I did write a book about it…Captive…in novel form but it’s
still at the core. Why do people do
these horrible things? I was reading
today about the gruesome recovery some of the victims of the Boston bombing are
enduring.
My introduction to terrorism is all rooted in the IRA and
the related bomb scares (and bombs) while I was a child visiting London. My dad is British and we’d stop there en
route to his family home in Wales. Bomb
scares make a lasting impression on a child and I struggled with the concept.
So, this is what I learned when I did the research (in a
nutshell…for the book read Captive).
1.
Terrorism is meant to terrorize. Hence it is random and unpredictable. Visual and destructive (think close cameras
at the Boston Marathon finish line and nails and such in the bombs…leading to
physical harm and lingering injury).
2.
The goal is not the act itself but the
disproportionate response from those attacked.
Terrorists don’t have the means to fight traditionally. They are a smaller and lesser entity. Thus the best they can do is to strike a
brutal or panicked response…making their side more compelling or sympathetic
and also creating mass panic. A
revocation of civil rights, a closing down of a city, people avoiding public
places, hysteria and paranoia, a shutting down of parts of the economy…. Any way people change behavior or repression
takes hold means the terrorist wins.
3.
They don’t have the assets to fight using
traditional warfare. Usually terrorists
aren’t states or they are lesser states.
They need to inflict maximum damage at minimal costs.
4.
Terrorist rarely win in the long run.
5.
They do lead to lasting change in
societies. I can assure you that
ditching a backpack in public view is a lot harder in Jerusalem than it is in
most American cities, even today.
6.
Terrorists are sometime on the moral right
side. Assad calls his adversaries
terrorists…as he targets hospitals, doctors, children and uses chemical
weapons. Definitions can be tricky in
this genre.
7.
Terrorism is cult-like. There is in depth indoctrination and a way to
belong, such as customs, behaviors, groupings and belonging.
8.
Terrorist target those who think logically and
in rules. Those studying science and
math. Like our younger brother terrorist
in the Boston bombing. People who think
this way are more likely to follow the rules or instruction.
9.
Terrorists are bad people and there is no
excuse. Terrorists target women,
children and civilians. Their intent is
to harm and terrorize. The best moral
justification they can use is that “no one is innocent” or “the end justifies the
means”. Ask Nelson Mandella about that
question/justification. Or Martin Luther
King JR. Terrorism is an emasculated and
frustrated person’s way of showing that they can have power too and hurting
those defenseless.
I’m obviously not a supporter of terrorism,
regardless of how noble the cause. But
it continues…
