Tag: terrorism

Categories
crime and punishment ideological culture

Becoming What You Oppose

A bombing, then a shooting. Norwegians reel from the Oslo and Utoya massacres. The casualty count has hit the nineties.

Early reports mentioned jihadist terrorism, but the malefactor appears to be Norwegian, white, and Christian. “It’s not just that Anders Behring Breivik is not a jihadist,” wrote Jesse Walker at Reason​.com. “It’s that he hails from the wing of the right that defines itself by its opposition to jihad, and to the leftists that it sees as jihad’s enablers.”

Like so many examples of jihad in the Mideast, Breivik’s “anti-​jihad jihad” is as puzzling and self-​defeating as was the anarchist “propaganda by the deed” of just over a century ago, as pointless as it is horrific. 

What’s worth noting is the demonstration of that too-​human propensity to adopt the tactics of one’s enemies. Desperate, hate-​filled zealots of Islam commit horrible crimes, indiscriminately killing innocents. Everyone with a lick of sense opposes such horrible actions (including most Muslims). But some people really worked up about this decide not only that “some have got to pay,” but that terrorism itself is worth emulating.

Human history is filled with such irrational over-​reaction: feuds, vendettas, even wars. 

Norway’s prime minister immediately assured everyone that his government’s reaction will be “more democracy, more openness.” “More democracy” might be vague, but he foreswore naivety, and besides, the sentiment is spot on. We who oppose violence must never resort to matching the criminals’ criminality.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Categories
folly

The Finger of Terror

One of the most chilling spectacles ever to confront a Houston middle school functionary recently turned the legs of Taylor Trostle’s math teacher to jelly.

And her heart to stone.

According to the unnamed teacher’s write-​up of the incident, Taylor was caught “putting her hand in the shape of a gun, making the firing noise with her mouth and pointing it in my direction.”

Could the teacher honestly have perceived the gesture as a “terroristic threat”? Index fingers rarely fire; clipped fingernails contain no ammo clips.

Turns out, Taylor and a few classmates had been fooling around a few minutes before the bell, pretending to be police. Taylor says, “I was shooting the markers at the front of the board.… I was like ‘pow pow’ and then she just turned around.”

Others playing the game escaped penalty because they were facing another direction. But the school suspended Taylor for three days. Thus, even the unpremeditated restlessness endemic among those navigating their awkward years can get you labeled a terrorist, courtesy of the deliberately dumb “zero tolerance” policies of many schools.

Had this been an actual “terroristic threat,” more would presumably have been done to secure the premises, like calling in SWAT teams and violence consultants. But the school wasn’t countering a genuine threat. Just “following the rules.”

Maybe a spate of lawsuits against schools that mindlessly harass students would encourage educrats fearful of litigation to make a few concessions to common sense.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Categories
general freedom national politics & policies

The War on Terror Lumbers On

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to blow up himself and 277 other people on Flight 253 to Detroit Christmas Day. Fellow passengers subdued and disarmed him.

Lessons? Start with the obvious: There are still terrorists in other countries who want to hurt us. 

Some will say that we must beef up security. But consider: America’s security state, which has been in alleged high gear (or some bright color) since 2001, has already been beefed up. And yet, once again, this security broke down.

It could be that preventing violence is just not that easy to do. If you have determined enemies who spring up in unexpected quarters, it’s really hard for government to stop them.

Herbert Spencer, a 19th century sociologist, explained it this way: “The law-​made instrumentality lumbers on under all varieties of circumstances at its habitual rate. By its very nature it is fitted only for average requirements, and inevitably fails under unusual requirements.”

We cannot expect government to always foresee dangers. We cannot even rely on government to transmit warnings of a specific terrorist from one department to another, and do something about it.

I’m not saying we should expect nothing of government. Just don’t expect too much.

All hope is not lost, however. We have each other. From the heroism of

Flight 93 on 9.11 to this Christmas Day incident, passengers have shown they’re not powerless.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

Categories
Common Sense

Domestic Terrorism Since 9/​11

Terrorism still vexes Europe, and seems unavoidable in Middle East hot spots. But since 9/​11, thank goodness, there’s been no domestic terrorism in the United States.

But what do we say when we see a story about a terrorist attack on U.S. soil?

Let’s qualify the statement: There’s been no successful Al Qaeda-​masterminded terrorist attack in America since September 11, 2001. But we do have thugs here who try to achieve political ends through terror.

Consider animal rights activists who do much more than advocate being kind to kittens. That is, consider animal activists who blow things up. A group called the Animal Liberation Front, or ALF, just “claimed responsibility” & “accepted blame” for torching an empty van on the campus of UCLA.

The chancellor of UCLA, Gene Block, says that with this assault, directed at property and individuals “not associated with animal research,” the activists have crossed a line.

Block seems to assume that the animal rights terrorists have done something worse now than when they’re torching a lab where animal experiments are taking place. Or, for that matter, a McDonald’s where hamburger-​eating takes place. To me it all seems equally — seriously — criminal.

Oh, these cuddly activists don’t usually try to murder people. But if and when they do, they’ll have the same anti-​human excuses for it. Excuses that will make as little sense then as they do now.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.