IS TERRORISM JUST A POLEMICAL LABEL

USED BY POWERFUL AGAINST POWERLESS?

ANIQA ALI 17063

AISHA SHAHID RANA 17147

YASIR DIL 17234

PROBLEM DEFINITION:

• THE QUESTION OF HOW TERRORISM IS DEFINED IS INEVITABLY LINKED WITH THE QUESTIONS: WHO IS DEFINING? BY WHAT AUTHORITY?AND TO WHAT EFFECT? 

INSIDE TERRORISM

•'UNBOUNDED' MORALITY ULTIMATELY BECOMES COUNTERPRODUCTIVE EVEN IN TERMS OF THE SAME MORAL PRINCIPLES BEING SOUGHT. THE LAW OF DIMINISHING RETURNS APPLIES TO MORALITY’

DICTIONARY DEFINITIONS ARE OF LITTLE HELP• TERRORISM: A SYSTEM OF TERROR. 1. GOVERNMENT BY INTIMIDATION AS

DIRECTED AND CARRIED OUT BY THE PARTY IN POWER IN FRANCE DURING THE REVOLUTION OF 1789-94; THE SYSTEM OF `TERROR'. 2.GEN. A POLICY INTENDED TO STRIKE WITH TERROR THOSE AGAINST WHOM IT IS ADOPTED; THE EMPLOYMENT OF METHODS OF INTIMIDATION; THE FACT OF TERRORIZING OR CONDITION OF BEING TERRORIZED.

• . AS A POLITICAL TERM: A. APPLIED TO THE JACOBINS AND THEIR AGENTS AND PARTISANS IN THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, ESP. TO THOSE CONNECTED WITH THE REVOLUTIONARY TRIBUNALS DURING THE `REIGN OF TERROR'. B. ANY ONE WHO ATTEMPTS TO FURTHER HIS VIEWS BY A SYSTEM OF COERCIVE INTIMIDATION; SPEC. APPLIED TO MEMBERS OF ONE OF THE EXTREME REVOLUTIONARY SOCIETIES IN RUSSIA.

TERRORISM OR FREEDOM FIGHT ?• THE WORD `TERRORISM' WAS FIRST POPULARIZED DURING THE

FRENCH REVOLUTION

• HENCE, UNLIKE TERRORISM AS IT IS COMMONLY UNDERSTOOD TODAY, TO MEAN A REVOLUTIONARY OR ANTI-GOVERNMENT ACTIVITY UNDERTAKEN BY NON-STATE OR SUBNATIONAL ENTITIES

• THE REGIME DE LA TERREUR WAS AN INSTRUMENT OF GOVERNANCE WIELDED BY THE RECENTLY ESTABLISHED REVOLUTIONARY STATE

• ON THE EVE OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR

STATE AND TERRORISM 

• STATES CAN NOT COMMIT ACTSOF TERROR (ELDEN/CRONIN)

NOTE : WE WILL SHOW A SHORT VIDEO TO DEFEND THE STATMENT

STATE CAN NOT BE TERRORISTS (GIBBS) • GIBBS ASSERTS, OFTEN NO LAW "BUT THE WILL OF THE DESPOT",

UNDER THIS UNDERSTANDING STATES CAN COMMIT ACTS OF TERROR, BUT CANNOT BE ASCRIBED AS TERRORISTS. CONVERSELY, A SUFFICIENTLY VAGUE DEFINITION SUCH AS ZINAM’S (1978), WOULD ALLOW THE STATE PROSECUTION OF ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES TO BE CLASSIFIED AS TERRORISM. THESE CONSIDERATIONS ALONG WITH THE CONFUSING NATURE OF INCLUDING CRIMINALITY INTO A CLASSIFICATION (LOMANSKY 1991) (I.E. HOW CRIME IS SUBSTANTIATED (GIBBS 1989) AND WHERE IT IS CONSTITUTED MUSTAFA (2005)), MAKES IT CLEAR THAT A DEFINITION IS THEREFORE REQUIRED THAT EXCLUDES ILLEGALITY AS A NECESSARY CRITERION FOR TERRORISM.

TERRORISM LABELLINGS

A REASON FOR THIS IS THAT, ACCORDING TO THE CONSTRUCTIVIST THEORY, THE WAY PEOPLE PERCEIVE THEIR SURROUNDING WORLD IS SOCIALLY CONSTRUCTED. IDEAS AND SHARED KNOWLEDGE ABOUT REALITY HAVE A STRONG IMPACT ON WORLD POLITICS. IN THAT SENSE, DISCOURSE IS VERY IMPORTANT AS LANGUAGE PLAYS A PREDOMINANT ROLE IN SHAPING REALITY AND IN INFLUENCING THE WAY PEOPLE PERCEIVE IT (KEGLEY 2009, 39-42). CONSEQUENTLY, LABELLING (OR NAMING) IN ITSELF, AS WRITTEN BY JACKSON, IS ‘ALWAYS A HIGHLY CHARGED PROCESS THAT CAN HAVE SERIOUS POLITICAL AND SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES’ (2005: 23). 

CONT…

• THE TERRORIST LABEL IN PARTICULAR HAS A STRONG POLITICAL IMPACT AS IT DELEGITIMIZES THE ACTORS IT TARGETS. FIRST AND FOREMOST, THIS CAN BE EXPLAINED BY THE EMOTIONAL IMPACT OF THE TERM (BARTOLUCCI 2010: 122). REFERRING TO AN ACTOR AS A TERRORIST IMPLIES INFERRING FEAR TOWARDS HIS ACTIONS AND MOTIVES.

• BY USING SUCH EMOTIONAL WORDS, IT IS THUS EASIER FOR THE LABELLING ACTORS TO MANIPULATE THE WAY THE AUDIENCE PERCEIVES THE SO-CALLED TERRORIST GROUP SINCE IT HAMPERS THE EXTENT TO WHICH PEOPLE WILL BE ABLE AND LIKELY TO RATIONALLY ANALYSE THESE GROUPS.

NELSON MANDELA - "ONE MANS TERRORIST IS ANOTHER MAN'S FREEDOM FIGHTER“

• A LONDONDERRY OFFICIAL CALLED HIM "A COLD-BLOODED RUTHLESS TERRORIST (WHO) WILL WEIGH UP THE CONSEQUENCES OF HIS ACTIONS ONLY IN TERMS OF BENEFIT TO THE IRA, REGARDLESS OF THE COST IN HUMAN LIVES." ANOTHER SAID HE WAS A "FANATIC ... RESPONSIBLE FOR MASS MURDER." 

HE HIMSELF HAS SPOKEN OF THE "LEGAL AND MORAL RIGHT OF THE IRA TO KILL A BRITISH SOLDIER AT ANY TIME," AND WAS ONCE QUOTED: "FREEDOM CAN BE GAINED ONLY AT THE POINT OF AN IRA RIFLE, AND I APOLOGIZE TO NO ONE FOR SAYING THAT WE SUPPORT THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS OF THE IRA." 

CONT…

• IS IT THEN TRUE THAT "ONE MAN'S TERRORIST IS ANOTHER MAN'S FREEDOM FIGHTER"? AFTER ALL, MANY IRISH CONSIDER MCGUINNESS AND HIS SINN FEIN COMRADE GERRY ADAMS, WHOM BILL CLINTON INVITED TO THE WHITE HOUSE FOR ST. PATRICK'S DAY, AS FREEDOM FIGHTERS IN THE TRADITION OF THE "MARTYRS" OF THE "EASTER RISING" OF 1916, CELEBRATED BY THE POET W. B. YEATS. 

• NOBEL PRIZE WINNER YASSER ARAFAT HAS BEEN CHARGED IN THE COLD-BLOODED ASSASSINATION OF U.S. AMBASSADOR CLEO NOEL IN THE SUDAN IN 1973. HIS PLO IS AN UMBRELLA GROUP EMBRACING ORGANIZATIONS FOR WHOM THE WEAPON OF CHOICE IN THE WAR AGAINST ISRAEL IS TERROR. 

NELSON MANDELA, ANOTHER NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER, DID NOT GET LIFE IMPRISONMENT ON ROBBEN ISLAND FOR SITTING IN AT LUNCH COUNTERS, BUT IF MEMORY SERVES, FOR PLOTTING TERROR TO OVERTHROW THE REGIME. 

AL-QAIDA- "WAR ON TERROR"

• ONE OF THE MAIN OBJECTIVES OF WAR PROPAGANDA IS TO “FABRICATE AN ENEMY”. THE “OUTSIDE ENEMY” PERSONIFIED BY OSAMA BIN LADEN IS “THREATENING AMERICA”.

• PRE-EMPTIVE WAR DIRECTED AGAINST “ISLAMIC TERRORISTS” IS REQUIRED TO DEFEND THE HOMELAND. REALITIES ARE TURNED UPSIDE DOWN. AMERICA IS UNDER ATTACK.

• IN THE WAKE OF 9/11, THE CREATION OF THIS “OUTSIDE ENEMY” HAS SERVED TO OBFUSCATE THE REAL ECONOMIC AND STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES BEHIND THE WAR IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND CENTRAL ASIA. WAGED ON THE GROUNDS OF SELF-DEFENSE, THE PRE-EMPTIVE WAR IS UPHELD AS A “JUST WAR” WITH A HUMANITARIAN MANDATE.

• AS ANTI-WAR SENTIMENT GROWS AND THE POLITICAL LEGITIMACY THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION FALTERS, DOUBTS REGARDING THE EXISTENCE OF THIS ILLUSIVE “OUTSIDE ENEMY” MUST BE DISPELLED.

• COUNTER-TERRORISM AND WAR PROPAGANDA ARE INTERTWINED. THE PROPAGANDA APPARATUS FEEDS DISINFORMATION INTO THE NEWS CHAIN. THE TERROR WARNINGS MUST APPEAR TO BE “GENUINE”. THE OBJECTIVE IS TO PRESENT THE TERROR GROUPS AS “ENEMIES OF AMERICA.”

CONT…

• IRONICALLY, AL QAEDA –THE “OUTSIDE ENEMY OF AMERICA” AS WELL AS THE ALLEGED ARCHITECT OF THE 9/11 ATTACKS– IS A CREATION OF THE CIA.

• FROM THE OUTSET OF THE SOVIET-AFGHAN WAR IN THE EARLY 1980S, THE US INTELLIGENCE APPARATUS HAS SUPPORTED THE FORMATION OF THE “ISLAMIC BRIGADES”. PROPAGANDA PURPORTS TO ERASE THE HISTORY OF AL QAEDA, DROWN THE TRUTH AND “KILL THE EVIDENCE” ON HOW THIS “OUTSIDE ENEMY” WAS FABRICATED AND TRANSFORMED INTO “ENEMY NUMBER ONE”.

• THE US INTELLIGENCE APPARATUS HAS CREATED IT OWN TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS. AND AT THE SAME TIME, IT CREATES ITS OWN TERRORIST WARNINGS CONCERNING THE TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS WHICH IT HAS ITSELF CREATED. MEANWHILE, A COHESIVE MULTIBILLION DOLLAR COUNTERTERRORISM PROGRAM “TO GO AFTER” THESE TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS HAS BEEN PUT IN PLACE.

• PORTRAYED IN STYLIZED FASHION BY THE WESTERN MEDIA, OSAMA BIN LADEN, SUPPORTED BY HIS VARIOUS HENCHMEN, CONSTITUTES AMERICA’S POST-COLD WAR BOGEYMAN, WHO “THREATENS WESTERN DEMOCRACY”. THE ALLEGED THREAT OF “ISLAMIC TERRORISTS”, PERMEATES THE ENTIRE US NATIONAL SECURITY DOCTRINE. ITS PURPOSE IS TO JUSTIFY WARS OF AGGRESSION IN THE MIDDLE EAST, WHILE ESTABLISHING WITHIN AMERICA, THE CONTOURS OF THE HOMELAND SECURITY STATE.

ISRAEL - PALESTINIAN SUICIDE BOMBER• THE INDIVIDUAL BOMBERS DO NOT NECESSARILY HAVE A BACKGROUND OF BEING

RELIGIOUSLY DEVOUT, BUT THEIR ACTIONS ARE ALMOST ALWAYS FRAMED AS ACTS OF SELF-MARTYRDOM.

• FOR THE ATTACKERS AND THE GROUPS THAT SEND THEM, THIS GIVES THEIR DEATHS RELIGIOUS SANCTION AND MEANS THEIR SUICIDE CAN BE CELEBRATED.

• THE ATTACKERS, WHO ARE OFTEN RECORDED ON VIDEO DECLARING THEIR INTENTIONS TO MURDER ISRAELIS, MOST OFTEN CAST THEIR ATTACKS AS ACTS OF REVENGE AND SEEM TO BELIEVE THAT THEY WILL GO STRAIGHT TO PARADISE.

• PART OF THE PACT BETWEEN A BOMBER AND THE GROUP THAT SENDS HIM IS THAT THE ATTACKER'S DEATH WILL BE CELEBRATED AND HIS FAMILY PROVIDED FOR.

CONT…

• MANY PALESTINIANS SEE SUICIDE ATTACKS AS THE ONLY FORM OF ARMED RESISTANCE TO OCCUPATION AVAILABLE TO THEM, GIVEN THE VAST SUPERIORITY OF THE ISRAELI ARMY.

• PALESTINIANS OFTEN ATTEMPT TO EXPLAIN THE ATTACKS AS DESPERATE ACTS OR REVENGE BORN OF THEIR SUFFERING UNDER OCCUPATION. THEY POINT TO THE LARGE NUMBER OF PALESTINIAN CIVILIAN DEATHS AS A RESULT OF ACTIONS BY THE ISRAELI ARMY.

• ISRAEL'S LEADERS APPEAR TO HAVE ULTIMATELY COME TO THE CONCLUSION THAT ONLY PHYSICAL SEPARATION WITH THE PALESTINIANS CAN SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF HUMAN BOMBS.

CONT…

• "MORE CIVILIANS WERE KILLED BY THEIR OWN GOVERNMENT THAN IN ANY OTHER FORM OF ARMED VIOLENCE". (ARMSTRONG)  

• THE KHMER ROUGE EXECUTED A MILLION OF THEIR OWN PEOPLE IN JUST FOUR YEARS AND MORE PALESTINIANS HAVE BEEN KILLED BY THE IDF THAN ISRAELIS KILLED BY PALESTINIAN SUICIDE BOMBERS (MAZOWER 2002). STATE VIOLENCE ALSO TENDS TO BE SYSTEMATIC AND WELL ORGANIZED, LARGELY AS A RESULT OF THE INSTITUTIONAL STRUCTURES AVAILABLE TO THEM.

CONCLUDING THOUGHTS

• THE POLEMICAL LABELING OF TERRORISM IS EXPLOITED THROUGH HEGEMONIC DISCOURSE AND THE GEORAPHICALNESS OF TERRORISM NEEDS TO BE LOOKED BEYOND TRADITIONAL MEANS OF GEOGRAPHY AND MORE TOWARDS THE SPATIAL ELEMENTS OF TERRORISM 

BY DISTINGUISHING TERRORISTS FROM OTHER TYPES OF CRIMINALS AND TERRORISM FROM OTHER FORMS OF CRIME, WE COME TO APPRECIATE THAT TERRORISM IS :

• * INELUCTABLY POLITICAL IN AIMS AND MOTIVES;

• * VIOLENT -- OR, EQUALLY IMPORTANT, THREATENS VIOLENCE;

• * DESIGNED TO HAVE FAR-REACHING PSYCHOLOGICAL REPERCUSSIONS BEYOND THE IMMEDIATE VICTIM OR TARGET;

• * CONDUCTED BY AN ORGANIZATION WITH AN IDENTIFIABLE CHAIN OF COMMAND OR CONSPIRATORIAL CELL STRUCTURE (WHOSE MEMBERS WEAR NO UNIFORM OR IDENTIFYING INSIGNIA); AND

• * PERPETRATED BY A SUBNATIONAL GROUP OR NON-STATE ENTITY.