Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Terrorist tactics and operations--yesterday and today.

Historically terrorists have utilized the following tactics and operations; they are not mutually exclusive:

• Bombing
• Assassination
• Kidnapping
• Robbery/extortion
• Raids
• Ambushes

Bombing has been the primary tool of terrorist organizations worldwide. Bombs are impersonal, destructive and create fear that is greater than that presented by the actual threat. Bombs are preferred because the organization only needs one bomb expert to be effective.

Even if the bomb is undetonated it causes excessive fear--witness Richard Reid, the dud shoebomber and Ted Kaczynski (not all his devices were successful.) Bombs are conveyable--they can be carried, mailed or delivered in vehicles, to include airplanes. They are cheap, and easily detonated, even remotely, and by many methods. See your local Radio Shack dealer for a myriad of these. In addition, bomb carriers are expendable.

Assassinations are performed to remove somebody or to make a political statement. They can be the result of internal friction, and the groups can use killing to both neutralize opponents within the group and to stigmatize the government, by their implication in the murders.

Historically, more terrorists are probably killed in internal power struggles than are killed by government forces. Some experts in the past have even espoused creating internal disputes to encourage murders within the terrorist groups. Assassination is cost-effective and may involve bombs or any other weapon, to include biological agents or esoteric methods. This is often the fallback to kidnapping and extortion, and may utilize raid or ambush tactics.

A group may attempt a kidnapping in order to make money. If the kidnapping goes bad and the principle is killed, this is still a successful operation, as the operation is then transformed by the group into an assassination.
Whatever happens, the terrorist group gains publicity and notoriety. This then leads to increased recruitment and fundraising.

Frequently, a kidnapped person is offered for ransom, and if it is not paid, the principle is executed by the group. Historically, this is the best option for fundraising. Even if the money is ponied up, the principle may still be executed. It is a win/win for the terrorists, as whatever happens, the group is seen as omnipotent.

So, even if they fail to raise funds, the group is ultimately successful in terms of gaining cachet. Their cause wins new recruits via free and international publicity. Friendly U.S. media sees to it by enhancing their aura through their extensive and often continuous coverage, as does our administration's utterances.

Kidnappings are ideological and fund-raising events. They are also a great training tool for new members, before they graduate to murder and bombings. Kidnapping could be viewed as an initiation into the inner circle. Unless a person is willing and able to commit a violent crime, then that person will never move up in the organization. This is why intelligence services very rarely, if ever, infiltrate terrorist organizations.

Robbery and extortion are exactly as stated.

Raids are attacks on a stationary target. This usually implies a military-type operation, though this is not always the case. The takeover of the Iranian Embassy in London was a raid that included hostage-taking.

An ambush is an example of an attack upon a moving, or temporarily halted, target.

Raids and ambushes are excellent morale-building tools for terrorist groups, since they allow them to maintain the offensive and initiative. The terrorist chooses the time, place and method of attack. If execution of the action is jeopardized, they can elect to scrub it, and still have it be considered a success. The success is in the training involved and the continued survival of the group.

In this sense, they are like an army, in that they must engage in operations periodically to exercize the group's cohesion and skills, though they do not usually target legitimate military assets. However, as stated, the terrorists win even when they lose. They only need mount an attack, and whether they achieve their objectives, or merely media coverage of their failure, they have still gained an objective.

Raids and ambushes can utilize bombs, and may include assassinations and/or robbery or extortion. In other words, they are dynamic in nature. Without adequate police and intelligence response, the terrorist groups are generally seen as calling the shots. When captured and arrested, the trials can turn into an ideological and media circus. Even in failure, the groups can garner support and gain new membership.

Terrorism is most effective when governments adopt oppressive, brutal techniques to counter the increased threat. The more odious the government's response, the more successful the group becomes. This is because an overreaction on the part of the government pushes the moderates into the extreme camp. Any type of repressive government--whether indigenous or invading--benefits the recruitment process for terrorist groups.

Terrorism is a very subtle tool. You can see that terrorists can amplify even meager resources through the enlistment of the media and governments and other sponsorship. These organizations then become complicitous in the terrorist's cause, often unbeknownst to them.

Terrorism is a scalpel, while the recent U.S. response to it is akin to using an axe or a chainsaw. You can fillet a large beast with a comparatively very small, but very sharp, knife.

I am brought to mind of the comic Leo Gallagaher, who would attempt to split a watermelon with a large mallet; the crowd would groan at the inevitable attendant splatter, while Gallagher presented with a kind of Harpo Marx cheerfulness of the innocent before embarking upon the hopeless endeavor. We are the Leo Gallaghers of the political circuit.