DON'T PANIC!

• What is terrorism?
• Who are the terrorists?
• Terror tactics
• When panic attacks
• Holidays in hell
• Find out more
• Credits

Terrorism versus democracy

A war on terror is the answer to terrorism, say Blair and Bush. Terrorists are sworn enemies of democracy and freedom. Compromise is not an option. From the Twin Towers and the Bali nightclub bombing, to Hamas in Israel and ETA in Spain, Blair and Bush believe that terrorists kill innocent people in the name of fanatical religious and political beliefs. The threat of terrorism cannot be ignored or treated as just another political problem, say the politicians. The terrorists must be defeated.

Since September 11, we've all become aware of the threat posed by terrorists. However, history suggests that a war on terrorism is not the only solution to the threat. After all, one person's terrorist may be another's freedom fighter. Some of yesterday's terrorists are today's respectable politicians. Nelson Mandela was considered by many to be a terrorist. So was Israeli leader Menachem Begin. A ceasefire by al-Qaeda may seem unlikely. But the same was true of an Irish Republican Army (IRA) ceasefire not very long ago.

Terror tactics

Terrorism can be defined as 'violent acts carried out by organised groups and aimed at causing widespread terror'. Terrorism is not a movement or a political programme. It is a tactic adopted by different groups and for different reasons.

Terrorists act from many different motives: political, nationalist or religious. They also have many different targets. Terrorists may attack the public, assassinate prominent individuals or damage property. Their goal may be to bring down a government, to force policy changes or merely to gain publicity for their cause.

The definition does not imply that terrorists cannot be negotiated with, or even that a terrorist's cause is necessarily unjust. Nelson Mandela spent over 20 years in prison after being found guilty of organising a sabotage campaign. Mandela's defence at his trial was not that he was innocent of the charges, but that his actions were justified.

Government terrorism

Governments can also be responsible for violent acts aimed at creating terror. Neo-fascist groups carried out several bombings in Italy in the early 1970s with help from the Italian secret services.

The goal of 'state terror' is frequently to intimidate the Left and rally support for a right-wing government. These state actions are sometimes also attributed to left-wing groups in order to discredit them. More controversially, irregular military actions carried out by Western governments against other countries have been described as 'state terror'. According to this definition, the United States, rather than Iraq or Afghanistan, is a terrorist state.

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Israel

An Israeli policeman secures the area after the suicide bomber attack at a bus station near the Assaf Harofe hospital and Zrifin military base near Tel Aviv on 9 September 2003