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Volume CXXXII, Number 20 |
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Terrorism is a tactic
YARON EISENBERG
CONTRIBUTOR
As America finds itself directly confronted by the threat of global terrorist networks, particularly those that affiliate themselves with Islamic fundamentalists, secular Arab nationalists, and the states that support them, it becomes imperative to find a method of effectively combating the danger. In order to stem the problem, one must understand the reasons why an organization employs terrorism on the scale and manner in which it has recently been executed. Contrary to the popular perspective, terrorism is a tactic chosen not based upon social injustice and desperation, but because of its effectiveness and acceptance.
Too often scholars and students alike cite very emotionally charged and sometimes misguided arguments in order to identify roots for modern terrorism. Such arguments generally consist of, but are not limited to, the economic divide between the capitalist West, mainly America, and the exploitation of the developing world. There are also other socio-economic questions: U.S. foreign policy, specifically the close relationship between the U.S. and Israel, and the classic Israeli and Palestinian, or Arab, conflict. Providing any combination of the above list as possible explanations for why terrorism exists in its current manifestation is a grave error.
One should not be deceived by his or her heart and necessarily buy into the common arguments justifying the motives of terrorists. For instance, a common reason for animosity towards America, which is also cited as a reason for terrorism, is that the U.S. offers support to Israel and is inherently anti-Arab. In fact, it is quite the contrary. The United States has provided tremendous support to Arab states, in the form of military arms to Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and others along with large amounts of aid and political support to the region. The U.S. is also seen as anti-Muslim; however, Muslims in the United States enjoy more freedoms than non-Muslims and many Muslims do in Iran. And if economic distribution is the question, then why does Saudi Arabia, an extraordinarily wealthy state, promote terrorism carried out by Islamic fundamentalist groups around the world?
Islamic fundamentalists have a worldview-a worldview that is anti-democratic and contrary to the free world's vision of the future. Groups like al-Qaeda and Hezbollah, sponsored by states such as Iran and Syria, engage in actions against the U.S. in order to confront the real threat to their power, the movement of liberalism and democracy. Such groups choose terrorism as the main channel of operation because they are not confronted by a negative reaction abroad; instead, their actions are met with sympathy, and in turn, appeasement.
In his book Why Terrorism Works, renowned Harvard Law professor and author Alan M. Dershowitz, discusses this very point. He charts brilliantly how the world has in fact encouraged the use of terrorism as a tool. One such example that he points to is when the U.N. offered the PLO observer status on November 22, 1974, despite vicious terrorist attacks in recent years, including the Munich Olympics massacre of Israeli athletes by a PLO splinter group, Black September. Why should organizations not use terrorism when the world offers them concessions on a silver platter? The real question is, can the world stomach the vision of Islamic fundamentalism?
Terrorism is a tactic used by a variety of groups, spreading over a vast history that transcends country, culture, religion, society, economic lines, and political structures. The fact that the world has not unequivocally opposed the targeted killing of innocents, for whatever gains or grievances, has only perpetuated the problem. Dershowitz says it best when he suggests, "The real root cause of terrorism is that it is successful-terrorists have consistently benefited from their terrorist acts. Terrorism will persist as long as it continues to work for those who use it, as long as the international community rewards it, as it has been doing for the past thirty-five years."
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