quotations about terrorism
Terrorism is tempting with its tremendous possibilities. It offers a mechanical solution, as it were, in hopeless situations.... the principles of terrorism unavoidably rebound to the fatal injury of liberty and revolution. Absolute power corrupts and defeats its partisans no less than its opponents. A people that knows not liberty becomes accustomed to dictatorship: fighting despotism and counter-revolution, terrorism itself becomes their efficient school. Once on the road of terrorism, the State necessarily becomes estranged from the people.
ALEXANDER BERKMAN
"The Bolshevik Myth", Anarchism: A Documentary History of Libertarian Ideas
A growing number of terrorist attacks -- especially in the United States and Western Europe -- are being foiled as plots. This is obviously good news in terms of protecting citizens and saving lives. Another consequence is that policymakers have diminishing information on the actual seriousness of threats because the attackers are being stopped before their plans are actualized.
GARY LAFREE
"6 reasons why stopping terrorism is so challenging", Philippine Starr, June 5, 2017
I've been interested in terrorism since 9/11. I was president of the American Psychological Association right after 9/11 and got involved with New York City firefighters who were at the scene, and then got involved in trying to understand who becomes a terrorist. What are these people like? Are they mindless fanatics? In fact, clearly they're not. That's what we say whenever there's something we don't understand--we say it's mindless, senseless. I'm trying to understand what's in the minds and hearts of terrorists, and how do you combat it other than just finding a terrorist and destroying them?
PHILIP ZIMBARDO
interview, American Scientist, April 2007
It is important that those engaged in terrorism realise that our determination to defend our values and our way of life is greater than their determination to cause death and destruction to innocent people in a desire to impose extremism on the world.
TONY BLAIR
statement in response to the terrorist attack on the London Underground, 7 July 2005
This book recommends a watchful attitude to the view that terrorism constitutes a permanent threat and as such is a pressing problem of societies today. Such caution is appropriate, first of all, because of the conceptual problem anyone is facing when speaking, debating and reasoning about terrorism. Without doubt, 'terrorism' is one of the most ambiguous and blurry terms in the public debate, and it is often far from clear what the term actually refers to. Consequently, when terrorism is being presented as a threat and a pressing problem, we should inquire into what exactly this threat is about. Directly linked to this question is the problem of the more or less systematic exploitation of the terrorist threat by politicians.
ANNE SCHWENKENBECHER
Terrorism: A Philosophical Enquiry
In our eyes, individual terror is inadmissible precisely because it belittles the role of the masses in their own consciousness, reconciles them to their own powerlessness, and turns their eyes and hopes toward a great avenger and liberator who someday will come and accomplish his mission.
LEON TROTSKY
"Marxism and Terrorism", Der Kampf, November 1911
One of the most striking trends is the way professional or experienced terrorists are being supplemented by a proliferating array of amateurs.
BRUCE HOFFMAN
"How Different -- and Dangerous -- is Terrorism Today?", The New Yorker, June 5, 2017
Since the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, covering the type of violence inspired by al-Qaeda or the Islamic State (ISIS) has become a staple of the news media's repertoire. Collectively, this reporting increases the public's sense of vulnerability: An evil is out there, unpredictable and ferocious, sure to strike again.
PHILIP SEIB
"Terrorists Are Getting Savvier--Why Is Our News So Dumb?", Good, June 6, 2017
Terrorism has replaced Communism as the rationale for the militarization of the country [America], for military adventures abroad, and for the suppression of civil liberties at home. It serves the same purpose, serving to create hysteria.
HOWARD ZINN
Terrorism and War
There is an international disease which feeds on the notion that if you have a cause to defend, you can use any means to further your cause, since the end justifies the means. As an international community, we must oppose this notion, whether it be in Canada, in the United States, or anywhere else. No cause justifies violence as long as the system provides for change by peaceful means.
RICHARD NIXON
speech, October 1970
We firmly believe that a policy of zero tolerance to terrorism is as much an international obligation as it is a commitment to our own people.
RAJIV K. CHANDER
"Cross-Border Terrorism Is The Main Problem In Kashmir, Says India At UNHRC", Huffington Post, June 7, 2017
The most powerful military in the world cannot invade, kill or capture a network or destroy every loose weapon on the planet. The best response to this network of terror is to build a network of our own -- a network of like-minded countries and organizations that pools resources, information, ideas, and power. Taking on the radical fundamentalists alone isn't necessary, it isn't smart, and it won't succeed.
JOE BIDEN
speech, August 7, 2006
The difference between a terrorist and a freedom fighter is a matter of perspective: it all depends on the observer and the verdict of history.
PENTTI LINKOLA
Can Life Prevail?
Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve. America was targeted for attack because we're the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world. And no one will keep that light from shining. Today, our nation saw evil, the very worst of human nature. And we responded with the best of America -- with the daring of our rescue workers, with the caring for strangers and neighbors who came to give blood and help in any way they could.
GEORGE W. BUSH
Address to the Nation, September 11, 2001
All terrorists are men. This is a problem with toxic masculinity. Way more of the terrorists are men than (claim to be) muslim. ADDRESS IT.
SOFIE HAGEN
Twitter post, June 4, 2017
The terrible thing about terrorism is that ultimately it destroys those who practise it. Slowly but surely, as they try to extinguish life in others, the light within them dies.
TERRY WAITE
London Guardian, February 20, 1992
Can "idiosyncratic" acts of violence that have no further purpose be terrorism? Walter Sinnott-Armstrong suggests that a person who "bombs buses simply in order to terrify people" could be considered a terrorist. I don't think that we do or should view such acts as terrorism. While "idiosyncratic" perpetrators of violence like the bus bomber may mimic terrorist techniques, their actions flow from individual goals or pathology and thus differ from paradigmatic cases of terrorism. Like war, terrorism is a political phenomenon and is typically carried out by organized groups rather than individuals. When two men killed ten people in the Washington, D.C. area in 2002, their sniper attacks terrorized the city for weeks. Because these killings were not connected to a political agenda, the men were not referred to as terrorists. While we could broaden the definition to include such cases, this would not help to clarify our thinking about terrorism.
STEPHEN NATHANSON
Terrorism and the Ethics of War
In the background lurks the scourge of international terrorism. There are people exercising power in a few countries and leading political factions in others who seem to be moved by narrow, brutal and irrational impulses. Their view of their own self-interest is so blinkered as to leave no space for purely human values, for peaceful negotiation or for economic advancement. They are bent on the destruction of the established order and of civilised ways of doing business. They must never be allowed to succeed.
MARGARET THATCHER
speech at Lord Mayor's Banquet, November 10, 1980
Often terrorism is treated as a recent concept. Even the name "terrere" was first used during the French Revolution of the 1790's. But does that mean that terrorism did not exist before that time? Of course not! Historical studies can show us how little has changed over the centuries. Perhaps it is only the technology that has improved a terrorists ability to shock a society.
CHESTER L. QUARLES
Terrorism: Avoidance and Survival
As we grieve for the victims of recent terrorist attacks, we must shift to new ways of thinking to help us tackle the most brutal terrorist violence of modern times. We are in this for the long haul, so our new approach must be above party politics. If it is to succeed, it requires the type of long-term strategic thinking and leadership that many politicians and community leaders have dodged for years. Most difficult for many, this must include rigorous analysis and honesty about past mistakes -- including the occasional major failure.
NIGEL HALL
"Tackling terrorism is a difficult job -- and that's why it should be taken away from Whitehall", The Independent, June 7, 2017