Understanding territorism

Years before the senseless attack on the World Trade Center, French philosopher Jean-Francois Revel already pinpointed the problems involved in battling world terrorism. He said: "The battle against international state terrorism can only be waged by international cooperation, not merely in policing, but in politics. Simply to state this fact makes obvious how difficult it is. As soon as the democracies face a serious challenge, they react by stressing their disagreements or even paying off mutual scores. Only very seldom do they unite against the danger that threatens them all. The terrorist states are well aware of this, and they use it to double advantage, both harming the democracies and further dividing them."

Robert H. Kupperman, senior adviser for Center for Strategic and International Studies had this significant observation: "There is only one area of broad agreement about terrorism – the United States and its allies are against it, so much so that we have ‘declared war’ upon terrorists. Other than truisms about the need for international cooperation, no consensus has been established. In fact, few can agree upon a definition of terrorism. But, we do know some of its characteristics. It is political extortion that employs violence or the threat of violence; such extortions are usually targeted against large nations. The usual goal is to destabilize, to make a democratic government appear impotent and to amplify these effects through the electronic marvels of television. In sum, terrorism is theater."

Grant Wardlaw, author of Political Terrorism, gives a detailed explanation: "Another major aim of terrorism, in some instances the foremost aim, is that of publicity. By staging acts which gain the world’s attention, terrorists are able to gain recognition of their cause and project themselves as a group that must be listened to and taken account of. Frightening acts of violence and the ensuing atmosphere of alarm and fear cause people to exaggerate the importance, size, and strength of some terrorist organizations. However, because of their numerical inferiority it is important that terrorist groups indulge in dramatic and shocking violence if they are to be noticed. The importance of the media as a vehicle for the expression of terrorist messages cannot be overstated. Terrorism and media coverage enjoy something of a symbiotic relationship. Television in particular is no longer a medium which simply responds to terrorist events, it is an integral part of them. Because of the vast, instant audience that can be conjured up by television, terrorists have learned to stage-manage their spectaculars for maximum audience impact. This is at least partly the reason for the dramatic increase in the occurrence of hostage and siege situations in the past few years. The drama of the situation can be increased by taking hostages. If certain demands are not met, hostages may be killed, thereby escalating the suspense and forcing the authorities to take the terrorists even more seriously. Such increasing tension also serves to intensify outside pressure on the authorities to give in to all or some of the terrorists’ demands. The hostages may well have no real or symbolic value as individuals as far as the hostage-takers are concerned. They may be, and often are, anonymous individuals occupying no positions of power and belonging to no particular nation."