We describe terrorism in lazy terms. It shows
neglect, which can lead to abuse.
“Terrorists” have been called unintelligent. Terrorists are
not unintelligent. They are smart.
Terrorists are said to be suicidal. They’re not.
Terrorists do not kill themselves. Successful terrorists live
for many, many years. They have no wish to die, go to Paradise, and enjoy the
love of virgins forever. They prefer to stick around, consume their favorite
libations, and enjoy virgins in the flesh. True terrorists love life and cling
to it. They are killed, but not on their own terms. They are killed by stealth
bombers.
The pawns of terrorism, the ones who kill themselves, lack
in many ways. Intelligence may be one such lack, but many are quite intelligent.
Very intelligent people who come to feel that they lack a place in society, a
sense of purpose, a sense of belonging, acceptance, or in extreme cases, a
reason to live, imagined or otherwise, can and do become pawns of terror.
True terrorists lack for nothing. They have a place, a purpose, a sense of belonging, and acceptance, all of these. They enjoy life. The
pawns are not terrorists and should not be called “terrorists.”
We have to quit doing that. Call them what they are!
They are the uninformed
tools of terrorists - they could be called “UTOTS” - or “suicidal pawns of terrorism” - “SPOTS,”
for short - or just “pawns.” Terrorists they are not. (I like “UTOTS” best.)
UTOTS are told that they’re martyrs. They are not.
There’s your next misused word: “Martyrs.”
Martyrs don’t kill themselves, and they certainly don’t die
for the purpose of creating violence. True martyrs die at the hands of
authority figures. People beheaded by UTOTS are much closer to martyrdom than
UTOTS themselves will ever be. Martyrs
are people who die for the sake of all peace loving people. They don’t kill
other people. They are usually executed by some society that fears the voice of
reason. And that is the one thing terrorists fear most. (UTOTS don’t. They
don’t see the significance of reason, and they are usually unwilling or unable
to participate in a reasoning process.)
Still, we let the UTOTS call themselves “martyrs.” We have
to quit doing that.
The purpose of terrorism is often argued. Sometimes, we say
that terrorism has no purpose.
We have to stop doing that too. Their purpose is simple:
Find UTOTS to die. Tell the world you and the UTOTS are acting on behalf of
people of a certain ethnic and/or religious and/or racial group. Provoke the
targeted society to retaliate, become irrational with fear, and eventually fall
to decay from within.
The clearest sign of success for terrorism is retaliation.
If a terrorist act can provoke an outrageous war upon some nation, the
terrorists rejoice.
But the ultimate purpose of terrorism is precipitating the
downfall of a society through instillation of irrational fear deeply into its citizens.
A targeted society embraces fear and plunges itself into the pit of terror and
violence, weakening it from the inside. Shake up the society enough, and you
get them into a position where you can steal away their power.
Terrorists know exactly what they’re doing. It has to do with ethnic, religious, and/or racial prejudices to begin, but quickly devolves into
something that has nothing to do with them. Here are the stages:
1. 1. A peaceful, free society perceives a threat and
turns its prejudices and suspicions upon people who can be identified by their
ethnic, religious, and/or racial identity.
2. 2. Ordinary but slightly irrational citizens of the
free society, uneducated, unreflective, easily motivated by fear, easily
influenced by prejudices that sound like slogans of wisdom, begin to wage
violence upon those same people. The society begins to resemble the early
stages of Germany prior to World War II, in which the Jews were targeted.
3. 3. Some of those disturbed citizens begin to wage
violence upon law enforcement officers who are bound by law to protect all
citizens, including those of the targeted population.
4. 4. Now the purpose of terrorism begins to blossom
on its own, far removed from strange notions of Holy Wars and religious
affiliations. Numerous ordinary, well-meaning but deeply rattled citizens begin
to devolve. They take comfort in buying assault weapons and ammunition,
preparing for the ominous, ultimate, seemingly unstoppable confrontation.
5. 5. People shoot each other. Some are shot by
mistake. Fearing any imagined danger, terrorized individuals kill weaponless
suspects who seem to be reaching for something, anything. To an imagination so devolved, anything begins to look like a gun.
6. 6. The feeling of personal terror grows. People
begin to fear the unfamiliar. People begin to stay home.
7. 7. Some of the terrorized citizens now fully devolve
into UTOTS. They saunter and boast. They begin carrying concealed weapons of
their own. Doing so helps to sway their fears. They defend themselves with very
loud talk, ignoring the voice of reason, and clinging instead to every
platitude, every prejudicial remark, any rationalization, to justify their
personal terror and their decision to prepare to wage violence.
8. 8. UTOTS get more and more willing, as time passes,
to shoot first instead of shooting back. Still more common people, and more law enforcement officers, get shot because of
imagined threats, or by accident. The urge to kill builds up, and some kill
large numbers of people, and then commit suicide, for no apparent reason.
9. 9. When the majority of Americans, or British
citizens, or French citizens, or Germans, begin to fear for their personal
safety enough so that they feel a need to carry weapons, shoot first, and ask
questions later, the terrorists have succeeded. The society is eating itself away from the inside.
I think we’re at about stage 7 or 8. There may still be time
to stop this nonsense, but watch for another rounding up and incarcerating. We’ll
be looking for people of Persian descent, and/or Muslims. It will look a little
like post-911, when quite a number of innocent people were arrested, held
without trial, and shipped off to GITMO. Our soldiers who do that work will
wear special uniforms. Perhaps they will look a lot like the SS Troops who ferretted
out and shipped off Jews.
Many still cling to their platitudes: “Guantanamo Bay? They
should have kept them there. They must have been guilty of something!” That’s
the way UTOTS talk, unknowingly furthering the terrorist cause. I wonder if and
when we’ll build a second and a third concentration camp in Cuba. I wonder if
Cuba will become the next Auschwitz. I wonder what our “final solution” will
be.
