User talk:Wjasonfisher

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?

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?

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)?

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.

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.