TERRORISM QUOTES II
quotations about terrorism
There is always a point at which the terrorist ceases to manipulate the media gestalt. A point at which the violence may well escalate, but beyond which the terrorist has become symptomatic of the media gestalt itself. Terrorism as we ordinarily understand it is innately media-related.
WILLIAM GIBSON
official blog, October 31, 2004
How can you have a war on terrorism when war itself is terrorism?
HOWARD ZINN
Howard Zinn on War
When political figures denounce Muslims, or when there is anti-Muslim backlash following an attack, terrorist organizations chalk up a victory. Because some Muslims will inevitably see their religion as being under siege, they become susceptible to recruitment by the likes of al-Qaeda and ISIS, who portray themselves as defenders of the religion.
PHILIP SEIB
"Terrorists Are Getting Savvier--Why Is Our News So Dumb?", Good, June 6, 2017
Terrorism is not an expression of rage. Terrorism is a political weapon. Remove a government's facade of infallibility, and you remove its people's faith.
DAN BROWN
Angels & Demons
There are two different kinds of terrorists. I think what happened in Las Vegas or in Texas shows we need to expand our definition of terrorism. In my mind these are incidents of terrorism, just as what happened in New York to those bikers. If the act is designed to kill people and instill fear in people's hearts it is terrorism.
DAVID BALDACCI
interview, Crime Spree Magazine, November 14, 2017
This mass terrorism is the new evil in our world today. It is perpetrated by fanatics who are utterly indifferent to the sanctity of human life and we, the democracies of this world, are going to have to come together to fight it together and eradicate this evil completely from our world.
TONY BLAIR
speech to the Trades Union Congress shortly after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, 11 September 2001
On September 11, the world fractured. It's beyond my skill as a writer to capture that day and the days that would follow--the planes, like specters, vanishing into steel and glass; the slow-motion cascade of the towers crumbling into themselves; the ash-covered figures wandering the streets; the anguish and the fear. Nor do I pretend to understand the stark nihilism that drove the terrorists that day and that drives their brethren still. My powers of empathy, my ability to reach into another's heart, cannot penetrate the blank stares of those would murder innocents with abstract, serene satisfaction.
BARACK OBAMA
Dreams from My Father
We must address the root causes of terrorism to end it for all time.... I believe putting resources into improving the lives of poor people is a better strategy than spending it on guns.
MUHAMMAD YUNUS
"Nobel Laureate: Poverty Fight Essential", Associated Press
We must try to find ways to starve the terrorist and the hijacker of the oxygen of publicity on which they depend.
MARGARET THATCHER
speech to the American Bar Association, July 15, 1985
The Islamic terrorists of our time believe in a violent, zero-sum clash of civilisations. That should not be surprising, as their ideology mirrors the dominant ideology -- neo-conservatism -- of western foreign policy establishments. Both sides are locked in a terrifying dance of death. Both believe that two "civilisations" exist and are incompatible, that they are in a fight to the death, and that any measures are justified to achieve victory because the struggle is existential. We use drones and "humanitarian intervention" to destabilise their societies; they use cars, guns, knives and bombs to destabilise ours.
JONATHAN COOK
"Why the London Terror Attack Happened Now. Terrorism is the Use of Indiscriminate Violence for Political Ends", Global Research, June 5, 2017
We can't accommodate terrorism. When someone uses the slaughter of innocent people to advance a so-called political cause, at that point the political cause becomes immoral and unjust and they should be eliminated from any serious discussion, any serious debate.
RUDOLPH GIULIANI
interview, CNN, September 11, 2002
Terrorism is carried out purposefully, in a cold-blooded, calculated fashion. The declared goals of the terrorist may change from place to place. He supposedly fights to remedy wrongs -- social, religious, national, racial. But for all these problems his only solution is the demolition of the whole structure of society. No partial solution, not even the total redressing of the grievance he complains of, will satisfy him -- until our social system is destroyed or delivered into his hands.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU
International Terrorism
Both terrorism and insurance sell fear -- and business is business.
LIAM MCCURRY
Terminal Policy
I was called a terrorist yesterday, but when I came out of jail, many people embraced me, including my enemies, and that is what I normally tell other people who say those who are struggling for liberation in their country are terrorists. I tell them that I was also a terrorist yesterday, but, today, I am admired by the very people who said I was one.
NELSON MANDELA
Larry King Live, May 16, 2000
Terrorism is an ultimately ineffective tactic to subvert and usurp democracies. History reassures us that humanity resists and eventually triumphs when violent, extreme minorities seek to impose their will on free and fair communities protected by the rule of law and professional security forces.
EDITOR
"London attacks: History shows terrorism is destined to fail", The Age, June 5, 2017
Terrorism, like viruses, is everywhere. There is a global perfusion of terrorism, which accompanies any system of domination as though it were its shadow, ready to activate itself anywhere, like a double agent.
JEAN BAUDRILLARD
The Spirit of Terrorism and Other Essays
One of the most significant contributions to our understanding of terrorism is the realization that terrorism is a social construct. Indeed, terrorism is not a given in the real world, but an interpretation of events and their presumed causes. Such interpretation is not an unbiased attempt to depict truth; rather, it is a conscious effort to manipulate perceptions to promote certain interests at the expense of others. Definitions of terrorism typically reflect the interests of those who do the defining, and in many social conflicts the government and related agencies ... are the primary definer and hold de facto definition power.
RAMON SPAAIJ
Understanding Lone Wolf Terrorism: Global Patterns, Motivations and Prevention
I opposed the war in Iraq because I did not believe it was in our national security interest, and I still don't. What we [America] did was akin to taking a baseball bat to a beehive. Our primary security threat right now is terrorism ---and by doing what we did in Iraq, we've managed to alienate a good part of the world and most of the allies whose intelligence and other help we need to combat and defeat terrorism.
JERRY SPRINGER
interview, June 23, 2003
Defeating terrorism is more difficult and far-reaching than we have assumed.... We may be advancing the ball down the field at will, running over our opponent's defenses, but winning the game is another matter altogether.
WESLEY CLARK
Winning Modern Wars
The car bomb is the poor man's air force.
MIKE DAVIS
Buda's Wagon