Another example, very mild compare to what's going on in Israel: There was this freak in NY/NJ area, who for no reason mowed down pedestrians on several occasions. While he was on the loose, there was some apprehension about cars on the roads acting weirdly. But this person killed only a few people, a fraction of the number of pedestrian fatalities in the states on NY and NJ. There are numerous accidents that kill pedestrians, but there is no feeling of terror among pedestrians, but one person with intention to kill pedestrians did create some sense of terror.
Joe, we are closer to agreement on this than you think. However, first you have to drop the label of liberal. It will help you think more clearly and see what I wrote more objectively. <g>
Terrorism is much like that guy who was crazy and running people over at random. We all know we will have accidents and we have accepted that having an accident is fairly predictable within our lifetimes and that we could be seriously injured or killed. And we also know that its more than likely we will have that accident in our cars within 25 miles of our homes bla bla bla.
But with the guy above, all that predictability is turned upside down. This guy isn't predictable. You could be walking, riding a bike or in your car........you could be within 25 miles of your home or 45 miles away in his hometown whatever that might be. We experience the most terror when something unpredictable happens to us in which we have little or no control, and could well result in our deaths.
There is no question that the Israelis in Jaffe felt terror when a suicide bomber did his trick. But I contend that the Afghans felt the same terror when bombs were dropping from the sky at nite.......they couldn't see them but could hear their whistle as they come down, never knowing if they were aimed for their house or some other target. If you don't think dropping bombs on a civilian population is a terrifying experience, then I can only say you are in some kind of denial. That's why I classify it as terrorism.
The Jews being taken out of their homes, and sent to the camps had to have been terrifying. In fact the Nazis did their best to make the experience as terrifying as possible. After all, what is terrorism but just a much larger, much deadlier, and more complicated version of the bully in the school playground singling someone out at random and beating him up for the fun of it. Forget the motives of those that cause terrorism........the motives can be good or bad. I believe that the single most important quality of terrorism is the reaction of the victim [s].
ted |
