Terrorism. What is it and why does it happen? - translated from molonlabe
Terrorism. What is it and why does it happen?
Source:
http://molonlabe.livejournal.com/175625.html
Many people are still confused as to what constitutes a terrorist act, and what is considered a “regular crime” (despite the fact that we [in Russia] consider terrorism to be just another criminal offense). Let’s take two definitions of terrorism - Russian and American (I think the US one is more clear, while our definition is primarily worded so that law enforcement agencies can easily classify a given crime):
Ours: "Terrorism is an ideology of violence and the practice of influencing the public, the government bodies, local authorities or international organizations, by use of force, intimidation, and / or other forms violent crimes."
United States: "Premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against the civilian population or infrastructure by subnational groups or clandestine international organizations, usually with the aim to influence public opinion."
As we can see, the Americans have a broader interpretation of terrorism.
But did anyone notice either definition including a requirement for the terrorists to make demands, [or pursue a specific short-term goal]? Why are there people, in every discussion in my blog, who believe that if terrorists did not say "we want a ten million USD, [our friends released], and a fully fueled jet," that means the act was not a terrorist attack at all, but rather a common crime? Generally, if terrorists even bother making any demands, those are obviously impractical, and only used as a smokescreen. There is only one goal of a terrorist attack - instilling terror.
I already wrote that fear is a tool for managing society. By the way, the state is also intimidating its citizens, threatening them with criminal prosecution for the commission of any acts it deemed illegal, i.e. achieving control through fear. But there is a difference between the state and the terrorists - the government does not proactively attack innocent people as a warning to others. Roughly speaking, the government is like a big brother who slaps around bullies that attacked his younger sibling, and says: "You touch him again, and you’ll regret it", whereas a terrorist simply murders a random person in the street and shouts: "I will do this every time anyone offends my brother!"
But the broader US definition of "terrorism" does not include one thing which the Russian one has. The word "ideology". If you read carefully, their definition of terrorism is more like a definition of the terrorist attack itself.
The Americans do not focus on the ideology, the presumed “foundation of terrorism”. Maybe, this is because US legislators understand the lack of any reasonable and logical reasons for terrorist activities. If we look away from local conflicts, and look at the very ideology of terrorism, we will find that terrorists often operate in the name of totally abstract ideas. "We are on a jihad to establish the word of Allah on the earth!", or "We kill the infidels, because we do not want to live according to the laws of kafir, but want Sharia law". Try to imagine a terrorist group that uses another abstract idea, i.e. "we will commit terrorist acts for the glory of our ancestors, and to enter Valhalla!" or "we kill people - because all world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players." Ridiculous, isn’t it? But the motivations of real terrorists are just as ridiculous.
There are some terrorist organizations that have specific goals, but sooner or later, their activities come to an end. You can fight for a time, but eventually people will realize that it is easier to achieve the same goals through legal and non-terrorist means. IRA is a good example of this.
Thus, terrorism with specific goals is non-viable in the long term. Someone realized this and gave terrorists abstract goals - ones that can never be achieved, and even if it did happen, there would be no way to agree if the goal was reached, and to what extent (i.e. if the kingdom of Allah has been built on Earth).
Perhaps this “meaningless terrorism” is part of a global plan to stop the expansion of Islam. By associating Islam with terrorism in the public mind, all Muslims are made suspicious and undesirable. Perhaps, terrorist fanatics are simply used for specific goals - to destabilize certain countries or regions (Afghanistan, Yugoslavia, Lybia, Syria, etc. - ed.). In short, terrorists themselves have no real goals or demands. Terrorism does not exist in order to achieve its officially stated objectives.
However, huge sums of money are invested in terrorist organizations. Nobody will ever invest money simply to have a random guy blow up in a crowd “to further the glory of Allah”. Financial investments are only made in order to get more money later. Especially when we’re talking about the sort of money spent on supporting islamic terrorism.
Do not think that the terrorist attacks are perpetrated for this or that abstract reason, just because the terrorists themselves say so. The triggermen are merely tools, and tools only know what’s needed for their function. The true purpose is only known to the ones who pay for the whole enterprise.