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Terrorism
Terrorism by John Nilson
Terrorism
Nowadays the problem of terrorism becomes one of the most difficult for the whole world. If the 20th century was characterized by numerous war conflicts, particularly two World Wars in success, which involved practically all countries of the world and then were followed by so-called Cold war which also divided the world in two opposite side, the 21st century, in its turn is characterized by a permanent threat of terror attacks. The roots of terrorism may be found in the far past of socio-political and economical development of the world and human society but in the 21st century it acquires global features. As many other processes in the modern world terrorism is also a worldwide phenomenon that is, in all probability, the result of the process of globalization which overwhelms all the countries and includes not only economical but also political and social cooperation. Unfortunately this process has another side, a negative one. Despite the advantages that globalization brings it also spreads the problems which were characteristic of just a few countries to others that were not acquainted with them. The globalization also deteriorates the general situation in relations between rich and poor because regardless all positive trends that this process may give to the world economy but some specialists defines its general effect as the deterioration of the position of poor countries and improvement and prosperity of rich countries. Consequently, we have a situation when poor countries become poorer and rich become richer as a result the opposition between them growth and naturally it engenders a great tension between two polar parts of the world but if in the past the countries which felt being deprived could directly oppose their oppressors in an open war conflict now they cannot really counteract to more powerful and rich countries that makes them to look for different ways to achieve their goals and improve their position in the world. In my opinion, that is one of the principal causes of terrorism, particularly international terrorism. But I will discuss in details the main causes of terrorism a bit later and now I think it is necessary to say a few words about the main points I’m going to highlight in my work. First of all I will try to define the notion of terrorism, then I will try to explain the origin of terrorism and its causes and certainly I hope to explain the influence terror attacks have on the population of targeted country or region and its consequences for people. I think it is also necessary to speak about the effectiveness of terror attacks and methods of prevention of any further attempts to organize such acts that could be done after analyzing some notorious terror attacks in the US and in other countries around the world. I strongly believe that the problem of terrorism should be discussed not only by specialists but also by all those people who are involved or who could be possibly involved in terror attacks as both executioners and victims. Only understanding of causes of the problem and its effect we may really counteract and prevent terrorism and all people in all countries must understand it.
So, what is the terrorism? Strictly speaking it is a systemic use of violence, traditionally by some illegal organization, groups, or even some individuals that aim at the creation of a general climate of fear among the population which is supposed to become more obedient to the demands of terrorists. Usually terrorists try to achieve a definite political goal and for its sake they are ready to kill not only other innocent people but even themselves. However, it would be a mistake to think that only terrorist groups or organization support terrorism. Our history, particularly the history of the 20th century can give us a lot of examples when governments of different countries provide the policy of terror. I would not speak about Roman emperors whose power very often was supported by an evident terrorism against its opponents and political opposition but I cannot help from mentioning a bloody French Revolution with its reign of terror when all the opponents of the regime had been simply executed and it could be equally a representative of a nobility, or a member of the royal family, or even the king himself. As for the 20th century, in my opinion, the most notorious regimes were created in Nazi Germany and in the Soviet Union during the Stalin’s, practically dictatorial, totalitarian regime. Both Nazi and Communists headed by Stalin were extremely bloodthirsty and used terror even against the population of their own countries. They killed people practically without any obvious or, it would be better to say, legal (from the democratic and civil point of view) reasons. But, in my opinion, the ugliest forms terrorism acquired at the end of the 20th at the beginning of the 21st centuries. Exactly at this period of time were organized terror attacks which really shaken the world and after which some politicians had started to speak about a new world order, naturally I mean such terror attacks as September 11, and alike though it seems to be impossible anything more terrible than the terror attack on September 11, when as Jessica Hamblen says “the nation was forever changed”(2001: 42). But I will speak about it further in my work.
Now, I would focus the attention on the causes of terrorism. I have already started to speak about it and as one of the principal causes I have named the polarization of the world and the division of countries in poor and rich. This process is to some extent natural because the gap between well-developed countries and the countries of the third world, the population of which is often starving, is permanently growing. Consequently the dissatisfaction of deprived nation also grows and such an atmosphere within poor countries lead to the development of terrorist movements because people are deprived often they do not have any purpose to live for and they may be easily influenced or infused by terrorist ideology. Obviously, when people have to work hard since early childhood, when they see that the existing order, laws and social and economic relations are unfair then they become instruments in hands of terrorists’ leaders and the country or region they live in becomes a fertile soil for different extremist’s ideologies. That is why the main source of ‘human material’ for terrorist acts are poor Asian countries such as Afghanistan, Sri-Lanka, or Pakistan, numerous African countries, some countries of Latin America and others. For instance, one of the most notorious terrorist organization Jemaah Islamiah recruit poor Indonesian because the country is overwhelmed by powerlessness of ordinary people, injustice and poverty. As a result “for many poor Indonesian children… the only opportunity to learn to read and write is found within the network of Muslim schools funded by Saudi Arabian organizations preaching an intolerant form of Islam” (Kortunov 1994:235). But it would be quite logical to presuppose that the poverty is not the only reason why people organize terror attacks. Among other important facts that may make people to commit a terror act I can name the loss of close relatives or the whole family, as well as the psychological state of a person such as depression, inner inclinations, traits of character, etc. But it is not difficult to guess that without an appropriate psychological preparation nobody could commit such a crime as terror attack. That is why numerous terrorist organizations prepare people for these acts in specially equipped terrorist camps with a well-qualified staff.
So, here we come to another dimension of terror act components. If earlier I mainly spoke about the causes of terrorism on a personal, individual level, then now I have to say a few words about another level, the level of the organization, that may vary from a small group to the whole government and its powerful administrative, military and police apparatus. Why do such organizations appear and what are their goals. To some extent purposes of terrorist organizations and individuals committing terrorist attacks coincide because the economic situation determines the policy of the country and if the country is economically dependent from more powerful and rich countries then the policy of the government that is in power will also depend not on the national interests but on the interests of other countries that can economically control such government. I think that it is obvious that an African country can hardly oppose to the US or the European Union which, having quite strong military resources, also have a great economical and political influence in international affairs, consequently to achieve their purposes they may use the influence of international organization such as the UN or NATO. Naturally, in deprived countries appears an opposition to the government that cannot work independently and, as a result, when political methods turn to be ineffective some organization transform their activities from political opposition to clandestineness and use methods of struggle quite far from peaceful.
At the same time, we should not think about such terrorist organization as about noble defendants of deprived people, on the contrary they also have their own mercantile goals. In my opinion, they simply use people in their own interests that is why above I called people who serves as a source of committing terror attacks as ‘human material’. I believe that the goal f terrorist organization and their leaders is not the liberation or improvement of some people or countries but their main goal is to get the power and, in my opinion, they are much more dangerous than the existing governments because they will use terrorist methods even after they replace the government in this or that country. We have already had such examples in history of the 20th century when Nazi came to power in Germany and Communist in the Soviet Union. They really used terror in order to maintain their own power in their countries, they were ready to sacrifice their people for the only purpose to remain at power. Fortunately, these regimes do not exist anymore but the consequences of their existence we observe even nowadays. For instance, despite the fact that Nazi regime in Germany was destroyed in the middle of the 20th century, there are still neo-fascist organizations all over the world and very often they are organizers of terror attacks on their opponents or just people different from them and their perception of reality. As for the Soviet Union regime, we may say that it is this regime we have to blame for numerous terrorist organizations and their well-trained and well-qualified personnel. Many specialists estimate that the modern problem of international terrorism is engendered by the Cold war that is thought by many not ended with the fall of the Soviet Union. Moreover some specialists such as Andrei Kortunov state that the Cold war is not ended at all but “the accents have just changed and the world is still in war” (1996:76). According to them, the war continues between well-developed countries and outcast of the third world whose policy, regimes, and ideology differ from traditional democratic.
But we should not blame only the Soviet government as the only source of terrorism we should also take into consideration that its opponents, including the US and European countries, contributed to the development of terror movements. It is still under the question where Osama bin Laden and his terrorist organization Al Qaeda came from and who inspired the creation of such organization. Some specialists suppose that Osama bin Laden was ‘created’ and supported by the US in order to help mujihadin to expel Soviet troops from Afghanistan. Frankly speaking it does not look surprising for me because it is a well-known fact that CIA amply supported different movements in different countries of the world, including Afghanistan, against the USSR and this support was not only technical but financial as well. Practically the same may be said about the USSR that supported opponents of capitalist world, particularly Palestinians who are notorious for their terrorist activity. Unfortunately for the winners of the cold war, some of their former friends, such as bin Laden, became their enemies after the fall of the USSR and caused a great problem of the international terrorism as well as the ‘heredity’ of the USSR.
Thus, among the causes of terrorism we may name: a) on the organizational level the gap between well-developed countries and countries of the third world, the consequences of the cold war; b) on the personal level, individual peculiarities of character, psychology, social and economic conditions of life of individuals.
Now, I would like to dwell upon the technical side of the question, namely how terrorist organize and fulfill their terror acts. Nowadays, terrorist, being unable to confront powerful countries, which possess an extremely sophisticated weapon and surveillance equipment, in an open struggle, invent their own, new ways of struggle. Bombing has already become a traditional instrument of terror war but now the way bombs are used vary. It may be a simple explosion, or the use of a vehicle bombs, or even a suicide acts when terrorists explode themselves in order to kill as much people as possible. If I speak about a traditional bomb explosion I mean that a terrorist simply left a bag or some package and then detonated the bomb that may result in a great quantity of victims because terrorists usually act in a densely populated areas where the effectiveness of the explosion could be the greatest. Usual time for terror attacks is rush hour when the current of people is greater. Usual place for terror act may be any public place, for instance, subway station. As for recently new methods of terror acts I may say that in last years the threat of terrorist vehicle bombs becomes more and more dangerous. If one is skeptical about the effectiveness of this method it will be necessary to say that “the explosive power that can be generated by a ‘home made’ bomb carried by a standard van or a moderate size truck can generate sufficient blast overpressures to cause major damage or catastrophic collapse to building structures” (Beverly 1996:57). One way of using bombs is a suicidal terror attack when a terrorist is used as kamikaze and he or she detonates the bomb he or she carries. If we compare two latter methods we may say that the suicide bombing is becoming more popular among terrorist because of its effectiveness though it depends on the purpose of explosion what to use either a vehicle or kamikaze. The latter method is more frequently used when terrorists intend to detonate the bomb in the crowd whereas vehicles are mainly use to destroy some buildings. But probably the most dangerous bomb terrorists could try to use is a so-called ‘dirty bomb’ containing radioactive elements. It certainly cannot replace the nuclear weapon the US or Russia possess but still even the explosion of one of such bombs in such city as New York may have disastrous results for the population of the whole city and probably nearby territories.
Unfortunately, the weapon of terrorists is not limited by bombs only. Nowadays, the threat of use of biological or chemical weapon is very high and probable. Actually, the world already has the experience of using chemical weapon like it was in Japanese subway when terrorists sprayed a poisonous gas and a lot of people were severely injured or killed. So if one think that the use of chemical or biological weapon by terrorists is a myth then he makes a great mistake. It is also well known that the possible possession of such kind of weapon by Iraq was one of the main official causes of American intervention in this country. Consequently, we have to think a lot about the prevention of any terror attacks with the use of any kind of weapon whether it is a bomb, chemical or biological weapon, or simply an attack of a group of terrorists armed by guns. The ways of prevention of terror attacks will be discussed further but now I would like to discuss the effect the terror acts that has already been committed produce on the population and then I’ll give more concrete information on the basis of data after some notorious terror attack in the US and some other countries.
Speaking about the effect of terror acts, it is necessary to underline from the very beginning that they impacts not only individuals but the whole community, the whole country and may be the whole world. Furthermore, people who suffer different problems are people who are victims of terrorism, their relatives, very often it may be people who helped to victims, it may be volunteers, rescue workers, medical personnel, etc. I have to say that any terror attack breaks a normal order of life. People lose a traditional stability and they do not feel safety anymore and consequently they cannot lead a normal life. Numerous studies have shown that “deliberate violence creates longer lasting mental-health effects than natural disasters or accidents” (Hamblen 2001:82). Consequences of terror attacks may last for quite a long time and as I have already mentioned they affect both individuals and community. People, particularly survived victims, their relatives or just witnesses of a tragedy may be overwhelmed by different feelings but such feelings as anger, a desire for revenge, frustration, helplessness, fear are usually the strongest. They may also be deteriorated by the feeling of injustice that people may think have been done to them. Actually, this feeling of injustice may result in all others mentioned above. It is worthy to note that the study have revealed the fact that “acting on this anger and desire for revenge can increase rather than decrease feelings of anger, guilt and distress” (Hamblen 2001:89). However, people have enough natural resources to recover from such psychological trauma as any terror act is but, unfortunately, not for all people the process of recovery goes without certain troubles. Some trauma specialists (Staab, Foa) estimate that after a terror attack the psychological outcome of our community as a whole will be resilience, not psychopathology. For the majority of people such feelings as fear, anxiety, hyper-arousal symptoms, urges to avoid or re-experiencing the tragedy may and will gradually decrease over time. Anyway, we have bear in mind that all individuals differ, they have different psychology, they protect themselves psychologically in different ways. As a result one may recover relatively fast whereas other may suffer for quite a long time.
It is not a secret that the consequences of terror acts may result in quite a serious psychological trauma. According to the researches of Pfefferbaum and others, there are certain groups which are at greater risk, namely “those who are most at risk for more severe traumatic stress reactions, such as Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), are those who have experienced the greatest magnitude of exposure to the traumatic event, such as victims and their families” (2000:94). However, it does not mean that only victims and their close relatives are in danger, as I have already said practically all members of the community and the community itself are affected by terror acts. Very often rescue workers directly deal with the consequences of terrorism and naturally, it is very difficult to remain indifferent to the terrible tragedy that rescue workers have to deal with. For instance, the rescue workers had to identify and remove the casualties of September 11 terror attack. So they have got a very strong psychological trauma that was reinforced by accidents and death of some of the rescue workers. Thus, the tragedy of other people has become their personal tragedy. Furthermore, due to the highlighting the tragedy on TV, radio, press, i.e. mass media the whole nation was in the state of shock. Moreover, I think that the whole world was overwhelmed by this terror act. It’s not surprisingly that after September 11 the rate of psychological and mental health problems dramatically increased.
Thus, a psychological result of any terror attack is shock, growing tension, loss of confidence in the security of life, fear and a strong feeling of injustice. But do these consequences correspond to goals of terrorists? I think to certain extent yes. The main goal of terrorist is to control the will and consciousness of people that is impossible when people are calm, if they know that they are protected from any aggression and like in the case with September 11, I think Americans were absolutely sure that there is no such a force in the world that could threaten their life in the US because the country has well-developed system of security, strong army, and effective, as they seemed to be, special and intelligence services such as CIA and FBI. Consequently, the shock caused by the tragedy on September 11, may be regarded as certain success of terrorists. But what they failed is that they could not manage to control the will of Americans. The terrorists could not make Americans do what they wanted them to do. That is why the primary goal of terrorists was not achieved because only when the whole country, being in fear, under the threat of further terror attacks obey to the demands of terrorists then we may say that terrorists has won if not then the war goes on.
As I have already started to speak about concrete terror attacks and their impact on the society, namely September 11, then now I would discuss this attack and several others in details. I think it is not necessary to remind all terrible details of the tragedy that is why I’ll mainly speak about its consequences. It is necessary to underline that the US have experienced only few terrorist attacks but the September 11 was undoubtedly the blackest page in American history, at least that is my perception of this catastrophe though I look at it in retrospection and my personal view may be quite subjective. As for the consequences of terror acts, a trend of worsening of many people’s health was observed, particularly those who already had a serious disease such as AIDS. It also affected significantly children but they have a sort of advantage because, due to their young age and psychological peculiarities of children, including the fact that their views, character, perception of the reality are not completely formed, they can afford such psychological trauma better than adult people. Also the tragedy evoked the memory about past events that people experienced or witnessed, in this context very interesting seem to be the study of Stephen Walsh, who noticed that “many patients in psychiatric treatment since September 11 have revisited childhood traumas and family-of-origin related vulnerabilities. Patients with histories of significant losses and unfinished grief have experienced the return of emotions and conflicts related to those losses. An older, middle-aged woman reported the return of intense grieving about the loss of her son six years earlier and general sadness “for all parents who have lost a child” (2001:124). Thus, these words may be one more evidence of the fact that the tragedy on September 11 influenced all people through out the country.
Unfortunately, the US suffered a number of other terrible terror attacks that are quite notorious and remain in our memory. For instance, Oklahoma City bombing is quite fresh in my memory. A lot of people became victims of these terror attacks, among those who survived almost a half reported developing problems with growing anxiety, depression, alcohol use. Furthermore, over one third of these people reported posttraumatic stress disorder. It is also noteworthy that “people who reported trying to avoid reminders of the bombing and who felt numbs afterwards were more likely to develop PTSD and other disorders than people who did not avoid and were able to experience a range of emotions” (North et al. 1999:759). Also there were some factors that enforced the effect and consequences of bombing. Among such factors I can name the pre-terror attack mental and physical state of a person. Certainly, if a person was morally and physically exhausted before the tragedy after it he or she was more exposed to different complications and psychological and even psychiatric disorders, particularly if a person had any before. Also an important role played the gender of victims because women turned to be more exposed to psychological problems than men. Finally, if a person suffered from anxiety or depression before the tragedy than these problems deteriorated and progressed after the bombing. Thus, I may say that Oklahoma City bombing aggravated psychological problems of all people who had any direct or indirect relation to the tragedy.
However, it was not the only consequence of this terror attack. As Smith and some others researchers estimate “over a year after the bombing, Oklahomans reported increased rates of alcohol use, smoking, stress, and PTSD symptoms as compared to citizens of another metropolitan city” (1999:194). So, we may say that the terror attack had not only psychological but social and economic effect because psychological problems cause problems of interpersonal relations, it influences the working abilities of people. As for alcohol use and smoking it deteriorates mental and physical health that is naturally results in problems within families and on the working place, furthermore the threat of antisocial behavior of people who smoke or use alcohol becomes quite real.
It is also quite interesting to analyze the research of different specialist of effects produced by bombing on different age groups. For instance, Tucker and his colleagues found that “in a group of adults who sought mental-health services, being nervous and being upset by how other people acted when the bombing occurred were predictive of PTSD” (1997:1192). This research proves that the behavior of other people is extremely important for human psychology, particularly for those who suffer from anxiety, fear, or similar kind of problems. An interesting conclusion is made by Pfefferbaum who studied the impact of the terror attack on children. He estimates that “children who lost an immediate family member, friend, or relative were more likely to report immediate symptoms of PTSD than children who had not lost a loved one” (1999:1378). Though I think it is quite natural because for children, particularly in the early childhood, parents are extremely important, they are the highest authority for them and they provide the socialization of children in their first years of life. Consequently if a child loses a father or mother he or she may have great problems both in the nearest future and in the further adult life caused by lack of parental attention or just the lack of communication with both parents.
As I have already mentioned above terror attack influence both direct and indirect victims, witnesses, or any other people who deal with the tragedy and its consequences in some way. In this respect Pfefferbaum’s research may be also at use because he succeeded in finding evidences of this fact, namely he estimates that “two years after the bombing, 16% of children and adolescents who lived approximately 100 miles from Oklahoma City reported significant PTSD symptoms related to the event” (2000:387). It is very important evidence of the thesis I have just singled out because these children and adolescents do not have any direct relation to the terror attack and, consequently, it seems that they should not be exposed to psychological trauma but the studies prove the contrary. One of the possible explanations the researchers indicate at is the fact that “PTSD symptomatology was greater in those with more media exposure and in those with indirect interpersonal exposure, such as having a friend who knew someone who was killed or injured” (2000:388). These conclusions demonstrate us the role mass media play in our modern life. We may say that in such circumstances mass media, particularly television serve as one of the instruments of terrorists that transmit information very quickly and some times, it may cause not only shock but panic depending on highlighting of events. That is why I think that this question should be regulated somehow in order not to deteriorate social and psychological consequences of terror attacks. Finally, the studies prove that the terror attacks have a long-lasting effect that, certainly, makes such way of struggle quite effective.
However, the US is not the only country that suffered from terrorists but, in my opinion, it will remain the main target of further terror attacks. Among other countries that became victims of terrorism I have already named Japan. In its time the terror act in the Japanese subway shocked the world. The consequences of this terror attack were not less serious than in the US after Oklahoma City bombing or September 11. As DiGiovanni states “common experiences of those who were exposed to poisonous gas in the subway included anxiety, generalized fear, nightmares, insomnia, depression and fear of subways” (1999:1502). Practically, the same consequences we may observe in Indonesia after the bombing of Jakarta’s Marriott Hotel, or recent terror acts in Madrid that are often compared to September 11 in the US, and the list may be continued.
Thus, we may say that the analysis of numerous terror attacks in different parts of the world demonstrate that people face a great quantity of problems not only social or economic but also psychological character. The health of people is under the threat and it refers to both physical and mental health. Furthermore, it does not necessarily mean that if a person is not a direct victim or witness of a terror act than he or she is on the safe side. The researches prove that due to the modern information technologies and mass media the information may be spread very quickly and people may be exposed to the risk to get some psychological problems even if they do not have any direct relation to the event. But what is worse it is the fact that all people may be exposed to different psychological problems, such as anxiety, fear, feeling of injustice, depression, etc., regardless their age, social status, nationality, etc. and the negative effect of a terror attack may last for years.
On discussing the consequences of different terror attacks and their effects on people life and psychology, I think it is necessary to dwell upon the step undertaken by countries-victims of these attacks. I would like to discuss the response of the US in particular because nowadays this country defines the world policy and after the Cold war it is the most powerful and influential country in the world and many other countries are alliances of the US and have similar external policy as the US have. Actually, the terror attacks that took place at the beginning of the 21st century marked the beginning of new era in the life of the whole world because after those events it became clear that the threat of terrorism was more than real, terrorists had already started to act. September 11, is undoubtedly the starting point of this new era. After that date and terrible attacks on the US the government had to undertake concrete steps in order to prevent further terror attacks and panic among Americans that could paralyze not only the US but the whole world that would result in the global crisis which consequences seemed to be unpredictable. As a result the US declared the War on Terror. In order to better understand what made the US president and government to do this we have trace the reaction of people on September 11 tragedy. Extremist Arab terrorist and their followers became the enemy number one for Americans as the terrorist organization Al Qaeda was declared to be the main organizer of the terror attacks. In public opinion, Muslims became associated with terrorists and many people both Muslims and non-Muslims were beaten and some were killed in the West by local extremists. There appeared, or it would be better to say, resumed the tendency of confronting Western Christian communities and Muslim communities. Discussions about Islam as violent by nature were started. Naturally, tension in the society began to growth. Probably that is why the American government had to declare the War on Terror in order to secure American nation and the existing world order.
However, I think that the main task of the US government and American president was to prevent the polarization of the society and the world at large. One of the most important tasks was the clarification of the situation and prevention of local extremism in western communities, people had to differ terrorist from all Muslims or any other religion. But, in my opinion, the US did not do enough attempts to improve the situation in this respect. On the other hand, the declared war resulted in American intervention in Afghanistan and later in Iraq under the slogan of War on Terror. The reaction on such actions and such a war was dubious and contradictive. On the one hand, a part of American society and the world community supported the war, which was considered to be an effective mean of prevention of further terror attacks. On the other hands, the war had a lot of opponents, particularly outside the US and from the part of different human right organizations, such as Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch. Personally, I think that the war was and remains not effective because the US try to overcome the effect but not the cause of terrorism. Naturally, it was necessary to destroy basis of terrorists in Afghanistan and the Al Qaeda network. Though we cannot say for sure whether American army and special services succeeded in it or not but the fact is that the War on Terror continues and their traditional democratic and fair struggle because the violation of the basic human rights, as it sometimes happens, or principles of democracy. In this respect I would agree with Alison Parker and Jamie Fellner who said that “confronted with a difficult and complex battle against international terrorism, the United States must not relinquish its traditions of justice and public accountability” (2004:12). As any war, the War on terror is accompanied by the violation of human rights and we cannot do anything with it the only thing we can do is the provision of a wise policy from the part of the presidential administration that could really provide Americans and other peoples all over the world for safe and fearless life without threats of terror attacks. Now the War on Terror is regarded by many international specialists as the mean to pursue American aggressive policies. In my opinion, the critics of the US policy, being, by the way, supported by some American alliances, is quite reasonable. In this war the US use violence as the only possible mean to overcome terrorism but it seems that its effectiveness would not be so great as the government probably suppose because as it’s known violence breeds violence and probably, the authors of Amnesty International Report 2004 are, to certain extent right, by saying that “governments and armed groups have launched a war on global values, destroying the human rights of ordinary people” and furthermore “Amnesty International strongly condemned armed groups responsible for atrocities such as the March 11 bombing in Madrid and the bomb attack on the United Nations building in Iraq on 19 August 2003… But it also frightening that the principles of international law and the tools of multilateral action which could protect us from these attacks are being undermined, marginalized or destroyed by powerful governments” (2004:32; 41-42). However, we should not be such categorists because as I have just said if there is a war there will be the violation of one’s rights. The main thing we have to find out is whether such War on Terror is effective or not and whether it worthy so many deaths, particularly among civilians as we have in Afghanistan or Iraq. May be it would be better to pay more attention to the problems of the security within the US because there is an opinion according to which the terror acts on September 11 could be prevented and American leaders are even blamed in the ignoring of national security interests.
So, now it would be logically to analyze what could be done in order to prevent further terror attacks and discuss the possible development of the War on terror. From the very beginning I would divide all possible ways of prevention of terror attacks on two large groups. On the one hand it must be a strategic prevention, on the other hand it must be a practical prevention of terror attacks. The strategic prevention means the prevention on the level of national security, actually, it is the state that should be primarily preoccupied by it. The declared War on Terror may be an example of such strategic work. It should also include the work of intelligent services and in my opinion in the modern world all special services of all countries should cooperate in this are because terrorism is an international phenomenon and we cannot defeat it if each country struggles separately from others. The only effect such attempts could achieve is a temporary improvement of the situation in one particular country whereas terrorism would not be stopped but only removed to another country or region. But when the world community is united in its desire to stop the development of terrorism it should work as one whole and solid body. By this cooperation I do not necessarily mean the military intervention in the country suspected in the support of terrorists because as I have already mentioned in my work it won’t solve the roots of the problem.
Certainly, some military operations are necessary but they should be accompanied by real attempts to deprive terrorists from their basis, from support of not only extremists-millionaires but also from the support of average people all over the world, particularly in poor country where terrorists have quite strong positions. The terrorism may be defeated only when the gap, the frontier that divides rich, well-developed countries and poor countries, which are often exploited by richer ones, disappears. As long as the current policy continues I doubt that the situation could be radically changed for better because now we observe the growing dissatisfaction of deprived nations that suffer from poverty and injustice, including social inequality. Naturally, such positions provokes protests from the part of marginalized people and, being unable to improve their social and economic situation in an open war, they use methods of terror and frightening in order to achieve their goals and realize their hopes for better life for them. However, we see that such methods are unacceptable for both sides, for terrorists and for those who are their targets. That is why I think that the US, the leading and richest country n the modern world, together with other well-developed countries should work on the problem how to overcome poverty in the whole world, particularly in the countries of the third world, as well as they should better control the spread of the newest weapon and technologies that would prevent such possible in future catastrophes as the use of dirty bomb, biological or chemical weapon. But that is the task that could be fulfilled by common efforts of all countries in the world, it also demands governments to have a certain political will to help the most deprived regardless some local problems that, in my personal opinion, is one of the strongest obstacles on the way to defeat terrorism.
So, that was a strategic prevention of terror attacks. What then can do ordinary people, police ad other services dealing with the real problem of terrorism in our everyday life? In this respect, very interesting and useful seem to be recommendations worked out by James R. Phelan, a former chief of the staff of the FBI Bomb Data Center at FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C., and Charles G. King, a former supervising marshal of the Fire Department of New York. They worked practical response techniques that may be and should be used in order to prevent a terror attack. They mainly concentrate their attention on bombing prevention. So, first of all, they recommend never attempt to move, disarm or otherwise tamper with an explosive device, unless a person is a specialist in this field. They warn that such attempts may have disastrous consequences but it does not mean that an ordinary person can do nothing in order to prevent terror attack. For instance any additional information about explosives may be very helpful for police or bomb technicians. One of the first steps that should be undertaken when the explosive is found it is the evacuation of people from nearby area, or at least people should keep far from glass windows or doors that can damage them. Phelan and King estimate that “civilian areas should be at least 300-500 feet away to prevent injuries due to the explosion and its effects, including toxic vapor” (2002:57). Naturally, the distance should be increased according to the type of device. Also it is recommended to vent by opening doors, windows, etc., in order to lessen the effects of blast pressure and shock Finally, Phelan and King say that people and natural special services should be aware that “more than one bomb or incendiary device may be present and that safety hazards for emergency responders exist” (2002:59). But these recommendations are mainly appropriate for a simple bombing and we should remember that vehicle bombs or kamikaze may be used and the prevention of these terror attacks should be different.
As I have already explained, vehicle bombing is mainly used in order to destroy or significantly damage some building structures that is why when we speak about vehicle bombing we should remember what may be its target and correspondingly be ready to protect building structures which could be a desirable target for terrorists. There exist a number of possible means that could help to prevent such terror attacks. First of all it is naturally a good work of intelligence that should warn about the possible attack. It is also necessary to say that “the design and the retrofit of structures and structural systems which can resist blast loadings and protect occupants is another area which is currently receiving a great deal of attention by the security community” (Falkernrath 1998:254). But, unfortunately, intelligence cannot predict and, consequently, prevent all terror attacks that is why another means of building protection is used. It is the restriction of access to the facility by means of keeping unauthorized vehicles far from targeted building structure or by building up different barriers on the way of the vehicle. It would reduce the possible destructions and damages caused by detonating the vehicle bomb. Finally, I would like to say a few words about kamikaze bombing. It is probably the most dangerous way of terror attack because it is quite difficult to prevent. The main hope is relied on a good work of intelligence and security services.
Thus, taking into account all above mentioned I could say that terrorism is really one of the greatest problems of our time. When the world is strictly divided into two great parts: well-developed, rich countries that control the world policy and economy and poor, insignificant countries which cannot resist the influence of such powerful states as the US or European Union. Naturally, the tension between both parts gradually increases and the desire to stop injustice and overcome poverty becomes one of the dominant for people who become a source of ‘human material’ for terrorist organizations. As a result terror attacks happens oftener and their consequences are more and more terrible. Only in last few years the terror attacks in the US (September 11, 2001) and in Spain (Madrid, March 11, 2003) took away thousands of lives of innocent people and caused numerous psychological and socio-economic problems in the society. We have to regard at this terror attacks as at serious warning and we have to response on these attacks appropriately. The declared War on Terror is an important but not the only necessary step. The governments of all countries of the world, particularly of the most developed ones, should cooperate in the War on terror but it should include not only military operations against groups of terrorists or states supporting terrorism, which effectiveness remains under the doubt because of numerous victims among civilians and continuing terror attacks. It is also important to find the causes of terrorism, which lie in the socio-economic domain rather than in an evil will of some terrorist leaders. Finally, we have to take care about people who suffered from terror attacks and got not only physical but also psychological and mental-health problems. The only thing I would recommend to such people is to attempt to abolish trauma by preventing themselves from traumatic stressors, including limiting the influence of mass media. Resilience and support are extremely important for such people as well as an emergent psychological help is necessary. So, I want to conclude that only our common efforts aiming at the solving of the problem of terrorism and related problems will lead us to a normal, safe life.
John Nilson.
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