Transcript Lesson 2 - History

SS474: TERRORISM & COUNTERTERRORISM
Lesson 2: A Brief History
Agenda:
1) Review assignment #1
2) History of Terrorism
COMBATING TERRORISM CENTER
at West Point
Dr. James Forest
Director of Terrorism Studies
Review: Terrorism and Early History
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Thugs
Zealots
Assassins
French Revolution
Early terrorism in the U.S.
– “Sons of Liberty” – provoked by Stamp Act, organized
mobs to tar and feather colonists still loyal to the king,
forcing many to flee the country and settle in Canada
– Klu Klux Klan – effective in spreading fear; forced
federal govt. to end Reconstruction
COMBATING TERRORISM CENTER
at West Point
Dr. James Forest
Director of Terrorism Studies
A Brief History of Modern Terrorism
• Roughly 130 year history
• 4 Waves, Each roughly 40-45 years
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(David Rapoport)
Anarchist Wave
Anti-Colonial/Decolonization Wave
New Left Wave/Leftist anti-Western sentiment
Religious Inspiration Wave
• Issue to consider for each wave:
– Doctrines of terror
– Technology (especially for communication/propoganda)
– Avenues of funding and support
COMBATING TERRORISM CENTER
at West Point
Dr. James Forest
Director of Terrorism Studies
1) Anarchist Wave
• Roughly 1880s to 1920s
• Examples:
– Assassinations of Pres. McKinley, Spanish Prime Minister, etc.
• Doctrines:
– Nechaev’s Revolutionary Catechism; Bakunin; Kropotkin’s
“propaganda by the deed” – words are not enough . . .
• Technology:
– communication and transportation patterns; telegraph; daily
newspapers; railroads; technology shrank time and space
– weapons: mostly guns and knives; but invention of dynamite
helped launch new terrorist capabilities
• Financing:
– Bank robberies, extortion, etc.
COMBATING TERRORISM CENTER
at West Point
Dr. James Forest
Director of Terrorism Studies
Anarchist Wave
• Tsar Alexander II (1861) frees the serfs (1/3 of Russia’s population)
and promises funds for them to use to buy land
• Unable to provide those funds, raised expectations lead to
widespread anger, disappointment, unrest; violence, assassinations
• Terrorists seeking to provoke state to the point where the reaction
leads to popular revolt
• Anarchists seldom successful – but there are exceptions
– Tsarist Russia, Narodnaya Volya (“people’s will”)
– Serbia, Narodna Obrana (splinter: Black Hand)
• Response of several governments was to create plain-clothes police
forces (FBI, Scotland Yard, Russian Okhrana, etc.); most are still in
action today
• 1919: President Wilson authorizes round up of all Anarchists; ship to
Soviet Union
• 1920 bombing of Wall Street
COMBATING TERRORISM CENTER
at West Point
Dr. James Forest
Director of Terrorism Studies
2) Anti-Colonial Wave
• Circa 1920s – 1960s
• Examples
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Irgun (precursor to Lehi), the “Stern Gang” – Zionist extremism
South Africa
Vietnam?
Algeria
• Doctrines:
– Freedom for indigenous peoples to decide own system, structure
– Anti-racism, imperialism; fewer assassinations then previous
wave; attacks mainly on police, military, colonial govt. targets
• Technology:
– Faster means of communication, transportation, money transfer
• Financing:
– Diaspora support, particular from immigrants to developed
Western countries
COMBATING TERRORISM CENTER
at West Point
Dr. James Forest
Director of Terrorism Studies
The “Battle of Algiers”
Crenshaw case study
– Political contexts for local support of terrorism?
– Description of the terrorists, tactics, strategies (FLN, ZAA,
OAS/French settlers, FFFLN, ALN, etc.)
– Revolutionary, counter-revolutionary: all terrorists?
– Remember objective of Narodnaya Volya . . . Did terrorism or
state reaction lead to popular insurrection?
– Description of French counterterrorism measures taken; military
response re: Muslim population?
– Algerian terrorism in France (2nd front)
– Successes or failures? Effectiveness in producing political
change, but what kind?
COMBATING TERRORISM CENTER
at West Point
Dr. James Forest
Director of Terrorism Studies
3) New Left Wave
• Circa 1960s – 1990s
• Examples
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Italian Red Brigades
ETA (Spain, France)
LTTE (Sri Lanka)
PLO (Middle East)
West German RAF (Baader-Meinhof Gang)
Japanese Red Army
American Weather Underground
Peru (Sendero Luminoso)
• New Doctrines: strategies for political change, Marxism, separatism
- Carlos Marighella, Minimanual of the Urban Guerilla
• Technology:
– Global sharing of new timing devices, other trigger switches for explosives
– Airplane hijackings
COMBATING TERRORISM CENTER
at West Point
Dr. James Forest
Director of Terrorism Studies
New Left Wave
• Built on widespread anti-Western political undercurrent
throughout former European colonies as well as
sentiments within Europe
• Supported by Vietnam experience
– Vietcong “David defeats Goliath” idea fuels other groups around
the world
• Anti-Western political movements encouraged by
Soviets, Iran, Libya, N. Korea
– Of course, this came back to bite the Soviets . . .
• Afghanistan
• Chechnya
COMBATING TERRORISM CENTER
at West Point
Dr. James Forest
Director of Terrorism Studies
The “Troubles”
• IRA: Anti-colonial, New Left, or something else?
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Began the struggle during the 1920s
Provisional IRA formed 1969; ceasefire 1997
“Real IRA” bombings as recent as 2003
Loyalists vs. Republicans and Protestants vs. Catholics
• Jackson case study of PIRA
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Political contexts for local support of terrorism? (policy, economics)
Description of the terrorists, tactics, strategies; innovations?
Targeting (e.g., mortar attack on 10 Downing street); ‘own goals’
Transition in organizational structure – why?
Description of the British counterterrorism measures taken
Organizational/strategic learning, evolution
Successes or failures? Effectiveness in producing political change?
COMBATING TERRORISM CENTER
at West Point
Dr. James Forest
Director of Terrorism Studies
The “Shining Path”
• Extreme left revolutionary ideology (a flavor of Maoism); called
themselves Communist Party of Peru
• A “people’s war” of attrition; goal is to “liberate” the common
Peruvian from exploitation by the elites, and delegitimize the
central government; focus 1st on rural areas
• 1980-1992 – over 25,000 incidents; 23,000 killed; Drug trade
• Government responses validated claims made by Sendero
• Palmer case study
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Political contexts for local support of terrorism? (isolation, poverty)
Description of the terrorists, tactics, strategies (cult of personality)
Description of the counterterrorism measures taken
Successes or failures? Effectiveness in producing political change?
COMBATING TERRORISM CENTER
at West Point
Dr. James Forest
Director of Terrorism Studies
The FARC
• Extreme left revolutionary ideology
• Focus: delegitimize the central government; focus 1st on rural
areas
• Drug trade
• Reflections on Ortiz case study?
COMBATING TERRORISM CENTER
at West Point
Dr. James Forest
Director of Terrorism Studies
4) Religious Inspiration Wave
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Current wave of terrorism
Religious Cults (e.g., Aum Shinrikyo)
Christian extremists
Islamist extremists – Jihad
– Iran – 1979 revolution
– Afghanistan – 1980s Jihad to oust the Soviets
– Iraq – 2003-? Jihad to oust the Americans
• Doctrines:
– Fatwas against the West; oust them from holy lands; late 1990s
shift from near enemy to far enemy
• Technology:
– Increasing sophistication of IEDs;
– Use of “ultimate smart bomb” (suicide terrorists)
– Weapons of Mass Disruption
COMBATING TERRORISM CENTER
at West Point
Dr. James Forest
Director of Terrorism Studies
Hamas
• Role of social welfare, education, religion, social networks
• Role of Israeli occupation of Gaza, West Bank, etc.
• Reflections on Cragin case study?
Jemmah Islamiya
• Role of education, social networks, religion, al Qaeda connection
• Role of Indonesia’s government, geography, society
• Reflections on Ramakrishna case study?
COMBATING TERRORISM CENTER
at West Point
Dr. James Forest
Director of Terrorism Studies
Religious Inspiration Wave – Islamic Extremism
• Islam is fastest growing religion in U.S. & elsewhere;
estimated over 1.2 billion followers worldwide.
• More than a religion: a system of laws, courts, traditions,
customs, etc. to govern all aspects of life
• “Islam is the answer” – Muslim Brotherhood
• Difference in relationship w/God
• Lack of formal hierarchy (no “Pope”)
• Sunni-Shia split; Shiites reject the “truth” held by Sunnis
COMBATING TERRORISM CENTER
at West Point
Dr. James Forest
Director of Terrorism Studies
Role of Islam in Society
• In the Islamic way of thinking religion is related to
politics - but this does not mean man does not need
the rationality of modern science
• Instead, it means that a devoted religious man should
try to co-ordinate his political reactions with his
religious values.
• DR MOHSEN KADIVAR, Iranian cleric
COMBATING TERRORISM CENTER
at West Point
Dr. James Forest
Director of Terrorism Studies
Role of Islam in Society
• “In the Islamic system of values and from the point of
view of Muslim fundamentalists, religion cannot be
separated from any aspect of life.”
• “Religion is omnipresent in every aspect of a Muslim
individual's private and social life from the economy to
social relations.”
• “What does harm to the society is not religion - it is the
way in which some of the rulers take advantage of
religion”
DR MEHDI KHAZALI, Iranian cleric
COMBATING TERRORISM CENTER
at West Point
Dr. James Forest
Director of Terrorism Studies
Imam Khomeini
COMBATING TERRORISM CENTER
at West Point
Dr. James Forest
Director of Terrorism Studies
Revolutionary Art
"The Vampires of
the West and East
all feeding on the
Muslim Ummah."
COMBATING TERRORISM CENTER
at West Point
Dr. James Forest
Director of Terrorism Studies
Muslim clergy and soldiers clasp hands in friendship atop an
armored personnel carrier.
COMBATING TERRORISM CENTER
at West Point
Dr. James Forest
Director of Terrorism Studies
Radical Islam
Bernard Lewis:
- Who did this to us?
- Blaming the West vs. corrupt regimes vs. each other
- Islam and liberal democracy - compatible?
Communication Filters vis-à-vis West . . .
COMBATING TERRORISM CENTER
at West Point
Dr. James Forest
Director of Terrorism Studies
Radical Islam
The radical neo-fundamentalists view the action as more
important than the result. Thus, individual jihad becomes more
important than victory. The goal is to serve God, not to achieve a
certain political agenda. The results will come when God wills it.
- Magnus Norell
COMBATING TERRORISM CENTER
at West Point
Dr. James Forest
Director of Terrorism Studies
Reminder: Domestic Terrorism in the U.S.
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Militias
Oklahoma
Any separatists?
Policy terrorists
– Abortion
– Environmental
COMBATING TERRORISM CENTER
at West Point
Dr. James Forest
Director of Terrorism Studies
History: Discussion Questions
- What patterns and trends of historical terrorism inform
our understanding of future threats?
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C2
Strategic goals, objectives
Weapons, tactics
Targeting
Fundraising/Friendraising
Similar outcomes re: group existence, changes in political
environment
– What else?
• Future projections?
– Who will likely turn to terrorism, and why?
COMBATING TERRORISM CENTER
at West Point
Dr. James Forest
Director of Terrorism Studies
History: Discussion Questions
- Why do people resort to violence in pursuit of political or
ideological ends?
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Political contexts
Social contexts
Other options to achieve goals?
Implications for government policy?
COMBATING TERRORISM CENTER
at West Point
Dr. James Forest
Director of Terrorism Studies
History: Discussion Questions
- What motivates terrorists?
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Vision - “shape the future”
Power to achieve vision
Belief in higher cause
What else?
- What role do economics, psychology, sociology or other
grievances play in motivating terrorist groups?
COMBATING TERRORISM CENTER
at West Point
Dr. James Forest
Director of Terrorism Studies
History: Discussion Questions
- What can we learn from historical examples of state
response to terrorist organizations?
- What works?
- What doesn’t?
- Why?
COMBATING TERRORISM CENTER
at West Point
Dr. James Forest
Director of Terrorism Studies
Questions?
COMBATING TERRORISM CENTER
at West Point
Dr. James Forest
Director of Terrorism Studies