Nov 14, 2009
Understanding and Combatting Terrorism, USMC Major S.M. Grass, 1989:
Terrorism is a psychological weapon and is directed to create a general climate of fear.
As one definition cogently notes, "terror is a natural phenomenon,
terrorism is the conscious exploitation of it." Terrorism utilizes
violence to coerce governments and their people by inducing fear.
At
its heart terrorism is about fear. While terrorist attacks destroy,
maim and kill, the intended audience for these attacks is almost always
the whole body politic and the terrorist's goal is to strike fear into their hearts.
The
Obama Administration's irresponsible decision to prosecute the
mastermind of the 9/11 attacks in New York City puts the interests of
liberal special interest groups before the safety and security of the American people.
This is literally true: the Right's reaction to yesterday's announcement -- we're too afraid to allow trialsand due process in our country -- is the textbook definition of "surrendering to terrorists." It's the same fear
they've been spewing for years. As always, the Right's tough-guy
leaders wallow in a combination of pitiful fear and cynical
manipulation of the fear of their followers. Indeed, it's hard to find
any group of people on the globe who exude this sort of weakness and
fear more than the American Right.
People in capitals
all over the world have hosted trials of high-level terrorist suspects
using their normal justice system. They didn't allow fear to drive
them to build island-prisons or create special commissions to depart
from their rules of justice. Spain held an open trial in Madrid for the individuals accused of that country's 2004 train bombings. The British put those accused of perpetrating the London subway bombings on trial right in their normal courthouse in London. Indonesia gave public trials using standard court procedures to the individuals who bombed a nightclub in Bali. India used a Mumbai courtroom
to try the sole surviving terrorist who participated in the 2008
massacre of hundreds of residents. In Argentina, the Israelis captured
Adolf Eichmann, one of the most notorious Nazi war criminals, and brought him to Jerusalem to stand trial for his crimes.
It's
only America's Right that is too scared of the Terrorists -- or which
exploits the fears of their followers -- to insist that no regular
trials can be held and that "the safety and security of the American
people" mean that we cannot even have them in our country to give them
trials. As usual, it's the weakest and most frightened among us who
rely on the most flamboyant, theatrical
displays of "strength" and "courage" to hide what they really are.
Then again, this is the same political movement whose "leaders" --
people like John Cornyn and Pat Roberts
-- cowardly insisted that we must ignore the Constitution in order to
stay alive: the exact antithesis of the core value on which the nation
was founded. Given that, it's hardly surprising that they exude a
level of fear of Terrorists that is unmatched virtually anywhere in the
world. It is, however, noteworthy that the position they advocate -- it's too scary to have normal trials in our country of Terrorists -- is as pure a surrender to the Terrorists as it gets.
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Glenn Greenwald
Glenn Greenwald is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, constitutional lawyer, commentator, author of three New York Times best-selling books on politics and law, and a former staff writer and editor at First Look media. His fifth and latest book is, "No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State," about the U.S. surveillance state and his experiences reporting on the Snowden documents around the world. Glenn's column was featured at Guardian US and Salon. His previous books include: "With Liberty and Justice for Some: How the Law Is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful," "Great American Hypocrites: Toppling the Big Myths of Republican Politics," and "A Tragic Legacy: How a Good vs. Evil Mentality Destroyed the Bush Presidency." He is the recipient of the first annual I.F. Stone Award for Independent Journalism, a George Polk Award, and was on The Guardian team that won the Pulitzer Prize for public interest journalism in 2014.
Understanding and Combatting Terrorism, USMC Major S.M. Grass, 1989:
Terrorism is a psychological weapon and is directed to create a general climate of fear.
As one definition cogently notes, "terror is a natural phenomenon,
terrorism is the conscious exploitation of it." Terrorism utilizes
violence to coerce governments and their people by inducing fear.
At
its heart terrorism is about fear. While terrorist attacks destroy,
maim and kill, the intended audience for these attacks is almost always
the whole body politic and the terrorist's goal is to strike fear into their hearts.
The
Obama Administration's irresponsible decision to prosecute the
mastermind of the 9/11 attacks in New York City puts the interests of
liberal special interest groups before the safety and security of the American people.
This is literally true: the Right's reaction to yesterday's announcement -- we're too afraid to allow trialsand due process in our country -- is the textbook definition of "surrendering to terrorists." It's the same fear
they've been spewing for years. As always, the Right's tough-guy
leaders wallow in a combination of pitiful fear and cynical
manipulation of the fear of their followers. Indeed, it's hard to find
any group of people on the globe who exude this sort of weakness and
fear more than the American Right.
People in capitals
all over the world have hosted trials of high-level terrorist suspects
using their normal justice system. They didn't allow fear to drive
them to build island-prisons or create special commissions to depart
from their rules of justice. Spain held an open trial in Madrid for the individuals accused of that country's 2004 train bombings. The British put those accused of perpetrating the London subway bombings on trial right in their normal courthouse in London. Indonesia gave public trials using standard court procedures to the individuals who bombed a nightclub in Bali. India used a Mumbai courtroom
to try the sole surviving terrorist who participated in the 2008
massacre of hundreds of residents. In Argentina, the Israelis captured
Adolf Eichmann, one of the most notorious Nazi war criminals, and brought him to Jerusalem to stand trial for his crimes.
It's
only America's Right that is too scared of the Terrorists -- or which
exploits the fears of their followers -- to insist that no regular
trials can be held and that "the safety and security of the American
people" mean that we cannot even have them in our country to give them
trials. As usual, it's the weakest and most frightened among us who
rely on the most flamboyant, theatrical
displays of "strength" and "courage" to hide what they really are.
Then again, this is the same political movement whose "leaders" --
people like John Cornyn and Pat Roberts
-- cowardly insisted that we must ignore the Constitution in order to
stay alive: the exact antithesis of the core value on which the nation
was founded. Given that, it's hardly surprising that they exude a
level of fear of Terrorists that is unmatched virtually anywhere in the
world. It is, however, noteworthy that the position they advocate -- it's too scary to have normal trials in our country of Terrorists -- is as pure a surrender to the Terrorists as it gets.
Glenn Greenwald
Glenn Greenwald is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, constitutional lawyer, commentator, author of three New York Times best-selling books on politics and law, and a former staff writer and editor at First Look media. His fifth and latest book is, "No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State," about the U.S. surveillance state and his experiences reporting on the Snowden documents around the world. Glenn's column was featured at Guardian US and Salon. His previous books include: "With Liberty and Justice for Some: How the Law Is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful," "Great American Hypocrites: Toppling the Big Myths of Republican Politics," and "A Tragic Legacy: How a Good vs. Evil Mentality Destroyed the Bush Presidency." He is the recipient of the first annual I.F. Stone Award for Independent Journalism, a George Polk Award, and was on The Guardian team that won the Pulitzer Prize for public interest journalism in 2014.
Understanding and Combatting Terrorism, USMC Major S.M. Grass, 1989:
Terrorism is a psychological weapon and is directed to create a general climate of fear.
As one definition cogently notes, "terror is a natural phenomenon,
terrorism is the conscious exploitation of it." Terrorism utilizes
violence to coerce governments and their people by inducing fear.
At
its heart terrorism is about fear. While terrorist attacks destroy,
maim and kill, the intended audience for these attacks is almost always
the whole body politic and the terrorist's goal is to strike fear into their hearts.
The
Obama Administration's irresponsible decision to prosecute the
mastermind of the 9/11 attacks in New York City puts the interests of
liberal special interest groups before the safety and security of the American people.
This is literally true: the Right's reaction to yesterday's announcement -- we're too afraid to allow trialsand due process in our country -- is the textbook definition of "surrendering to terrorists." It's the same fear
they've been spewing for years. As always, the Right's tough-guy
leaders wallow in a combination of pitiful fear and cynical
manipulation of the fear of their followers. Indeed, it's hard to find
any group of people on the globe who exude this sort of weakness and
fear more than the American Right.
People in capitals
all over the world have hosted trials of high-level terrorist suspects
using their normal justice system. They didn't allow fear to drive
them to build island-prisons or create special commissions to depart
from their rules of justice. Spain held an open trial in Madrid for the individuals accused of that country's 2004 train bombings. The British put those accused of perpetrating the London subway bombings on trial right in their normal courthouse in London. Indonesia gave public trials using standard court procedures to the individuals who bombed a nightclub in Bali. India used a Mumbai courtroom
to try the sole surviving terrorist who participated in the 2008
massacre of hundreds of residents. In Argentina, the Israelis captured
Adolf Eichmann, one of the most notorious Nazi war criminals, and brought him to Jerusalem to stand trial for his crimes.
It's
only America's Right that is too scared of the Terrorists -- or which
exploits the fears of their followers -- to insist that no regular
trials can be held and that "the safety and security of the American
people" mean that we cannot even have them in our country to give them
trials. As usual, it's the weakest and most frightened among us who
rely on the most flamboyant, theatrical
displays of "strength" and "courage" to hide what they really are.
Then again, this is the same political movement whose "leaders" --
people like John Cornyn and Pat Roberts
-- cowardly insisted that we must ignore the Constitution in order to
stay alive: the exact antithesis of the core value on which the nation
was founded. Given that, it's hardly surprising that they exude a
level of fear of Terrorists that is unmatched virtually anywhere in the
world. It is, however, noteworthy that the position they advocate -- it's too scary to have normal trials in our country of Terrorists -- is as pure a surrender to the Terrorists as it gets.
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