Opinion
In wake of attacks, rethink terror
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Also by Ben White:
- Testing flawed, but best option (March 31, 2009)
- Move to Library Mall would benefit carts, students alike (March 9, 2009)
- McEwen a misguided anarchist (February 9, 2009)
- Service emphasis good for country (January 27, 2009)
- In wake of attacks, rethink terror (December 1, 2008)
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During Thanksgiving break, there was a large elephant in the room for all of us. As we struggled to account for what we were thankful, terror attacks in
And here lies one aspect of terrorism we still fail to understand after decades of combating it and years of confronting it under the assumptive title of the “War on Terror;” we frequently neglect to answer why individual terrorists commit the atrocities they do. One witness told CNN one of the Mumbai gunmen had a “smile on his face as he started to spray the bullets.” Such indifference to murder leads us always to castigate these people, intuitively I might add, to the realms of the insane. Instead of attempting to analyze the decision-making processes of terrorists, we decide they do not undergo any such process. We instead pass them off as psychotics whose insanity gets the best of them.
Such a conception is unhelpful at best and dangerous at worst. Why? Because research tells us otherwise; study after study demonstrates terrorists willing to be killed for their cause show no personality differences from their average populations. One such study done by the Library of Congress took into consideration three decades of psychological and sociological literature on terrorism and found there is no single terrorist personality and went even further in saying that the personalities of people labeled as terrorists is as diverse as any legal profession. Many other studies exist demonstrate those people who are willing to be killed in the name of their cause are highly intelligent and educated individuals who do not commit their acts out of desperation, but rather out of ideological fervor. Yet policy makers and academics continue to advance false ideas, such as
It is this cause that must be addressed when combating terrorism, yet we continue to go forward with the assumption that those who attack are psychopathic, stupid and deprived. By adhering to this assumption we make the mistake of dismissing the individual actor’s role in terrorism and focus only on the group. In turn, this leads us to use a tactic called “counter-terrorism,” a mono-focal militaristic approach, as opposed to what terror expert Haig Khatchadourian calls “anti-terrorism,” a holistic approach that has a focus on combating the psychological orientations that lead people to become so passionate in their beliefs. Any fight against terrorism must include a focus on the individual, the rank-and-file. Leadership and organizational infrastructure are regenerative; if you kill the leader, someone else steps in.
While it is true that use of military strength against terrorist operations will at times be necessary, this other approach must be taken into account. We must be able to look at the pictures of smiling gunmen in Mumbai and hold back our instinctive desire to cast his motivation off as insane, and thus not in need of analysis. While it is a difficult endeavor, we must be able to look at that smiling gunman and ask, “Why is he smiling?”
While it is difficult to focus on and reassess our strategies against terrorism while embroiled in an economic upheaval, we must combat terrorism in the most effective manner; the attacks in Mumbai reintroduce this idea. In reality, for Americans, terrorism has a relatively insignificant impact on our daily lives, but it is an existential threat; it existed long before the economic downturn, and it will exist long after it. For that reason, we must approach it in the best manner possible.
Ben White (bwhite2@wisc.edu) is a senior majoring in political science.
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The answer to the question “why do they do these things” can be found in the Koran and Sharia Law. Sharia 9:5 Fight and slay the infidels where ever you find them. The Koran demands that Muslims have no loyalty to anything other than Allah. It demands that Sharia Law be observed over any laws of the land where ever Muslims reside. It is the goal of Islam to conquer the world and create a world Caliphate to rule all. The Koran demands that we all submit to Islam or die.
Here’s the real problem: the reaction to “terrorism” is a spaz-attack of fear. Terrorism should be considered criminal offense, not some sort of covert militia attack against all humanity.
We don’t want to hear their point of view. WE DON’T CARE.
Why does a burglar steal? WHO CARES! But I’m sure not going to call in the national guard if there’s a crime wave in my neighborhood.
Either way, it was Muslims that were behind it. And I don’t want to hear any more PC BS that it’s wrong to single out Muslims. They’re either doing it or they’re sitting back quietly and doing nothing about it.
Muslim terrorists should be larded with bacon and buried in pig skins. Let’s use their superstitions againgst them.
“Muslim terrorists should be larded with bacon and buried in pig skins.”
What would they do to you then, use your superstition of becoming intelligent against you?
Submit or die, that’s the choice the Muslims give the infidel.
Have you noticed that in every incident in which Muslims kill or attempt to kill infidels, “no connection with terrorism is involved”? Before the bodies are even covered up and rolled away on the gurneys, the spokesmen grab the microphones to assure the public that they have nothing to worry about. Despite the fact the Americans, Britons, Spaniards, Italians, etc., are killed while their murderers shout “Allahu Akhbar!”, there is “no connection with terrorism”.
Such denials are not possible in Mumbai.
Why don’t we just kick all the Muslims out of North America? Who says we have to let ‘em in here in the first place, especially when they cause so much crap here and elsewhere?
“What would they do to you then”
They’d be dead and in no position to do anything to me.
There would also be far fewer volunteers for these suicide missions what with no chance of all those virgins in paradise. A Muslim can’t go to paradise if they are larded with bacon and buried in pig skins.
The comments on this board reflect the ignorance with which the American people and government addresses terrorism.