Free Example of Hezbollah and Al-Qaeda Essay

The classification of Hezbollah and Al-Qaeda by the United States of America under terrorist organizations does not mean that they have similar ideologies, objectives and ways of achieving their terrorist activities. The classification merely implies that both have intentions that often pursue. It might be not logical to urge that they have objectives that duplicate each other.

I would classify Al-Qaeda as a terrorist organization, whereas Hezbollah as a revolutionary movement. This division would be based on the aim that the groups were initially definit to achieve. Hezbollah was formed as a rebellious group in 1982 in Iran nevertheless Al-Qaeda was created in 1988 purposely for wars against nations.

Although, Al-Qaeda and Hezbollah are two different terrorist organizations, they often provide support to one another. Both Al-Qaeda and Hezbollah have Islamic backgrounds. Both groups deploy tactics such as bombings, shootings and suicide attacks to destroy their enemies.

The major difference between Al-Qaeda and Hezbollah is the principles on which they act. Al-Qaeda operates on the phylosophy of Manichean, which requires members of the group to destroy America and its allies. On the other hand, Hezbollah is based on the creed of revolution in Iran. Besides, Hezbollah has legitimate involvement in politics of Iran, while Al-Qaeda aims at ending political systems of Arab countries. This group is targeting to replace the Arabic style of governance with the autocratic Taliban style.

Forthermore, Hezbollah often involve government enters into negotiations with administrations, whenever there is a conflict between the group and the government. In contrast, Al-Qaeda has never held any cooperation with a government of over political differences.

Al-Qaeda has publicly declared its purpose to attack, for example, in 2006 an Al-Qaeda member attacked a senior official of Hezbollah in Lebanon. In contrast, Hezbollah has not declared any war against al-Qaeda. Last but not least, the main focus of Al-Qaeda is to eliminate the Unites States together with its economy. However, such financial threats have not been received from Hezbollah.

I would conclude that al-Qaeda and Hezbollah are two distinct terrorist groups that would require specialized strategies that are well tailored towards reacting each group. Since they have numerous differences than similarities, ranging from their compositions to terrorism missions, it is crucial for the United States of America to device different approaches for each group. Categorizing the two groups as one would only offer more challenges on how to counterattack them. It is better for the United States to understand the specific differences of these two groups so that it may provide adequate protection to its citizens from possible attacks by Al-Qaeda and Hezbollah.