Know Your Enemy: The Three Branches of Terror Part 3: The Advocacy Branch

Having already discussed the militant factions and their political support abroad (specifically highlighting Iran, considered by some to be the "Grandfather" of International Terror, along with its associate Syria), one final branch of the Global Jihad Movement remains that represents an equally dire threat to the United States and Great Britain. Unique in many ways because of the manner in which they assist in carrying out the goals of previously listed factions is done so, in many ways, by manipulating laws and freedoms that were meant to both keep the West safe and unique in the world. Some have cited that this is a double edged tactic, as in addition to abusing inherent American freedoms and technology from the inside, a common counter is usually to clamp down on those very specific freedoms, which results in a notable outcry from the affected public, or a loss of face in the long run for those who would recommend such a radical amendment.

Indeed the United States is often plagued with hostility for its 2001 Patriot Act, released in the wake of the September 11th tragedies to clamp down on the terrorist activities inside the nation, such as the follow up anthrax attacks, the planned British Airways bombings, and the Fort Dix Attacks. It could be argued that in the frenzy to protect a nation, situations arise that closely mimic the film The Siege, in which a nation's zeal to protect its citizens could theoretically lead to an erosion of the moral authority that gave the nation its good standing to begin with, making the Advocacy Branch a particularly deadly arm of the Global Jihad Movement.

Among the most powerful tools of this branch is the internet. Ironically, to quote a study on the widespread use of the internet by terrorist factions, the fractured and difficult to clamp down systems of communication that make up the internet that were used to protect the United States by the Soviet Union are beginning to backfire, as the anonymity acts as a form of digital scarf that mirrors those used on the battlefields of Chechnya, Iraq, and Afghanistan.