Do you understand why terrorism is so scary?

Question

It's not because the result is your death.

I'm not being flip. I'm totally serious.

Terrorism is scary because you can't see it. You can't put a face to it. You can't tell by looking at a terrorist that he or she is the enemy. You can't tell by talking to them. They're well-versed liars. You could have a conversation with a terrorist on the train on the way to work in the morning and not even realize it. A terrorist can wrap himself in whatever flag is necessary to further his cause. Deception and manipulation are the tools of their trade. For this reason, terrorists are invisible. They look and sound just like you and me.

But they're not.

That's why it's scary.

So how does an army defeat that?

Answer 1

Just like in Vietnam, where we misunderstood and underestimated the enemy, isn't it?

great question, by the way

Answer 2

The key component to terrorism is that it is not random, it is pseudo-random. The violent activities are focused on a group - if you feel apart of that group; you are at risk. For example, in Iraq right now; if your are Sunni - you are at risk from Shi'a. The risk is psuedo random because the violence is targetted random but within one identifiable group. The purpose of terrorism is to promote political change through fear. If the violence is completely random- the fear quotent goes way down.

The fear comes not from not knowing the enemy but from knowing that you are a target because of something.

The mechanisms for defeating a terrorist/insurgency is well know and simple in concept but difficult in practise.

First, move the threat out of the political arena. As long as there are political issues in the mix, there will always be apologists for the terrorists. As the British did in Northern Ireland and the Canadian Government did in Montreal - make it a purely criminal matter. In a nutshell, criminals do not get sympathy, Freedom Fighters against oppression do.

Second, do not become the devils that the insurgents make you out to be. In many historical cases, the defense against insurgency becomes more terrorible than the terrorists. All this does is to drive more recruits, funding, and legitimacy towards the insurgents.

Third, remove any legitimate complanits that the insurgents do have. All propaganda has a kernal of truth. Publically accept and deal with it. When the British Army found out that there were problems with the RUC in Northern Ireland, they started dealing with the Unionist terrorists even more harshly than the Republican ones. By the same token, the Marines did an excellent job managing the rape/murder case in Iraq. The Army on the other hand, failed at both My Lai and Abu Ghraib.

Fourth, remove popular support from the insurgents. Make the "man in the street"'s life better. Make the administration more attractive than the rebels. Remove the desire for change. For example, the British Army in Borneo always sent out medics with extra kit when patrolling. When an army patrol found a local village, the four or five man patrol would rebuild the oldest residents hut, hunt and kill a pig for a village dinner and the medic would hold sick call and vaccinate the kids. This was better than the rebels who would show up and demand rice.

A local and popular insurgent group can be criminalized and defeated but only if very strong cultural sensitivites are realized and military force is used not a the solution but as a method of giving the government TIME to address the political realities.

Edit: Terrorists don't think outside the box. A guy called Mao wrote all of this down back in the 40's. Al Qudia, PLFLP, Shinning Path, Red Brigade, etc, etc, all base thier tactics on this - because it works. As for their tactics, it only seems that they think outside the box because only the tactics that work get airplay. Nobody reports on the number of failed conventional attacks.

Answer 3

You can't fight terrorism with an army. All you do is create martyrs and draw attention to the cause, thus increasing the draw of terrorism for any number of millions of potential recruits scattered among the civilian population of the entire planet.

Attempting to fight terrorism with an army is like trying to pluck a hair with boxing gloves. The only way you can ever prevent terrorism is by sophisticated covert intelligence operations.

Answer 4

What you failed to include was the intelligence of the terrorist movement. They think outside the box. They look for ways to undermine the enemy by keeping them off balance. The Americans are looking for large scale offences to arm against, and will not make the connection to the small distractions occuring each day...ie. wild fires on the west coast. Terrorists will take advantage of natural occurences like hurricanes to their advantage. Their notions of war are far advanced to the Western mindset...and thats why I believe them to be "scary".

Answer 5

We will never wipe out terrorism, but we can eliminate state sponsered terrorism by defeating the countries/governments that provide the support to the terrorist.

Answer 6

We do so by getting serious about the problem and taking off the kid gloves with which we have hampered ourselves.

We should issue a copy of Machiavelli's "The Prince" to all officers. We should learn from our Israeli friends and allies about how they cope with interminable terrorism in Judea and Samaria (the so-called "Occupied Territories"). If someone opens fire on US troops, we level the village. If someone blows himself up in a suicide attack, we level his family's home leaving his grandmother homeless. If we discover the identity of an insurgent leader, we find his wife and children and send them back to him in very small pieces with a message saying something to the effect that we trust the attacks will cease.

They might not be afraid of death, but they love their families. We must hit them where it hurts most, regardless of our desire to be the good guys. In armed conflict, the only thing (and I do mean the ONLY thing) that matters is emerging victorious.

Answer 7

By disrupting the grounds on which terrorists train and interfering with the means by which terrorism is financed.

And terrorism is a tactic, so it cannot be "defeated"; but it can be contained in a way that allows people to go to work and school without fear in their hearts.

Answer 8

Knocking out governments that openly support terrorism.

It's one thing to have terrorists, it's another to support them or allow them to carry out their operations in your country with no worry of any sort of punishment.

Answer 9

Like putting out a forest fire with a hammer.

Answer 10

Instead of wiping out a cause of death for millions, say cancer, why don't we pretend to wipe out the cause of death for mere thousands. Genocide will make us all safer.