Dorozhand's Journal: Giving In to the Terrorists

Are we giving the terrorists what they want?

What do terrorists want? They want to "terrorize." The people they kill are only collateral damage; the point of terrorism is not what they do, but our reaction to it: terror. They also kill and destroy so that they can become infamous - to glorify their goals of world domination, to bask in the glory of false importance that is terrorism's reward, and thus to recruit more terrorists.

We seem to be giving them what they want. After the World Trade Center bombings, we instituted the "War on Terror." Now the terrorists have the glory of a full-scale "war," and the glory that comes with the image of fighting "Godly battles against the infidels." Every time there is a plot exposed, or a terrorist caught or killed, we give them front-page coverage in the papers, and first-five-minute exposure on the nighly news. Aren't these things exactly what they want?

We are allowing ourselves to be terrorized by criminals. We need to remember that they are only called "terrorists" because their criminal activity is on a larger scale than ordinary criminals. We need to remember that they are still only criminals.

The war in Iraq has been repeatedly tied to the war on terror by our President. Our presence in Afghanistan and in Iraq has offered fuel to the fire of radical Islamist factions; it is seen as occupation by enemy forces. We are not seen as encouragers of freedom in the Middle East by Middle-Eastern peoples; we are seen as occupying infidels.

What can we do? Primarily, we can not be terrorized. I, personally, will not allow myself to be terrorized by any criminals, not criminals here in Richmond, nor criminals who bomb restaurants, nor criminals who bomb buildings, nor criminals who crash airplanes. If we all simply refuse to be terrorized, then terrorists will lose.

We can do the things we need to do to protect ourselves, and not do the things that have been done in reaction only. For example, the criminals (terrorists) who have been apprehended already have been caught by ordinary detective procedures (including traditional electronic surveillance), not by the extraordinary efforts of the Federal Government's warrant-less wiretapping, or data-mining, or the false confessions extorted by torture. We can do better if we support international detective work, and, here at home, inter-agency detective work.

Douglas R. Burgess Jr. has proposed that terrorists be put in the same class of criminals as pirates. The ongoing "war" against pirates is the only known example of state versus non-state conflict until the advent of the "war on terror." International law allows for the arrest, trial, punishment and treatment of pirates. Burgess suggests the same body of law that applies to pirates be also applied to terrorists. This would give us a framework within which to work.

There is much we can do. It is time that Americans demand that their politicians think a bit harder about fighting terrorism. They could use people who actually know something about security that beyond that of big men with guns. There are specialists who understand practical security, like Bruce Scheier, who could help. So far, we haven't done much about terrorism except encourage it.