Prayer, Giving, Fasting, Pilgrimage, & Jihad.

Hamas

A militant Islamic fundamentalist political movement that opposes peace with Israel and uses terrorism as a weapon.

Dick Cheney

Bush's Vice President and a Wyoming representative who was attacked numerous times for his considerable power given to him by the President and his policy-making.

Homeland Security

Cabinet department that includes the Coast Guard, Border Patrol, FEMA, Transportation Security Administration, INS and the Secret Service. Established in 2001 in response to 9/11.

Angela Merkel

Chancellor of Germany

Kurds

Ethnic group that lives in parts of Iraq and Turkey. They often suffer persecution in both countries, and are currently under the protection of the United Nations in Iraq.

John Ashcroft

George W. Bush's controversial attorney general who sharply restricted civil liberties and detained or deported immigrants suspected of terrorism.

Disposition Matrix

How to handle terrorists, kill list, determines risks and costs.

USA Patriot Act

Law passed due to 9/11 attacks; sought to prevent further terrorist attacks by allowing greater government access to electronic communications and other information; criticized by some as violating civil liberties

Benghazi Attack

Libya. In reaction to the Anti Islam video posted by retired army corp. On September 11, 2012 in Libya, a heavily armed group executed an attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi.

Peshmerga

Military forces of Iraqi Kurdistan. Largely divided and controlled separately by the different Kurdish parties, though both pledge allegiance to Kurdistan Regional Government. Responsible for the security of the Kurdish region, since the Iraqi army is not allowed to Kurdistan.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)

Remotely piloted or self piloted aircraft that can carry cameras, sensors, communications equipment, or other payloads

Drones

Robotic aircraft, used extensively by the military.

Assassination of President McKinley

The 25th President of the United States, William McKinley, was shot and fatally wounded on September 6, 1901, inside the Temple of Music on the grounds of the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. McKinley was shaking hands with the public when he was shot by Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist. The President died on September 14 from gangrene caused by the bullet wounds.

ISIS (ISIL)

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is a jihadist rebel group that controls territory in Iraq and Syria and also operates in eastern Libya, the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt, and other areas of the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.

Abbottabad, Pakistan

Town where Navy SEALs raided Osama bin Laden's compound in 2011 and killed the al-Qaeda leader.

World Trade Center

Twin skyscrapers 110 stories high in New York City. Once an icon for the global economy in New York, became a target for terrorism in 1993 and 2001; al Queda was solely responsible for the 9-11 attacks

National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education

______ is a nationally-coordinated effort comprising over 20 Federal departments and agencies, academia, and industry. The mission of this initiative is to enhance the overall cybersecurity posture of the United States by accelerating the availability of educational and training resources designed to improve the cyber behavior, skills, and knowledge of every segment of the population, enabling a safer cyberspace for all.

Sanctions

_______ are a diplomatic tool used to persuade a government to change its policies by restricting trade, financial assistance, or other commercial activity.

Shiite Muslims

_______ favored Ali, Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law. Ali and his successors are called imams, who not only lead the Shiites but are considered to be descendants of Muhammad. Adherents of Shia Islam are called Shias or the Shi'a as a collective or Shi'i individually. Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam: in 2009, Shia Muslims constituted 10-13% of the world's Muslim population

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

__________ has been proclaimed by his followers to be the Caliph of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), an Islamic extremist group in western Iraq and Syria, self-styled as the "Islamic State".

Cyberterrorism Defense Initiative

__________ is a national counter-cyberterrorism training program, developed for technical personnel and managers who monitor and protect our nation's critical cyber infrastructures.

Boston Bombing

____________were a series of attacks and incidents which began on April 15, 2013, when two pressure cooker bombs exploded during the Boston Marathon at 2:49 pm EDT, killing 3 people and injuring an estimated 264 others.

Infidels

_________is a pejorative term used in certain religions, especially Christianity and Islam, for one who has no religious beliefs, or for those who doubt or reject the central tenets of one's own religion.

Turkey

________is a parliamentary republic in Eurasia, largely located in Western Asia, with the smaller portion of Eastern Thrace in Southeast Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight countries