Seven Myths Regarding Terrorism
l. Contrary to popular belief, terrorism is not a new nor an
unprecedented phenomena. As historians can document, it is
actually quite ancient in its origins.
2. Since one person's terrorist is another's liberator, the
term terrorism is politically loaded and should be
discarded.
3. Terrorism has historically been assumed to be a left-wing
and/or revolutionary phenomena. In reality, there are
right-wing groups, enforcer groups from governments who use
terroristic tactics, and criminals (who are neither left-
wing, right-wing nor revolutionaries) who will use
terroristic tactics simply to gain an advantage.
4. Terrorism is assumed to take place whenever there are
legitimate grievances and amending these conditions will
bring about a cessation of terrorism. No on both counts:
a. The most repressive, unjust societies have historically
been the freest of terrorism. Most terrorism has been
directed either at democracies that ironically offer
some legitimate channels for change, or at totally
ineffective authoritarian regimes that wouldn't know
how to change even if the emperors agreed. Terrorism
rarely surfaces in totalitarian systems that offer no
legitimate channels for change, because in those
regimes, state terrorism has, Bassiouni style,
repressed public displays of civil disobedience and
terrorism. An interesting irony.
b. Even when countries have changed to meet terrorist
demands, terrorists tend to continue with new demands
being placed on the government. The terrorist demands
are not issue oriented but power oriented. The issue
is simply the vehicle being used to strengthen their
relative position.
5. Although terrorism is viewed as being highly effective, this
is only the case if it is part of a larger strategy.
Indeed, terrorism as one component of opposition, was
responsible for the creation of Algeria, Cyprus, Ireland,
Israel, Tunisia and the United States.
6. Terrorists are viewed as idealists, but his is clearly not
so. They are power oriented, not issue oriented. Humane
behavior is generally sacrificed for the revolutionary goals
of power acquisition. This makes the differentiation
between the so-called criminal terrorist and the political
terrorist very difficult, for they are both willing to harm
others to get their way - one wants money and the other
wants power.
7. Terrorism is often described as a weapon of the poor, but
many terrorists come from affluent backgrounds and are often
supported by outside powers such as Algeria, Cuba, Libya,
Iran, Iraq, Israel, Russia, Syria, the United States, Yemen,
etc. The so-called "riff-raft" theory is simply not
accurate. Some terrorists do come from the lower-classes of
society, but the majority are not the outlaw, dregs of
society the media often portrays them to be.
Drawn from Frank Hagan, Introduction to Criminology, Chicago:
Nelson-Hall, l990, pp. 451-452.