Chapter Twelve: Ideological Terrorism

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Chapter TwelveIdeological Terrorism
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The Status of Ideological Terrorism
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The Status of Ideological Terrorism

• Ideological terrorism vs. single-issue terrorism
• Ideological terrorism refers to small groups who
  terrorize for the purpose of imposing their
  political ideals on others
• Single-issue terrorists embrace a single cause
  such as antiglobalism, animal rights, ecology,
  abortion, or anarchism
• Ideological terrorism developed from theories of
  revolution and was closely tied to models of
  guerilla warfare

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The Status of Ideological Terrorism

• The effect of religious violence on ideological
  terrorism
• Most of the groups lost sponsors when the Soviet
  Union collapsed
• Right-wing groups modified their politics with
  tailored-made religions, especially in the United
  States
• As death and violence increased with the advent
  of religious terrorism, many ideologues renounced
  violence
• The nations that continued to support terrorism
  did so under the new rules of the game
• They either endorsed religion or let the issue
  driving violence become a surrogate religion
  expressed in absolutist terms

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The Status of Ideological Terrorism

• Surrogate religion
• The group replaces religious behavior with an
  ideology that has the power of religion
• When violence is internalized, that is, focused
  on its own members, the group can become a
  religious cult
• If the group targets victims in the outside
  world, it frequently behaves like a religious
  terrorist organization

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The Status of Ideological Terrorism

• State-sponsored terrorism
• State-sponsored terrorism is terrorism supported
  by a nation-state
• Ideology is related to state-sponsored terrorism,
  but ideological terrorism has been transformed
  since the fall of the Soviet Union
• The ideology that supports terrorism tends to
  come from the passion surrounding an issue, not
  state sponsorship
• State sponsorship may occur on the fringes, but a
  single ideology drives the violence

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Ideology and Marighellas Urban Model
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Ideology and Marighellas Urban Model

• Urban guerilla and urban terrorism
• Ideologically driven terrorism emerged from
  anticolonialism
• The model for such terrorism was based on the
  idea of the urban guerilla and urban terrorism.
  These ideas were initially championed by Frantz
  Fannon

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Ideology and Marighellas Urban Model

• Frantz Fannon
• In the Wretched of the Earth, Fannon writes that
  Western powers have dehumanized non-Western
  people by destroying their cultures and replacing
  them with Western values
• The masses end up suffering a perpetual identity
  crisis To succeed, they are forced to deny their
  heritage. Fanon argues that the natives can
  follow only one course of action revolution
• He claimed decolonization was destined to be a
  violent process because it involved replacing one
  group of powerful people with another group
  achieving freedom was inherently violent

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Ideology and Marighellas Urban Model

• Frantz Fannon
• Fanon advocated rural guerrilla warfare as the
  primary method of revolution
• Terrorism had a specific purpose to terrorize
  Westerners and their followers into submission
• Urban terror was to create mayhem, and all
  terrorism was to be excessively brutal to
  communicate fear. Fanons guerrilla model thus
  uses terrorism as a strategy and deviates from
  typical guerrillas who try to build a military
  force

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Ideology and Marighellas Urban Model

• Carlos Marighella and the Marighella model
• For the Liberation of Brazil and The Minimanual
  of the Urban Guerrilla, Marighella designed and
  presented practical guides for terrorism
• Marighella wanted to move violence from the
  countryside to the city and designed a method for
  organizing a campaign of terror that has been
  used by groups ranging across the political
  spectrum
• The Japanese Red Army
• The Freemen of Montana
• The basis of revolution was violence
• All violence could be urban-based and controlled
  by a small group of urban guerillas

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Ideology and Marighellas Urban Model

• Robert Moss synopsis of Marighellas writings
• Urban terrorism was to begin with two distinct
  phases, one designed to bring about actual
  violence, and the other designed to give that
  violence meaning
• The terror campaign was to be accompanied by a
  psychological offensive, that is, a mass movement
  of revolutionary sympathizers, to provide
  peripheral support for terrorists
• A campaign of revolutionary terrorism in an urban
  setting could be used to destabilize government
  power Governmental repression was the goal of
  terrorism at this stage
• Marighella believed that the public supported
  government policies because they did not
  recognize the repressive nature of the state. A
  terrorist campaign would force the government to
  reveal that repressive nature, thereby alienating
  the public

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Ideology and Marighellas Urban Model

• The firing team
• The purpose of the urban guerrilla is to shoot.
  The job of the firing team, Marighellas basic
  unit, is to kill
• The firing team is composed of four to five
  terrorists. Several firing teams are needed to
  construct a terrorist organization, but the team
  can exist on its own
• The firing team is the basic weapon of the urban
  guerilla

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Ideology and Marighellas Urban Model

• The Marighella model and terrorism
• This model of urban terrorism and revolution
  would be an excellent theory for revolutionaries
  if it were functional
• It does not work it does not topple governments
• Most ideological terrorist groups have followed
  the path of Marighella. They cannot become strong
  enough to create a new order, but they can
  terrorize a community or country

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The Demise of Left-Wing Ideology in Europe
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The Demise of Left-Wing Ideology in Europe

• Raymond Corrado and Rebecca Evans
• The ideological terrorists of the 1960s, on both
  the left and the right, were expressing their
  frustration with the social structures imposed by
  a modern industrial society
• The fundamental difference between ideological
  and nationalist terrorists can be found in their
  goals. Ideological terrorists in Europe reject
  the economic and social structure of industrial
  capitalism they want a new order
• Nationalists, on the other hand, frequently
  embrace capitalism and fight for ethnic
  self-determination. They desire economic
  opportunity within the context of a strong
  national identity. Nationalism stays, ideology
  does not

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The Demise of Left-Wing Ideology in Europe

• Raymond Corrado and Rebecca Evans
• Corrado and Evans conclude, the popularity of
  nationalistic and left-wing terrorism was
  changing
• As pluralistic governments worked to relieve
  frustration, the attractiveness of terrorism
  waned, and terrorists lost their support base.
  Corrado and Evans assumed that terrorist violence
  would fade away, only reappearing in a few
  sporadic incidents

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The Demise of Left-Wing Ideology in Europe

• Three key events that changed the political
  destiny and the world
• The Berlin Wall came down, leading to the
  reunification of Germany
• To the south, new nations emerging from the
  former Yugoslavia took up arms and resumed a
  centuries-old struggle
• The Soviet Union dissolved, along with the
  authoritarian rule of the Communist Party in the
  republics of the former Soviet Union and Eastern
  Europe

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The Demise of Left-Wing Ideology in Europe

• Pluchinsky and supraindigenous terrorism
• By the term supraindigenous terrorism, Pluchinsky
  meant that local terrorist activities would
  extend beyond local boundaries Each time a
  government brings one variety of terrorism into
  check, a new strain appears
• As the structure of Europe and the world changed
  from 1989 to 1992, European terrorism also
  changed
• Ideological terrorism swung from the left to
  right, changing its structure as it moved

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The Demise of Left-Wing Ideology in Europe

• Stephen Segaller
• Segaller believes that the European leftists were
  seeking unity out of weakness, not strength
• Modern European terrorism emerged in the 1960s as
  an extreme reflection of left-wing activism
• By 1970, most left-wing groups and the resurgent
  nationalist groups modeled themselves after the
  Marighella model
• In 1985, the left-wing movement faced its
  weakness and tried to form a confederation to
  gain momentum
• The left-wing coalition was an effort to pool
  dwindling resources and support

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The Demise of Left-Wing Ideology in Europe

• The Red Brigades
• The organization of the Red Brigades was unique
  in European terrorism
• They came closer to matching the Marighella model
  than did any other group in Europe
• The Red Brigades had a variety of urban centers.
  Each unit became a fairly autonomous organization
  within its own area

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The Demise of Left-Wing Ideology in Europe

• The current state of left-wing terrorism in
  Europe
• The ideological basis for left-wing terrorism in
  Europe is out of vogue
• Only three groups remained active in the 1990s
• Dev Sol in Turkey
• GRAPO in Spain
• 17N in Greece
• The ideological basis for left-wing terrorism has
  been eliminated
• Single-issue terrorism is in its infancy in
  Europe
• The bigger threat comes from international
  Jihadists, cultlike groups, and new strains
  replacing the old

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Iraq Insurgency Guerillas or Terrorists,
Ethnic or Ideological?
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Iraq Insurgency Guerillas or Terrorists, Ethnic
or Ideological?

• Objectives for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq
• The United States sought to enforce a mandate
  from the United Nations to end the production and
  possession of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq
• The United States wanted to end the reign of
  Saddam Hussein and implement a democratically
  elected government
• The stated purpose was to end collusion between
  Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda
• After the major offensive, the campaign of
  violence against the United States and its allies
  was horrendous
• Democratic elections took place in Iraq in
  January of 2005, but the Iraq insurgency continued

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Iraq Insurgency Guerillas or Terrorists, Ethnic
or Ideological?

• Three main insurgent groups
• Displaced Baathists who were part of Sadddam
  Husseins regime
• Many Baathists believe they can reclaim power.
  The see themselves engaged in a guerilla campaign
• Iraqis who want the United States to leave their
  country
• Sunni militants
• Militant Shiites
• Iraqi Criminals

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Iraq Insurgency Guerillas or Terrorists, Ethnic
or Ideological?

• Jihadists who have come to Iraq to fight the
  United States
• Some flock from surrounding areas to fight as
  guerillas
• Some are terrorists within an al Qaeda\-style
  umbrella
• They are behind many of the murderous kidnappings
  and suicide bombings
• The three insurgent groups do not share a common
  vision for the future of Iraq and they are
  frequently at odds with each other

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Iraq Insurgency Guerillas or Terrorists, Ethnic
or Ideological?

• The culture factor
• An old Arab folk saying illustrates the
  overriding importance of family ties in Arab
  culture and the response to the stranger I
  and my brothers against my cousins I and my
  cousins against the stranger
• When such cultural aspects combine with the
  various ideologies motivating insurgent groups,
  it is possible to see that a major portion of the
  insurrection does not involve terrorism
• Many of the actions against Americans and their
  allies do not involve terrorism
• If the United States is to end major combat
  operations in Iraq, it will need to implement a
  strategy that addresses the major issues that
  insurgents and terrorist groups use to justify
  violence