Terrorists Are People, Too
Go on nail me for treason - arrest me for conspiracy
But I know it’s no crime to desire
That my people should be free
--The Day They Set Jim Larkin Free,
Black 47
The ball is round, a game lasts 90 minutes,
everything else is pure theory. Off we go!
--Lola Rennt (1998)
Who are the people in your neighborhood?
They're the people that you meet,
When you're walking down the street,
They're the people that you meet, each, day
--Sesame Street theme, Bob McGrath,
______________
But I know it’s no crime to desire
That my people should be free
--The Day They Set Jim Larkin Free,
Black 47
The ball is round, a game lasts 90 minutes,
everything else is pure theory. Off we go!
--Lola Rennt (1998)
Who are the people in your neighborhood?
They're the people that you meet,
When you're walking down the street,
They're the people that you meet, each, day
--Sesame Street theme, Bob McGrath,
______________
This is the reason the chaps at SOCNET love me.
Ranger encountered a title at the bookstore yesterday: "All You Ever Learned About Sex is Wrong." Substitute "Terrorism" and you have the history of the Bush and Reagan years vis-a-vis the topic.
Always fascinated at the misunderstandings concerning transnational and international terrorism at policy level in the U.S. systems, Ranger will take the occasion of the recent release of Red Army Faction (RAF) member Christian Klar as a hopping off point.
RAF was a German terrorist group in the 70's and 80's that had no more than 30 active members at its apex. Their passive and active support was obvious, since they moved freely in their chosen area of operation. They had broad quiet admiration and sympathy among Germans. The group disbanded in 1998.
Like al-Qaeda, the RAF had only a vague concept of their organizational goals. "It subscribed to Marxist-Leninist ideology and sought to overthrow the capitalist West German government and to fight perceived U.S. imperialism" (International Herald Tribune). However, they never had the level of support to achieve their grandiose goal, nor did they have a governing plan. Unlike al-Qaeda, many of the founding members of RAF were nihilists.
It is interesting to consider terrorism within the context of its legitimization within a population. The RAF's raison d'etre was nebulous and self-aggrandizing. Compare that with a group like the Irish Republican Army (IRA), which has a chance of being part of a Northern Ireland power structure. Al-Qaeda seems to have a discrete mission statement which, if achieved, would properly cause the group to become superannuated. Both IRA and al-Qaeda have a broader base of support and historical political relevance.
Nobody, including the RAF members themselves, believed they had a match's chance in a windstorm to overthrow the FRG. Germans (and Americans) are too fat, dumb and happy to accept revolution. Because of this internal pacification, RAF did not progress on the spectrum of conflict, unlike other more successful terrorist groups.
At worst, the RAF were a minor irritant to the FRG, and they did claim responsibility for 34 deaths. They were like a collective serial murderer.
The FRG was successful in its police and legal approach, following democratic procedures to deal with these miscreants. This approach is consistent with that of Italy, Spain and France toward their own incidents of terrorism.
My point is terrorism can be dealt with by a democratic society through appropriate police and judicial channels. Even convicted terrorists must someday be released from prison once they have served their sentence and be reintegrated into society. This may strike discord into some hearts, but this is what makes democracy a fact rather than a theory.
As "Matthew Alexander," U.S. inetrrogator and author of "How to Break a Terrorist" said on NPR yesterday, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was just an illiterate thug until he became radicalized while in jail late in life. Conceivably, the reverse can happen, as well. Call it a jailhouse epiphany. Call it 20 years behind bars. Reform is possible, but certainly, doing one's time is the reality. If you don't get the death sentence, chances are you'll rejoin the rest of us at some point.
For the hardcore who demand to jail them for life, consider how you'd like to spend your tax dollars. We believe there are some people who deserve death, and some who deserve life in prison, forever. But their numbers are few.
If it were possible, and the others could come out on the other side and join you in shouldering the burden, wouldn't you rather that than pay to house them for the rest of their days?
Which feeds your society better: vindictiveness and vengeance, or work and integration?
Labels: al qaeda terrorism, christian klar, democracy and terrorism, everything you ever learned about terrorism is wrong, raf, red army faction, rote armee fraktion
11 Comments:
ah ranger, you old spoilsport. suggesting that law enforcement and the courts are the way we should deal with common criminals?
pish posh man. that's no fun. where's the sexy fun of black ops? where's the beaurocratic rush of dashing off a memo that will result in the killing off of a troublesome troublemaker?
no person? no problem.
what would have been the fun of siccing the FBI and interpol on the terror network. a bunch of murderers in jail. where's the "wartime president" rush in that?
no, no, no, no, it's far more sexy and interesting to invade soveriegn nations on account of you say so and stuff.
never mind the bodies piling up, nothing to see here, move along folks.
oh look! britney did it again!
MB,
Ranger can be a bit of a wet-blanket, like that.
You understand the Zeitgeist. . .
(I hear Britney and Nicole are on the outs, triangulating they are, with Paris.)
Ranger,
Wet blanket or not, you're spot on to point out that fighting terrorism absent "rule of law" is a waste of time.
And trying to "detain" insurgents faster than they are being made is not a winning strategy either. Perhaps you saw this article in today's paper - In Iraq, 'a Prison Full of Innocent Men'??
SP
Ah Ranger
You peak my interest and confound my beliefs that no one understands the deceptive lies spread by the Free Market power hungry mass of worthless world expansionist.
This war is a deception and now the economy is in the tank. we are primed for a take over from within.
Print enough money and we will fall. Obama is setting up more of the same with a cloak of I am different. I'll just wait and see.
Hard to tell who is on the left anymore.
Aloha, Lisa and Ranger!
I come bearing good news...
Shinseki to head Vets Affairs
He would make a great VA Sec... He was always known to look after the troops. Hawaii's loss tho, since the local Dems and Repugs have wooed him to run for Guv here...! I thought for sure Tammy Duckworth would've been considered too... ;-)
Hi CT!
That is indeed good news. And you -- are things well on your end?
SP,
per your cmt.Insurgents are not necesarily T's., but US policy seems to brand them as such. jim
Rays of Hope,
The PWOT goes way beyond deception and propaganda-it's a downright lie.Calling it a deception is an extreme kindness.
I just hope that there will be a day of reckoning BUT i won't hold my breath. jim
CT,
I would hardily endorse LTG Taguba as another luminary that would be a feather in the cap for any position in the new admin.
Both men are all stars.Why not bring them back on active duty and scrap the crap that played ball in the PWOT. jim
Ranger,
I agree with you that insurgents <> terrorists (in most cases). But, as you point out, our government cannot and will not see any difference between the two.
SP
Ah, but we are a society that revels in its vindictiveness, whether it is sending petty criminals to jail for life on "three strikes" laws that punish stealing a candy bar with life in prison, or running prisons where anal rape is a common event and is not only tolerated but at times condoned by sadistic prison guards -- and by the public at large, which rubs its hands in glee at the prospects of seeing some big buck negro teaching some punk from the ghetto his place in life -- or our attitudes towards the working poor and their health care woes, which might best be summed up as "Let them eat cake". Americans in general are too busy rubbing their hands in glee at the notion of yet more sadism to glory in to worry about all those rational arguments you bring up. Sadism is part of the national character, and always has been ever since the Puritans stripped young girls naked in the public square and whipped them with cat'o'nine'tails for the crime of dancing in the woods, and reason has never, and never will be, part of the discussion when yet more opportunities for sadism rise to the public consciousness.
- Badtux the Pessimistic Penguin
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