The Nature of Terrorism
“Putting the horror in the minds of the audience,
and not necessarily on the screen”
•Topics covered —
What is terrorism?
Where terrorists come from?
What causes terrorism?
What are the 3 Rs of terrorism?
Why do terrorists kill themselves?
What is to be done?
What is Terrorism?
Deliberately and violently targeting civilians for political purposes
• Has seven crucial characteristics —
1. Politically inspired (otherwise it’s simply a crime)
2. Violence or threat of violence (‘cyberterrorism’ is not terrorism)
3. Point of terrorism is not to defeat enemy-send a message
4. Act & victim usually have symbolic significance
5. Is act of sub-state groups, not states
6. Victim of violence & audience terrorists trying to reach are not
the same.
7.Terrorism deliberately targets civilians.
This distinguishes terrorism from guerilla warfare.
Terms: Types
Agro-terrorism
separatist, freedom fighter, liberator,
revolutionary, vigilante, militant, Propaganda of the deed
paramilitary, guerrilla, rebel, Bioterrorism
jihahi or mujaheddin, or fedayeen,
Christian terrorism
Cyber-terrorism
Communist terrorism
Eco-terrorism
Islamist terrorism
Narcoterrorism
Nationalist
Nuclear terrorism
Political
Racist
Other religious terrorism
State
State-sponsored
Understanding Terrorists
When terrorists act,
they are seeking 3
immediate objectives
(3 Rs):
• exact revenge
• achieve glory
• force adversary
into reaction
History of Terrorism
• Term “terrorism” coined
during French
Revolution’s Reign of
Terror (1793 – 1794)
• Birth of Government-
sponsored Terrorism
• State terrorism goal to
eliminate opposition &
consolidate power
“ONE MAN'S TERRORIST IS ANOTHER MAN'S FREEDOM FIGHTER”
David Brownlow
History of Terrorism
• Anarchists were seen in late 19th century
• Individual terrorism
– Use of selective terror against individual to bring
down a government
– ie:Lincoln assassination
• Propaganda by deeds
History of Terrorism:
Religious terrorism 20th century became more
frequent.
Economic terrorism-destruction of industry and
agriculture system.
Terrorism is Asymmetric Warfare.
Asymmetric warfare is use of random & unpredictable
violence by weak military against stronger military.
Key of asymmetric warfare is using unexpected,
unconventional tactics in combat. ie: suicide bombers
Types of Terrorism
• Domestic terrorism-terrorist
activities directed at
government without foreign
involvement.
ie:Oklahoma City
• International terrorism-
terrorist activities foreign-
based and/or directed by
countries or groups outside
country
ie:Sept. 11
Example of Chemical Terrorism
• Sarin nerve
agent attack on
Tokyo subway
system in March
20, 1995
• 12 people killed
and 53 seriously
injured
Biological terrorism
• Dispersal of microbes or their toxins to produce
illness, death and terror
• Paths of infection can be contaminated water,
food, air and packages.
• Microbes –Bacteria, Viruses, Toxins
Is this something new?
14th Century – Kaffa City on Crimean Peninsula
Hurled plague infested corpses over walls of city to infest it
18th Century French and Indian WarBritish Officers gave
Phillip aligned with
blankets from smallpox victims to Indians L. Coule, M.D. French 11
Risk of Dying
Smoking 10 cigarettes a day One in 200
All natural causes age 40 One in 850
Road accident One in 8,000
Playing soccer One in 25,000
Homicide One in 100,000
Terrorism attack in 2001 One in 100,000
Hit by lightning One in 10,000,000
Terrorism attack in 1990’s One in 50,000,000
Death Rate of Various Causes in
USA year 2000
Heart disease* One in 400
Cancer * One in 500
Cerebrovascular diseases* One in 2,000
Accidents * One in 3,000
Diabetes* One in 4,000
Suicide* One in 10,000
Homicide* One in 20,000
Terrorism in 2001 One in 100,000
Terrorism in 1990’s One in 50,000,000
What Is to Be Done?
• Terrorism will continue to be
employed as long as it is
deemed effective
• Technological developments
will make it easier for ever
smaller groups to employ
weapons of ever greater
lethality
• Political, social, and
economic developments will
continue to produce
disaffected individuals
• We will never be able to
prevent every attack, but
we can control our reaction
to those attacks
Conclusion
• Unlawful act
• History of being used to achieve
political, religious and ideological
objectives
• Can be conducted through firearms,
explosive devices,biological,
chemical, nuclear materials
• Even after events of 2001,risk of
dying from terrorism has remained
much lower than that from motor
vehicles, smoking, and alcoholic
beverage.
Tim McVeigh 4
2 3
Samina Malik
1 “Lyrical terrorist”
5
6
Uganda soldiers
Tim Smith killed in Iraq
8
Una Bomber Ted Kaczynski
9
7
Tony Blair Osama bin Laden
Rwanda boys