Transcript Introduction - James JF Forest

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Intro to Terrorism
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Definitions
 Many
 Ambiguous
 Are terrorists “freedom fighters”?
 Matter of perception?
 What is the relationship between insurgency and
terrorism? Are all insurgents terrorists? Are all
terrorists insurgents?
 AW/UW, 4GW and terrorism
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Certain aspects are fundamental
Political act
 Desire for political change
 Terrorism is typically non-state in character
▪ (Note the separate but related topic of state terrorism, for
whom political change is usually not desired)
▪ States can terrorize, but they are not terrorists.
 Terrorists do not abide by norms
▪ They target innocents
▪ They seek psychological trauma
1. The demonstrative use of violence against human beings;
2. The threat of (further) violence;
3. The deliberate production of terror/fear/dread/anxiety in a target
group;
4. The frequent targeting of civilians, non-combatants, and
innocents;
5. The purpose of intimidation, coercion, and/or propaganda;
6. The fact that it is a method, tactic, or strategy of conflict waging;
7. The importance of communicating the act(s) of violence to a larger
audience;
8. The illegal, criminal, and immoral nature of the act(s) of violence;
9. The predominantly political character of the act;
10. Its use as a tool of psychological warfare.
A. P. Schmid (2005). ‘Terrorism as Psychological Warfare,’ Democracy and Security, Vol.1, No.2, p. 140.
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Vision
Power
Ideology
Duty
Self-sacrifice
Strategy
Tactics
Will to kill
Skill to kill
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Indoctrination
Radicalization
Rationalization
Moral Disengagement
Facilitators/Causes
Enabling Environment
Learning Organization
Counter vs. Anti
Hard/Soft Power
Primary Types
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Left-wing
Right Wing
Ethno-nationalist (separatist)
Religious
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Driven by liberal or idealist political concepts
Prefer revolutionary anti-authoritarian antimaterialist agendas
Typically target elites who symbolize authority
Examples
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Red Brigades (Italy)
Red Army Faction (Baader Meinhof Gang) (Germany)
MRTA (Tupac Amaru movement) (Peru)
Sendero Luminoso (Peru)
Weather Underground (United States)
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Often target race and ethnicity
Examples
Aryan Republican Army USA
Christian identity USA
Aryan Nations USA
Creativity movement USA
The Boeremag South Africa
Combat 18 England
The Aryan Republican Army
Ku Klux Klan
Skinheads
Neo Confederates
Neo-Nazi Skinheads
NeoNazism
American Nazi Party USA
Silent Brotherhood
National Alliance USA
White Aryan Resistance (WAR) USA
National Association for the
World Church of the Creator
Advancement of White People (NAAWP)
USA
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Usually have clear territorial objectives
 Liberation/separation
 Popular support usually along ethnic/racial lines.
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Examples
 ETA (Basque Separatists)
 Irish Republican Army
 Lashkar-e Taiba (& other Kashmir groups)
 Moro Islamic Liberation Front
 Tamil Tigers (LTTE)
Largest category of groups today
• Examples
Hizballah
LEHI, Stern Gang and Zvi Irgun
(Jewish extremists)
Al Qaida
Jemaah Islamiya
Aum Shinrikyo
Egyptian Islamic Jihad
AQ in the Islamic Maghreb
Algerian GIA and GSPC
Syrian Muslim Brotherhood
Hizb ut-Tahrir
Al Qaeda in Iraq
Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan
Christian Identity
The Sword, Covenant & Arm of the
Lord
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NCTC database:
http://www.nctc.gov/site/groups/index.html
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START:
http://www.start.umd.edu/start/data_collections/tops/
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Carlos Marighella (1969). Mini-Manual of the Urban
Guerrilla, online at:
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marighellacarlos/1969/06/minimanual-urban-guerrilla/index.htm
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Al Qaeda "Training Manual":
http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/manualpart1_1.pdf
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Defining terrorism: not as easy as some might assume
 Different organizations within the U.S. government have
different definitions of terrorism
 Lack of international consensus on definition
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There is no real ‘profile’ of a terrorist.
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Potentially anyone can be radicalized, indoctrinated,
taught why and how to murder others in pursuit of some
broader vision
 Vision matters; articulated in ideology