From: "Eli Pariser" <bulletin@9-11peace.org>
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Subject: What is Terrorism?
Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2002 08:15:34 -0500
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WHAT IS TERRORISM?
Read online, subscribe, or unsubscribe at:
http://www.9-11peace.org/bulletin.php3
Susan V. Thompson, ed.


CONTENTS
---------
1. Introduction: One Person's Terrorist...
2. One Link
3. A Disputed Term
4. American State Terrorism?
5. Can Terrorism Be Ended Through War?
6. Get Involved
7. About the Bulletin


INTRODUCTION: ONE PERSON'S TERRORIST...
----------------------------------------
What is terrorism? Perhaps this seems like a silly question.
We know, after all, that the WTC attacks were acts of
terrorism. And we know that terrorism endangers America and
must be stopped. But beyond that, is terrorism really so
easy to define? What does a War on Terrorism actually mean?
Do our definitions of terrorism betray biases and prejudices
that actually blind us to the real issues?

Consider, for example, that:

 * While the Israeli and the US governments view
Palestinians as terrorists, to others they are
freedom-fighters opposing the occupation of their homeland.

 * Similarly, India threatened to go to war with Pakistan if
it did not crack down on terrorism. The groups that India
considers terrorist are considered by many Pakistanis to be
freedom fighters, working to liberate Kashmir from Indian
oppression.

 * While Americans tend to view terrorism as something
inherent to foreign regimes and organizations, many around
the world view America herself as a terrorist state.

 * America continues to maintain an alliance with Saudi
Arabia, despite clear ties linking it to the events of 9-11.

 * Osama bin Laden and other Afghan mujihaddin were once
called "the moral equivalent of our founding fathers" by
Ronald Reagan.

History shows that countries often define terrorism based on
their current self-interests. Saying that "terrorism is
evil," or "terrorism threatens freedom" oversimplifies and
ignores fundamental, unanswered questions about whether
there is a difference between fighting an oppressive regime
and being a terrorist, and whether states can commit
terrorism. Even the definitions of terrorism that have been
set down in the post-9-11 legislation of many countries are
inadequate, for they gloss over the differences in
international opinion on this subject.

In this issue, we examine the differing definitions of
terrorism and their current ramifications for America and
the rest of the world. We will take a look at how the new
expanded definition of "domestic terrorism" may be
threatening the civil liberties of ordinary people; and, in
order to spark debate over where a legitimate act of war (if
there is such a thing) ends and terrorism begins, we'll
provide some examples of what many people feel is American
state-led terrorism. Finally, we will briefly discuss
whether or not terrorism can be defeated through war.

Next Week: The military budget.


ONE LINK
---------
"...a posture of inconsistency necessarily evades
definition. If you are not going to be consistent, you're
not going to define. I have examined at least twenty
official documents on terrorism. Not one defines the word.
All of them explain it, express it emotively, polemically,
to arouse our emotions rather than exercise our
intelligence."

Eqbal Ahmad, Professor Emeritus of International Relations
and Middle Eastern Studies at Hampshire College in Amherst,
Massachusetts, spoke these words in an address given on 12
October 1998. He also mentioned Osama bin Laden, and the US
government's insistence that a war on terrorism needed to be
global. His words are not only prophetic but incredibly
relevant today. (Note that the writing in this article is
often a little clunky, but it is well worth the slight
amount of extra effort to read).
http://www.irr.org.uk/terrorism/


A DISPUTED TERM
----------------
This article, called "10 Things to Know About Terrorism"
summarizes how terrorism has been defined since the term was
first used, and notes the difficulties in determining which
definition is accurate.
http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=11647

This UN article notes the lack of international consensus on
what terrorism is, and provides some very brief examples of
some different perspectives on the issue.
http://www.undcp.org/terrorism_definitions.html

This lack of consensus has left the UN deadlocked on a major
international treaty against terrorism. The current
disagreements focus on how to define terrorism, how to
"distinguish terrorist organizations from liberation
movements," and how to "handle activities of national armed
forces perceived as acts of terrorism."
http://www.atimes.com/front/CK30Aa02.html

What is the War on Terrorism? Here is the White House's
answer, which summarizes the President's remarks on this
subject so far.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/response/faq-what.html

The October 2001 report of the Office of the Coordinator for
Counterterrorism gives the definition of terrorism as used
by the US.
http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Terrorism/2001taterep.html

This is the US State Department's specific list of
terrorists and terrorist organizations, including the top
ten most wanted terrorists.
http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/fs/2001/6531.htm

Canada's new anti-terrorism bill, Bill C-36, contains a
definition of terrorism very similar to that of Britain and
the US. The bill will make it possible to charge someone
with terrorism for the first time in Canadian history.
http://9-11peace.org/r.php3?redir=95

Details of the measures contained in Britain's own
Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Bill.
http://www.number-10.gov.uk/news.asp?newsID=3287

Human Rights Watch reports that the US and many other
countries worldwide are also using the "war on terrorism" as
justification to commit human rights abuses, mainly by
labeling certain groups as terrorists.
http://9-11peace.org/r.php3?redir=96


AMERICAN STATE TERRORISM?
-------------------------
A key question regarding the definition of terrorism is
whether terrorism can be committed by states, not just
individuals and groups working against states. In a number
of cases, America has committed acts or supported acts which
could be defined as terrorism (although it is certainly not
the only country that could be accused of this). Read
through these examples and decide for yourself whether they
describe legitimate acts of war, state-sanctioned terrorism,
or perhaps something in between.

America supports the Northern Alliance despite the fact that
they fit the US's own definition of terrorism. This article
mentions this fact and the media's apparent obliviousness to
it. For more information, read the archived bulletin on the
Northern Alliance at the 9-11Peace.org website.
http://www.commondreams.org/views01/1123-05.htm
http://9-11peace.org/bulletin6.php3

The author of this article argues that the American media
has ignored a long history of government-sanctioned US
collusion with terrorists and attacks on civilians, such as
the unwarranted destruction of a vital pharmaceutical plant
in the Sudan in 1998.
http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=11917

The movie Black Hawk Down focuses on the experiences of
American soldiers during a short period in Somalia, but
makes no mention of the events that led up to the incident
in the movie, which included US helicopters firing missiles
into a house full of civilian delegates discussing an
American-led peace initiative.
http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=12628

It is difficult to argue against the fact that the US has
been training terrorists for years at the infamous School of
the Americas in Ft. Benning, Georgia. Despite the current
war on terrorism and tremendous pressure to shut the SOA
down, the training is continuing -- albeit under a new
school name.
http://9-11peace.org/r.php3?redir=98

An FAQ on the School of the Americas (now WHISC) from the
website of School of the Americas Watch. Gives the history
of the school as well as information on some of the most
notorious graduates of the school.
http://www.soaw.org/faq.html

Colin Powell the war criminal? American military leaders and
their actions.
http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=11901

This chart summarizes US military interventions over the
past century, including incidents like Wounded Knee,
operations in Nicaragua in the 80's, and the bombing of
Afghanistan in 1998.
http://www.zmag.org/CrisesCurEvts/interventions.htm

Like Chomsky and others, the author of this article argues
that America is a rogue (or terrorist ) state. However, it
is also a superpower, and as a result gets to decide which
countries to define as "terrorist regimes" or "rogue
states": "The U.S., we might say, engages in wholesale
roguery, whereas Iraq is a retail rogue. But nobody in the
mainstream calls the wholesale rogue by such a name, any
more than they would label it a terrorist state or sponsor
of terror, no matter how close the fit. If a country is
sufficiently powerful, it naturally assumes the role of
global policeman, and as such it designates who are
terrorists and rogues. This role is accepted and
internalized not only by its own media, but by politicians
and the media of its allied and client states."
http://www.zmag.org/zmag/articles/feb98herman.htm


CAN TERRORISM BE ENDED THROUGH WAR?
------------------------------------
According to Foreign Policy in Focus, war is the worst way
to fight terrorism, and should be the last resort, not the
first.
http://fpif.org/justice/tobedone.html

President Bush says he wants to prevent another terrorist
attack, but his current policies may be encouraging just
such an attack.
http://www.strike-the-root.com/bottoms9.html

The war on terrorism could lead to more anti-American
sentiment and thus more terrorism. This well-balanced and
thought-provoking article documents the varying views of
people in the Middle East who disagree with American foreign
policy, and explores their anger and sense of betrayal at
America's actions, both in the past and currently.
http://www.csmonitor.com/2001/0927/p1s1-wogi.html


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