Joseph Conrad, in his book, The Secret Agent, said, “An attempt upon a crowned head or a
president is sensational enough in a way, but not so much as it used to be. It
has entered into the general conception of the existence of all chiefs of state…Now
let us take an outrage upon –say – a church. Horrible enough at first sight no
doubt, and yet not so effective as a person of ordinary mind might think. No
matter how revolutionary and anarchist in inception, there would be fools
enough to give such an outrage the character of religious manifestation. And
that would detract from the especial alarming significance we wish to give the
act…You can’t count upon their emotions either of pity or fear for very long. A
bomb outrage to have any influence on public opinion must go beyond the
intention of vengeance or terrorism. It must be purely destructive.”
He wrote this in 1907, and now,
over a hundred years later, much of it still rings true. He’s right when he
says terrorism has nothing to do with religion. There’s no religion in the
world that encourages or even condones murder and destruction. But I don’t
think we can still say that terrorism is purely about destruction anymore. In
recent years it seems to have taken a different, more basely savage turn.
The 9/11 attacks and London Tube
bombings could be described as purely destructive. On that score, the
terrorists could chalk up a huge victory for themselves. But, like all
terrorist victories, it was short-lived, and we all dusted ourselves off,
rebuilt, and life went on.
They tried a few more large-scale
attacks, but these were unsuccessful. See the attack on Glasgow airport and the
shoe bomber.
So, I imagine the terrorist board
of directors gathered in a cave and sat around a rock to discuss how they
should move forward. This resulted in the new, more low-tech, less ambitious
but far more savage and shocking campaign we now find ourselves subjected to.
It started with horrific videos
appearing on the internet showing hostages being beheaded in stomach-churning
detail. Frankly, that scared the shit out of me. I’ve always loved gory horror
films; but I knew they were all faked. Knowing that those beheadings were real
sent cold chills through me, scaring me more than any movie ever has.
The Mumbai attack sent shockwaves
around the world. Every right-thinking person on the planet shuddered when Lee
Rigby was slaughtered on a London street. Just weeks ago there was the hostage
crisis in Sydney, and now, just a few days ago, a video appears showing a
Jordanian pilot being burned alive; a video I simply don’t have the stomach to
watch.
These attacks are not about pure
destruction. These are far more sinister, and rather than the large,
blockbuster attacks which have us agape with shock and awe, these are aimed
directly at our psyche; intended to bring fear right to our homes and our daily
lives. They’re intended to make us frightened to go about our daily lives; make
us think we’re not safe anywhere, and can meet with a violent, brutal death
just going to the shops, or grabbing a coffee on the way to work.
This brings a whole new dimension
to the terrorist threat. Now we have to look over our shoulders, peer closely
at the shadows in case the Bogeyman is lurking there. We regard anyone we
imagine to be even vaguely Muslim with suspicion and trepidation.
The terrorists have brought
Captain Paranoia to our streets. They’ve made the monster in the closet real. All
those childish fears our parents allayed now walk the streets in mockery of
every comforting word they ever said.
We thought we were winning the war on terror. We
also used to believe in Father Christmas and the Tooth Fairy…
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