By definition, “terrorism” is any violent act that provokes violence, incites fear, and may or may not be to support a moral, political or financial end. How then, do we gain insight into the ideas that are out there today, about the Middle East, the war on terror, and other matters? The initial step is, as was just done, to define the course and scope of the discussion, and try to understand those involved. Nearly ever culture has had some experience with terrorism, the first governmental or widespread organized terror arose after the French Revolution, and was used as a means of holding power, by threat of death and execution. Among other instances of organized terror was the initial rise of the Nazi Party, the many Russian factions which vied for power in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and, in other instances, the Irish Republican Army and even fear instilled by secret police, political parties, and the mafia.
For the most part, with few exceptions, only through successful political revolution do the groups which utilized terror grow in prominence, because the motives are usually regional, strike a chord which motivates many to follow, or gain strength through gaining power through military or political advancement. How then, can one explain the growth of terrorish to worldwide levels, when the motives and groups involved are not congruent in leadership, hold widely different, if even recognizable goals, and seem to be very widely separated in ideology, motives and capability. If we examine the majority of Islamic fundamentalist violence, we bound into a somewhat vague idea that the ultimate goal is either personal, in support of a “jihad” mentality to wrest control from some “infidel,” or to gain some semblance of an Islamic “Caliphate” such as ones which controlled, with widely divergent ideals and locations, the Middle East up to and including the Ottoman Empire. Is there a real sense of goal, such as a long-term government, or is it the opportunistic efforts of a few who are organizing money, networks and supporting a campaign which is reliant upon keeping the world in confusion, fear and unable to understand the motives that drive such people.
In essence, it is the idea that maintaining the terror and causing turmoil is in itself a goal, allowing the world to further fall into disarray, and rewarding the “martyrs” with a real meaning and sense of purpose, while allowing those who support the “jihad” with a continued sense of disavowing the control of the infidel, which can be the West, the government in power, the local community, or even a rival group that is viewed as having a more favored role in government. The individual gains support, belonging, and perhaps for the first time, achieves some manner of “honor” in supporting the cause, and those who support the goals with money, gain power, networking to find recognition and support. Governments gain in being paid by supporters, receive much-needed funds, gain in human staffing, experience, and actually gain in both notoriety and favor among disenfranchised groups, the growth of governmental support is not only financial, but in working to develop a growing number of agencies and governments that are profiting by supporting terror with arms sales, equipment and building “schools” for terror that gain in indirect ways by creating networks and gaining support of wealthy organizers and patrons, who have access to legitimate arms sales and do not find it disfavorable to provide arms to organizations that are making “progress” in support of extremist ideals.
It is the patrons, wealthy, but not necessarily powerful Islamic groups , families or organizations who provide funding, support, and financial networking for the organizers and provide the opportunities to train, grow and develop organizations. The organizers do this in a number of ways, either by training “cells” which function outside of the direct control, and with little contact or communication towards fundamentalist goals, and also through an increasingly organized “onits” such as those who ravaged Mumbai, and which may also be appearing as attack squads, both suicide bombers, and the possibility of shipping attack units, which are being called for in the areas to disrupt shipping and commerce.
It is through acts pegged upon disrupting commerce, and creating havoc that terrorism is now most reliant on, with targets being chosen with regards to their economic value, and with disruption and fear being the motive. In many ways, the Terrorist organizations are preying upon the frailties of those who cannot find a means of gaining access to their own betterment, the poor, who cannot gain in education or have been brushed aside because they are from a disenfranchised group flock to the organizations to train and provide suicide bombers, soldiers of dubious skill and poor quality, but effective for terror, and even those who have money, education but no power gain advancement through becoming patrons, organizers or supporters of the “overturning” of the infidel. The goals set up for these campaigns is not motivated by concrete ideals, but rather an “improving” of their own personal criteria, by whatever means are at hand, and to disrupt the economic foundations of the West is to “redeem” the actions by bringing about some idealogical re-emergence to an Islamic Caliphate.
The problem is, there is not one goal, and not one course, but each demonstration of fear, disorder, and chaos supports a bit more of an idea that the weakness of the West is the strength of some future “imagined” empire. The serious problem is those organizing and utilizing enormous amounts of money, governmental training and support, and creating networks, not to advance anything, but to gain power for themselves, and uphold a growing system which is, in itself, the goal, not to create an empire, but to sustain terror. Remove the funding, prove the network is false or display the failure of any capacity for the members to get along, and the system cannot support itself.
