Skip to main content

Characteristics of Political Terrorism

1.   Political terrorism involves an overall, overarching moral philosophy that is used to justify acts of terrorism, while criminal terrorism generally involves personal greed and selfishness.  This is a very important point.  There is a moral justification for the use of political terrorism, an ends justifies the means notion because we are going to yield a better overall social state.  There is no such reasoning in the criminal terrorist.

2.   Political terrorism can involve activities to obtain money, but those dollars are used for political ends.  Generally speaking, criminal terrorism has an economic basis.

3.   Political terrorists' targets tend to be almost indiscriminate and unpredictable.  Usually no one person is particularly the target, therefore no one is safe.  Criminal terrorists targets on the other hand tend to be more logical - a bank, an armored car - and the targets tend to be specific people, the bank official, the driver of the car.

4.   Political terrorists desire to create a long term atmosphere of fear, coercion and intimidation in the community. Criminal terrorists want to create a short term fear – scare the banker, get the money and get out of there.

5.   Political terroristic acts tend to be more savage - almost a shotgun philosophy - car bombs, nail bombs, double bombs all resulting in mass murder.  The criminal terrorist tends to be more oriented to a specific target.  Blow up this bank, hijack this plane.

6.   Neither political terrorism nor criminal terrorism abide by any rules or conventions of war.

7.   Often political terrorists are willing to die for the cause, while seldom do we see criminal terrorists planning on dying.

8.   Political terrorism differs from criminal terrorism in that political terrorism usually involves efforts to influence an audience.  Generally speaking, the criminal terrorist does not want a big audience. 
Paul Wilkinson, Terrorism and the Liberal State, London: Macmillan, l986.

Source: https://www.unl.edu/

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Two Tales, Two Leaders - PART 1

Man has dual nature; he is both his own person and a member of his country. On the one hand, the law must protect the individual from the injustices of the multitude.  History has shown how individuals fall prey to mass perversity, their crime being simply a refusal to conform to the beliefs and prejudices of the majority. Anwar Ibrahim, The Asian Renaissance, 1997., Page 63. The value system and ethical code therefore determine the success or failure of corrective measures. If the value system is wrong, corrective measures will not be productive or will be only slightly productive. When the value system motivates, very little corrective measures are needed. Dr. Mahathir bin Mohamad, The Malay Dilemma, 1970., Pages 172-173. Introduction Malaysia is our motherland. We love our country. This country has so much of wealth. Even though, Malaysia has agonized considerably in past three decades because of the malpractices of the corrupted characters but she is never fail t...

Trump's role in the Israel-Hamas ceasefire

As the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, scheduled to commence on Jan 19, 2025, approaches, it is essential to examine the potential impact of president-elect Donald Trump on this event and Middle East security. Considering Trump’s past foreign policy actions, especially those concerning Israel, alongside the wider geopolitical environment, his prospective role in shaping the ceasefire and future peace initiatives is intricate and layered. Historical influence Trump’s initial term as president was characterised by a robust endorsement of Israel, a position that resonated with his domestic political supporters and simultaneously altered US foreign policy, thereby impacting the wider dynamics of the Middle East. Key actions during this period included the formal acknowledgement of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the transfer of the US embassy to that city, and the withdrawal from the 2015 Iran nuclear agreement. These measures solidified his rapport with Israeli leadership and exemplified his ...

Constitution of Malaysia: An Introduction Part 5

7 (1) No person shall be punished for an act or omission which was not punishable by law when it was done or made, and no person shall suffer greater punishment for an offence than was prescribed by law at the time it was committed. (2) A person who has been acquitted or convicted of an offence shall not be tried again for the same offence except where the conviction or acquittal has been quashed and a retrial ordered by a court superior to that by which he was acquitted or convicted.