On the other hand, many terrorist acts have been
perpetrated by “martyrs” under the influence of Iran’s
Ayatollah Khomeini and his philosophy, expressed in
these words quoted from the book Sacred Rage: “The
governments of the world should know that Islam
cannot be defeated. Islam will be victorious in all the
countries of the world, and Islam and the teachings of
the Koran will prevail all over the world.”
This perspective leads to his further conclusion:
“We have in reality, then, no choice but to destroy
those systems of government that are corrupt in
themselves . . . and to overthrow all treacherous, corrupt, oppressive and criminal regimes. This is the
duty that all Muslims must fulfill.”
The driving force behind other
terrorists is revolutionary socialism and the overthrow of capitalism. Writer Jan Schreiber states in
his book The Ultimate Weapon—
Terrorists and World Order: “In
general the capacity to exploit is
equated with capitalism, and capitalism, whether or not tempered
by democracy, is equated with
fascism.” As a Japanese supporter
of terrorism expressed it: “What
we will never accept in this world
is the fact, brought about by capitalism, of people exploiting other
people. And this is our motive for
being willing to fight.”
However, others see terrorists in a different light.
Israeli ambassador Benjamin Netanyahu writes:
“Terrorism is not an automatic result of anything. It
is a choice, an evil choice.” He reasons: “The root
cause of terrorism lies not in grievances but in a disposition toward unbridled violence. This can be
traced to a world view which asserts that certain
ideological and religious goals justify, indeed demand, the shedding of all moral inhibitions.”—
Terrorism—How the West Can Win.
A Vulnerable Society
Neil Livingstone, a U.S. expert on terrorism,
writes: “As our world has become ever more urban
and complex, we have correspondingly become ever
more vulnerable to the designs of small groups, or
even single individuals, bent on disrupting the lives
of or inflicting their will on, the majority.” Why is
our society so vulnerable to terrorist activity? “Our
slender lifelines of water, energy, transportation,
communication, and sanitation are all at the mercy of
sophisticated terrorists and saboteurs.”—Hydra of
Carnage.
Because of the fragility of our life-support systems, one terrorist can exercise the
power of an army of ancient times.
Livingstone adds: “As a result of technological advances . . . one man can
command more killing technology
than ever before. One individual in
the age of technology is potentially
the equal of an army [of the age]
when the chief weapons of war were
the sword, the bow, and the spear.
This is one of the chief reasons why
terrorists represent such a threat to the
contemporary world.”
Another vulnerable point in modern
society is the instant impact of news
events. Television multiplies the power of terrorism.
The terrorist wants international publicity for his
cause—and thanks to the media, he gets it!
Only about a century ago, it took days for news to
travel around the world. Now news is instantaneous.
In some cases the terrorist can actually see himself
enacting his role on TV. Often he knows what the
other side is doing while he continues to play his
cards close to his chest. Jan Schreiber goes so far as
to say that “the drive to seize public attention” has
been “the most consistently successful terrorist ploy.”
But why has our modern society suddenly become the victim of terrorism?
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