“……The goal must be to pursue al-Qaeda to every hiding place, to
continue to disrupt their operations, and continue ultimately to work
towards their destruction so that they do not represent a threat to
this country….” Director of Central Intelligence Agency, Leon E. Panetta.
“Terrorism is the greatest threat of the 21st century”, a phrase often uttered by our leading politicians.
But does this statement hold true?
First, what is ‘terrorism’?
In modern times, ‘terrorism’ usually refers to the killing of
innocent people by a private group in such a way as to create a media
spectacle.
However, many news sources (such as Reuters) avoid using this term,
opting instead for less accusatory words like ‘bombers’, ‘militants’,
‘high-jackers’ etc.
At present, there is no internationally agreed definition of
‘terrorism’. Common definitions of ‘terrorism’ refer only to those
violent acts which are intended to create fear (terror) and
deliberately target or disregard the safety of non-combatants (civilians).
The ‘car crash’is a violent act that disregards the safety of civilians.
Should the perpetrator of this act be considered a ‘terrorist’?
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