Law & Paneir

By Arnold Markowitz, LCSW I will begin by describing similarities between cult groups and terrorist groups in the way each uses sophisticated psychological techniques to indoctrinate their devoted members. Last fall I took the position that Osama Bin Ladin and Al Queda were not cult groups as defined by the Interfaith Coalition of Concern About Cults. It is the definition followed by the Cult Hotline and Clinic of the Jewish Board of Family and Children’s services located in New York. Destructive cult groups are said to use techniques of brainwashing so I thought we could look at Robert J Lifton’s seminal work on Brainwashing, thought reform and mind control in his book titled  Thought Reform and The Psychology of Totalism. Lifton makes some very useful points that can be applied to terrorist groups and destructive cults. For one he points out that the combination of immoderate ideology with equally immoderate individual character traits are an extremist meeting gro...

This essay will present a brief history of aviation terrorism, including the events of Lockerbie and 9/11. It will then look in more depth as what the response of authorities has been to this; and consider what the criticisms have been of these efforts. The first case of hijacking recorded involved a Cathay Pacific flight from Macau to Hong Kong in July 1948. In this event the four Chinese hijackers struggled with the plane’s crew, resulting in the plane crashing and the death of all aboard. From that date to the late 50′s there were relatively few cases of hijacking compared with what was to come later. On average only one per year between 1948 and 1957. In the next ten years this increased to an average of about 5 a year. But from 1968 onwards there was a very large increase in the amount of hijacking carried out. In that year there was 38 hijacks, and 1969 saw the largest amount so far- an amazing 82 cases. Thankfully, this decreased over the next ten years, and went ...

During the last 50 years, the United States has suffered from a constant stream of vicious terrorist acts, first carried out by the Cuban government and then later outsourced to anti-capitalist groups who were given safe haven in the country. The human toll is enormous – 3,478 dead, 2,009 injured, and many more suffering the mental health problems associated with traumatic stress.  The terrorist attacks include blowing up a civilian airplane, bombing hotels and restaurants in tourist neighborhoods, machine gun attacks from speed boats against coastal towns, introduction of chemical and biological agents such as dengue fever, and a program of conspiracy between the Cuban state and the Catholic church to remove thousands of children from their parents and the U.S. All of this is true – only in reverse. The victim of the hostile aggression has always been Cuba. The country may be the worst victim of terrorism in the Post-WWII era. But in the bizarro world of the U.S. government...

Democratic countries around the world are struggling to effectively fight terror without compromising basic human rights and freedoms – the essential democratic values. In this article from IDI's Hebrew online journal Parliament , IDI's Yogev Tuval presents an analysis and comparison of post-9/11 anti-terrorism legislation in the United States and Britain, and explains how certain laws threaten democracy. Introduction Many democratic countries have become increasingly willing to take severe measures against the rising threat of international terrorism. The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 and other major terrorist attacks throughout the world demonstrate that in the 21st century, the threat of terrorism has become real and acute, and that governments cannot afford to ignore it. Democratic countries are thus faced with a serious challenge: how can you fight terrorism effectively and uncompromisingly without seriously compromising human rights and basic freedoms, wh...

In the past ten days, there are many theories regarding with the missing flight of MH370. There are more than 10 theories on the missing flight. The investigators are leaning with hijacking. In my view it is more acceptable notion than other theories. If it is a hijacking, then this is a near prefect hijacking. Why I said in that manner? Firstly, whoever involved with this act must know and familiar with the handling of Boeing 777 aircraft. The act cannot be executed by a loner. We had 2 pilots, one aircraft engineer, and 20 people from Free Scale Semiconductors from USA who are well versed with electronic equipment.   In my opinion there must be a group of people coordinating and executing this act. Secondly, what is their motive and who had given directions to them? Either the instruction must come from top brass of a terrorist group [who is created and controlling these terrorist groups??] or an intelligence agency which has a wider interest on this r...