The 'security forces' set about their work in a manner which might have been deliberately designed to drive the population into our arms. This is why the first chapter shortly introduces the different forms of political violence. Among the organised forms of political violence, terrorism is the one which is the most exposed to the subjective judgement of citizens therefore, it is necessary to define its local value, place and features as one of the many possible forms. It is also publicly known that one of the primary tasks of the state is to defend its citizens against the political violence of another state. Numerous governments of the world share the view that the implementation of political violence and intimidation of citizens is necessary to maintain the state, to ensure the living conditions of communities on a solid basis.
Thus political violence is not only justified, but on the contrary, it is necessary to reach their political aims. Lots of citizens are of the opinion that the state only rarely represents their direct political interests. The authors discuss political violence when its aim is to reach a certain political goal. Like other forms of political violence, it accompanied the history of mankind from the moment on when human communities became organised into political entities. Terrorism is a form of organised political violence. The conclusion is that terrorism which can be understood in political terms is susceptible to political remedies. This is demonstrated with reference to the ‘Last Night’ document of 9=11. Not only is its chosen constituency a confessional one, but al-Qaeda also uses-and when necessary adapts-well-known Islamic religious concepts to motivate its operatives, ranging from conceptions of duty to conceptions of ascetic devotion. Even though its immediate objectives are political rather than religious, al-Qaeda is a distinctively Islamic group. While no direct link between Malatesta and al-Qaeda exists, al-Qaeda was certainly in contact with contemporary theories that Malatesta would have recognized, and seems to have applied them. Such an impact is a purely political objective, familiar to historians of terrorism from at least the time of Errico Malatesta and the ‘propaganda of the deed’ in the 1870s. Reference to public opinion in the Middle East, especially in Egypt, shows that this is indeed what has happened. Although the immediate objectives of al-Qaeda on 9=11 cannot be established with certainty, it is highly probably that the intention was to provoke a response from the US that would have a radicalizing impact on al-Qaeda’s constituency. Immediate objectives, are for many purposes more important than ultimate aims. This distinction is illustrated with reference to such premodern religious terrorists as the Assassins and Zealots. It argues that a distinction must be made between the ultimate aims and the immediate objectives of ‘religious’ terrorists, and that while the ultimate aims will be religiously formulated, the immediate objectives will often be found to be almost purely political. This article examines the nature of religious terrorism, principally with reference to al-Qaeda. The Mongols and Tamerlane used terror in this way to reduce cities without having to resort to siege. Once unleashed, it can set an example to constrain behavior without the necessity of fighting.
State terror, whether implicit or overt, has haunted the centuries as war’s bogeyman, the specter of mass murder. In the despotic societies that make up the major portion of history’s fabric, it has served as the tool of enslavement and guarantor of mass obedience. Announced with warlike violence, terror remains suspended like a sword in times of peace over the heads of all who dare to rebel. The same was later true of antiquity’s first military empire, the Assyrian, whose brutal methods of reprisal were intended to crush the spirit and break the will. The first Mesopotamian empire, that of Sargon of Akkad, was founded on terror. Terrere means “to make tremble” in Latin. Without reaching all the way back to prehistory-itself ruled by terrifying insecurity vis-à-vis nature, wild beasts, and other men-the use of terror to govern began at the very birth of organized society as a means of dissuasion or punishment. Submission to the established order and to force has been most of humankind’s sole avenue to security and, ultimately, to freedom. All despotic societies have been founded on fear, as have so-called totalitarian regimes in the modern era. Throughout history, power has more often than not been wielded through terror-that is, by inciting fear.
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