What Is Terrorism?

"Terrorism is contempt for human dignity." ~ Kjell Magne Bondevik

Comments on my last post indicate some confusion about what terrorism really is. Allow me to clarify.

As I have stated, Webster's dictionary defines terrorism as "the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion". I believe there are things other than death and destruction that cause terror.

Some people apparently think of images of aircraft being flown into office Buildings when they think of the word, "terrorism", and certainly, that is indeed an act of terrorism. Terrorism is also car bombs and exploding subways.

But I submit that is a rather narrow view of what constitutes terrorism. Dam Trabue says, "What a strange little world you live in". I think the problem Dan has is that his world is the little one, where terrorism is only defined by explosions and death.

That is not the only terrorism.

My idea of terrorism is much more expansive. I submit there are many levels and kinds of terrorism, not limited to only killing and maiming.

To the grammar school child who is chased home by a gang of bullies. That is terrorism.

To the woman in an office whose boss insists she "service" him or be fired. That is terrorism.

To the teenage girl whose date stops the car on an abandoned road in the country and demands she "put out" or walk home. That is terrorism.

To the black man who is surrounded by a group of skinheads and told to do something humiliating or die. That is terrorism.

To the Jew enduring Neo-Nazis parading down the street in his hometown, and hearing the shouts of anti-Semitic platitudes. That is terrorism.

To the Christian who has been jailed and threatened with the possibility of execution because he refuses to convert to Islam. That is terrorism.

To the innocent journalist or maintenance worker, or contractor employee or Christian Missionary kidnapped by Jihadists in Iraq and Afghanistan knowing that it is entirely possible that he won't make it out alive. That is terrorism.

To a homosexual who is attacked, intimidated, and beaten, only because he is gay. That is terrorism.

To the child who cowers under the blankets because he knows his dad is drunk again and will probably be coming in to take his rage out on his progeny. That is terrorism.

To that same child's mother, who also is cowering in fear of an out of control husband. That is terrorism.

To the nephew or niece, who has tried to tell Mommy that Uncle Herbie hurts them when he touches them that way, but is ignored. That is terrorism.

To an American servicemen who steps off the plane in his hometown after serving his country and is harassed and called a terrorist and baby killer by the same people who's freedom he fought and risked his life for. And assuming he has only that to look forward to for the rest of his life. That is terrorism.

To the police officer who simply does his job, and is rewarded for his efforts by being accused by the criminal he arrested of arresting her because he is racist, which threatens to destroy his entire career. That is terrorism.

There is psychological terrorism and physical terrorism. Literal terrorism and figurative terrorism.

For most of us, just the threat of losing our jobs is akin to psychological terrorism. For others, threat of being hurt, physically, or emotionally, or psychologically, can be just as terrifying as losing his life.

Go back and peruse photos of the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on September 11, 2001. Look at the faces on those New Yorkers who were fleeing the clouds of dust and ashes that were rolling through the streets of Manhattan. Quite likely, many of those people making their escape had not seen a single person die in those attacks. And yet they were terrified. The terror was etched into their faces.

The effectiveness of terrorism lies in the emotions evoked in the immediate aftermath of the attack. Death does not have to be present to terrorize someone.

When Cynthia McKinney and her attorneys attempt to defend the indefensible by accusing the accuser and, in so doing, threatens to take away his livelihood, that he most likely trained for months to attain, it is indeed a form of psychological terrorism. She intends to use the terror she instilled in him to coerce from him a faulty memory, or an admission of guilt, or the withdrawal of charges.

That is terrorism.