Talk:Lecture 1
Contents
Anarchists and Jihadists
Sean West (GSPP/2nd Year MPP): The parallel we discussed about 19th/early 20th century terrorism and current terrorism was explored by The Economist in their August 18th issue. I recommend others read it; the opening follows (I can't reprint it all for copyright issues). (If you have a subscription to Economist On-line you can download it):
Anarchists and jihadists Aug 18th 2005 From The Economist print edition
BOMBS, beards and backpacks: these are the distinguishing marks, at least in the popular imagination, of the terror-mongers who either incite or carry out the explosions that periodically rock the cities of the western world. A century or so ago it was not so different: bombs, beards and fizzing fuses. The worries generated by the two waves of terror, the responses to them and some of their other characteristics are also similar.…
UPDATE: If you're a student at UW, you can access the article here (Jeff).
Consequences of Real IRA's actions at Omagh
Professor Maurer, you discussed the tendency of terrorist organizations to splinter either when they encounter very strong opposition from the state or when they seek to enter into a ceasefire arrangement with the state. With respect to the IRA, could you comment on the Real IRA and its action at Omagh? I believe the Omagh bombing was the single deadliest action ever perpetrated by an Irish Nationalist paramilitary group. Was the Real IRA action likely a miscalculation by the group – i.e. did they mean to inflict that much carnage (it only seems that doing so would end their ability to exist as an “invisible man”)? Did the IRA or other of its offshoots and affiliated organizations subsequently seek to retaliate and/or police the Real IRA? Has the Real IRA been responsible for any terrorist actions since the Omagh bombing? - Jason Fisher
SMM: My sense is that they've all quieted down since 9/11 and the London train bombings. It is difficult to know for sure what went on in their heads ("miscalculation"). The fact that it stopped suggests that they either got a different result from the one they intended or else learned after the fact that this was a counter-productive strategy. I have tried to keep Ulster out of the discussion, it was more like a barely suppressed civil war than classical terrorism.
Funding of Terrorist Organizations
Professor Maurer, you mentioned the importance of funding with regard to perpetuating terrorist organizations and terrorism. Since 9/11, the US Treasury has really upped its willingness and capability to track and seize such funding. Do you have any knowledge of how this new focus has impacted the IRA’s (and Sinn Fein’s) funding? If the IRA’s levels of funding have decreased significantly, is it at all possible to determine how much has been the result of Treasury efforts and how much has been the product of an increased awareness amongst US citizens, following the experience of 9/11, of the terrible uses such funding can go to? - Jason Fisher
SMM: You hear both stories and both are presumably true. To what extent did the Treasury's campaign become more politically likely/possible because the political climate had shifted?
Cmckenzie:It's also interesting to note that with respect to Al-Qaeda and it's disparate offshoots, we know so little about them that the strategy has focused to tracing money for intelligence rather than freezing assets as Treasury did with the IRA. The notable exception was the executive order freezing Libya's assets that were involved in terrorist sponsorship post 9/11.
Effect of Grand Attacks on Negotiation Position
I believe that the IRA conducted some rather advanced and grand strikes such as the Brighton hotel bombing and the assassination of Lord Mountbatten. Is that correct? If so, do we have any indication on how those “grand” attacks effected the IRA’s/Sinn Fein’s negotiating position vis-a-vis the British government, IRA recruiting, financing, and the British government’s response (i.e. military response, legislation)? - Jason Fisher
SMM: How would you go about getting data on this?
British Internment in Northern Ireland
Professor Maurer, did the British policy of internment work in Northern Ireland? Should that policy be viewed as an anti-terror tactic or as a practice limited to a theater of war? I don’t recall if internment was part of a larger piece of emergency legislation, something like a State Emergency Protection Act, but I believe it was, is that right? Anyhow, I have heard that the United Kingdom and all of the former members of the Commonwealth, such as India and Australia, have some sort of comprehensive emergency legislation (that would make our Patriot Act look pretty tame). Is that true? If so, what is it called and when, if ever, has it been utilized? Did the British authorities act under such legislation following this summer’s London bombings. - Jason Fisher
SMM: It would be better to provide details. When you talk about internment, you're usually referring to guerilla war which is a different subject. The classical examples are British policy in Malaya and before that the Boer War. Moving populations is a familiar tactic which we talked about in lecture. It seems to work.
Terrorism in Waves
Professor Maurer made the point that terrorism has been around throughout history and that it seems to come in waves that exhaust themselves and then reappear with subsequent generations. The Economist had a rather good article on the subject of terrorism that more or less came to the same conclusion. The article gives a rather broad overview of terrorism, counterterrorism measures, and how terrorists have employed technology. I would highly recommend it. See Lessons from the 19th Century Anarchists, Aug. 18, 2005. - Jason Fisher
Go to the next lecture's discussion: Talk:Lecture 2
