Bombing Us Back To The Middle Ages
Roger Cohen speculates in the IHT that that's what the terrorists want:
Fanaticism often has roots in rapid change, for its absolute certainties are consoling when all else shifts.
Terrorism remains a mystery. Nobody knows exactly what leads a young Muslim to blow himself up in the name of a holy war against the West. As Walter Laqueur, a historian, has observed, "There can be no final victory in the fight against terrorism, for terrorism (rather than full-scale war) is the contemporary manifestation of conflict, and conflict will not disappear from earth."
But what is clear is that even as jihadist terrorists employ the tools of modernity - posting scenes of beheadings on the Internet, adopting cellphone-operated detonation devices - their struggle is against modernity itself, which is to say against open societies as manifested in cosmopolitan cities like London or Madrid or New York.
Whoever maintains that the cause of terrorism is a mystery is perpetuating something I don't quite know how to describe. Institutional stupidity? Authoritarian lying? Official obfuscation as self-preservation from voters?
The tactics we call terrorism occur with regularity through history. Simply put, there is no such thing as "pointless" terrorism. The offender always has a message. Tactically, terrorism is the only avenue left in any environment where representation does not protect the minority, and where an occupying force possesses overwhelming military power.
Note well that terrorism is not carefully defined for the public, because it's a sensational word that will sell a lot of Kleenex: McVeigh was not part of a systemic attack, and in fact his work was not even carefully planned; Rudolph acted in a society where the rights of individuals are carefully considered, however much he didn't like the outcome. If you want to think about how stupidly people regard acts of terrorism such as the 9/11 attacks, think about how often the word, "cowardly" was used. It doesn't mean what it was used for in the media and by public officials; it was merely the first word anyone could think of to describe something that made *us* afraid. (A coward is one who shirks a clear moral or ethical duty.)
So, in short: the causes of terrorism *are* known. What is missing is the will to address it honestly.
Radwaste at July 10, 2005 10:41 AM
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