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Terrorism

Preamble

Violence has haunted man from the times of Adam’s and has been

responsible for many of mankind sufferings. The violent channels have used

many strategies to attain their vested interests. Terrorism is one the oldest such

channels, although its recent resurgence has created many misconceptions. But

the historic evidences suggest its presence since antiquity. In preceding text we

will scrupulously analyze the roots of terrorism and its modern re-birth. We would

briefly analyze the tactics and strategy employed by terror nets over the

centuries. Later we would also suggest how to deal with this menace.

Earlier History

The history of terrorism is as old as human race. As per (Gerrard

Challiand and Arnaud Blin 55) the first recorded use of terror as an instrument

was used by zealots, a sect of Jews which revolted against the Roman Empire in

First Century Palestine. This organization was founded by Judah of Galilee and

used terror tactics against the Romans. During that age the individuals involved

were given the name of sicari which means the dagger man. The zealots struggle

was a religious and political struggle. The main cause was to throw away the
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yoke of Roman Empire and reform the religion on their philosophical lines. The

tactics involved the killing of Roman figures and organized guerilla warfare

against the Roman Legions. The recruits of the zealots mostly belonged to the

working class. In modern terms this could also be said as the liberation war of the

Jews against Roman Empire.

Assassins are the next well documented historic organization which used

terror as an instrument to force their philosophy. As per (Gerrard Challiand and

Arnaud Blin 59), Assassin’s emerged in 11th century A.D Islamic world. They

belonged to Ismailia sect of Islam. They had a specific ideological and political

agenda. With the rise of Hasan Bin Sabah in remote areas of Persia, the

movement got into a full swing. Nizam Ul Mulk, the prime minister of the Turk

Seljuk state was the first victim of long list of emblematic dignitaries assassinated

by the cult. He was assassinated in 1092. From there safe haven in Alamut, a

remote region of Persia, Assassin’s acquired populace support by missionary

work and intensive propaganda. The next step after the acquisition of populace

support was to gain control over the local region. The control over the local

region was established by employing tactics of clandestine subversion, force and

persuasive campaign. With the passage of time the clandestine cult acquired

enormous power against the mighty Seljuk rulers. Although they were never in a

position to overthrow the central government but yet succeeded to avoid military

overcome by the rulers. The two military campaigns’ of Seljuk’s against Hasan

proved futile. Assassin’s created an elite group of mercenaries known as

fedayeen. This elite group was actually a death squad hired to eliminate the
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nobles and emblematic dignitaries of the state. These killings provided a

psychological blow to the state and caused anarchy and chaos in general public.

Terrorism in middle ages

The paradigm of terror in the middle ages was evolved from secrets

societies to more organized state terrorism. Mongols led by Genghis Khan laid

the foundation stone of institutionalized terrorism which was perfected to an

unprecedented degree by Tamerlane. The nomad warriors of Mongolia believed

in physical annihilation of opponents by concentration of force and element of

surprise. Tamerlane used the terror instrument to a great effect against his rivals.

In 1387 after taking the city of Isfahan, the death toll raised to 100,000 to

200,000. After the massacre Tamerlane built 50 pyramids each comprising of

thousands of heads. This rape of Isfahan was used as an example for other

besieged city. Although this tactic never worked on all occasions but still yielded

significant effect. The war of religion in Europe also used terror as an effective

instrument against the rivals. During the thirty year war in Europe the terror was

also orchestrated by the armies as an instrument of acquiring edge over the

adversaries. The main objective of these terror campaigns was to acquire swift

favorable military results. The most widely reported incident of this era was sack

of Magdeburg. The imperial Bavarian army of General Tilly massacred the whole

population of town after take over. The main objective was to send a message

across all other potential targets to surrender without offering resistance. The

atrocities committed during these wars led to the evolution of modern Human

Rights concept during the treaty of Westphalia which ended the war of religion
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and terror associated with it.

Birth of Modern Terrorism

As per (Gerrard Challiand and Arnaud Blin 92), the birth of modern

terrorism with its expression took place in French revolution. The terror tool was

employed by the revolutionaries as an apparatus of state to safeguard the

popular sovereignty. The industrial revolution and advancements in explosive

technology started to change the sphere of order of peace restored by

Westphalia. The huge strategic impact of small investments in terrorist activities

inspired many opportunists to use terror as a tool in the late nineteenth century. It

was successfully manifested in Europe and France by the anarchist movements.

The dawn of twentieth century saw a new sort of political terrorism in Russian

revolution of 1917. Joseph Stalin used an un-precedential state terrorism to gain

absolute power. The Soviet model was emulated globally by China and Khmer

Rouge in Cambodia. Ireland offered another terrorist model where Irish Republic

Army destabilized the British rule with very little means and in an organized

fashion. During the pre-world war II era, the terrorism was employed as a vital

tool by Fascist elements of Europe. Even during the World War II, Axis elements

employed it as un-precedential manner to crush local resistance. During the latter

half of twentieth century, terror has been successfully employed by the

revolutionary, freedom and fanatic elements. The Iranian revolution, freedom

movements across the globe are an example of its applications in the modern

times.
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The dawn of twenty first century witnessed the razing of twin towers by

dogmatic group of terrorist. The horrendous act of 9/11 was the prevalent act of

terrorism by a non-state actor in history of human society. There action provoked

the might of a super power. The technologically equipped modern world initiated

an ongoing fight against the deeply rooted stems of the terror. The first time in

history of mankind a general consensus against the terror tactic has reached.

Defining Terrorism

Before analyzing the concept lets first make an attempt to define it.

Although terrorism is one most widely spoken word in modern world but still the

widely accepted definition of terrorism is not known to the world. (Hoffman) Make

an attempt to establish a widely accepted definition of terrorism. However the

wide use of the tactic by guerilla organizations and liberation movements has

made it a dilemma for modern world. The predicament continues even at the

United Nation Forum. In 1972 an attempt to define terrorism internationally after

the Munich Olympic incident went in vain, after profound criticism by Arab

League and Yasir Arafat. The main argument behind the whole episode was that

one man’s terrorist is another man’s hero. Keeping in view the dynamics of liberal

movements the argument is quite correct. In middle ages or late nineteenth

century the terrorist clans openly admit their controversial identity. But the

twentieth century saw a number of freedom movements and their cloak has

provided these clandestine operations a self proclaimed legitimacy. The recent

dogmatic international terror organizations also had a bundle of heavy logics to

prove the legitimacy of their heinous acts.

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Shrouded in the concealment of political agenda and propaganda the

concept could not be assertively defined. This lack of clarity and confusion of a

clear parting has provided a propaganda base to these cults like Al Qaeda.

Analyzing Terrorism

From the synopsis of the early history of terrorism and modern tactics, it is

clearly established that most of these atrocious acts are not sudden. They are

well planned and premeditated as mentioned by (Hoffman 229). With few

exceptions this perception is quite right. The acts of zealots, Assassin’s,

Mongols, Imperialist’s, Anarchist and Al Qaeda were well planned and executed

to attain political and military objectives. The assassination of Nizam Ul Mulk, the

massacre of Isfahan, the rape of Magdeburg, 9/11 and 7/7 all were well planned

operations. All of them carried a certain message to the adversaries

encompassing a specific political objective.

The zealot’s exploited the nationalist and religious agenda to acquire

populous support. While Assassin’s used specific theological base to lure the

common community. Robespierre provided the terror regime, a sound argument

of defending the popular sovereignty. Now Al Qaeda is using the Jihad concept

against west for acquiring general support among the Muslim world. All the terror

networks of different era have used vague but enchanting slogan’s to entice

population support. The vagueness of their agenda always exempted them from

accountability by the population.

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The deprived working classes of the societies have always provided the

work force for almost all the terror cults. The cases of state terrorism had a

different source for compliance of their atrocities. The deprived classes of any

society are soft target for these so called reformers, revolutionaries and jihadis.

The zealots used the oppressed Jewish clans for their recruitment. While

Assassin’s used a nexus of religion, theology and brain washing for enrollment of

their work force. Al Qaeda is also employing people’s which are not happy from

their societies. These differences could be ideological, physical, mental and

psychological. The indifferences among the communities/societies have always

provided these cults with fertile grounds.

The terror tactics used by the Non-State actors are established since

primitive history. The assassinations, mass killings, bomb blasts and medium

scale propaganda might not be able to topple the central governments but bring

in a humongous psychological blow to the rivals. The assassination of Nizam Ul

Mulk, 9/11 and 7/7 has got the mighty government agencies napping and

resultantly creating a chaos, anarchy and feeling of insecurity among the

masses. These terror tactics may need only very few physical losses to

perpetrators but their political/social impact particularly in today’s information age

is huge. The institutionalized terror tactics used by Mongols, Tamerlane and

Imperialist were aimed to create fear and subdue their opponents without offering

resistance.
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Dealing with Modern Terrorism

The concealment and penetration ability of the terrorist organization had

always made it hard for the authorities to uproot them. This natural resilience has

always used by these factions to their advantage. It is pertinent to note that all

these terror nets have a safe haven to operate, nurture and train their operators.

But even the destruction of these safe havens has not yielded favorable results

for the authorities. The uprooting military efforts of Alamut by Seljuk’s and

invasion of Afghanistan by United States has not served the desired objectives

for the planner’s. Slight mishandling of these military operations can go

horrifically wrong and can aid these terror nets. Mishandling of such operations

could add to the local support of these nets and can bring in more recruits.

The threat of terrorism has to be handled skillfully and almost on all fronts.

Only military might may not be enough to break these nets. The main political

base of these networks had to be encountered effectively. In today’s information

age propaganda and anti-propaganda campaigns are not difficult to run. The

ideological, religious, theological and political agenda of these clandestine

organizations has to be confronted by strong counter-argument and awareness

among the masses. The radical arguments of Jihadis can be countered by

moderate Muslims. By these continuous efforts the radical Islamists could be

isolated from the majority Moderates. The repulsion on ideological front can

cause an enrollment cut to the Jihadis. The successes on ideological fronts can

evoke discontentment among the Jihadis and may ignite the desperate actions.

Once out of their hideouts and dented penetration capability they can become
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easy targets for the apprehension. It has to bear in minds that isolating Islamic

world and labeling them as terrorists would aggravate the situation. This would in

turn increase support for radical ideas and provide them with the logistic support

to carry on with their operations. This solution with slight changes might be

applicable to all such cases. Without a cause or depleted political these nets can

be left stranded. The time span of their complete elimination may not be defined

explicitly. Historically like the complete uprooting of zealots and Assassin’s took

almost two centuries. Patience, tolerance, justice and lastly the force if blended

together in right mix could prove vital for an enduring success over the menace.

Conclusion

The use of terror is a common and economic tactics employed by different

organization over a period of time. The foundation stones of all terror nets are

almost identical with petty differences. However the strategy dealing with these

organizations differ widely due to spatial orientation and era. In modern world the

terror is inspired from radical Religious thoughts which need to be countered

exclusively on all fronts. Patience and tolerance is the key to uproot it from its

stem.
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Works Cited

Gerrard Challiand and Arnaud Blin. The History of Terrorism: From Anitquity to Al

Qaeda. Los Angeles: Regent University of California, 2007.

Hoffman, Bruce. "The Modern Terrorist Mindset." Hoffman, Bruce. Inside Terrorism. New

York: Columbia University Press, 2006. 229-225.