NCJ Number
139270
Date Published
1991
Length
37 pages
Annotation
An alternative view of terrorism, rarely encountered in mainstream American publications, is that the supply of terrorist activity and the demand for publicity regarding terrorism spring from Western interests and policies rather than being instigated by the activities of the "terrorists" themselves.
Abstract
These authors maintain that Western governments have deflected attention away from their own terrorist activities by constructing a model and semantics that serve their ends. The basic model describing the nature and sources of terrorism holds that the West is an innocent target of terrorists, the West only responds to the use of force by others, terrorists do not adhere to civilized norms of conduct, international terrorism has been supported almost exclusively by the former Soviet Union, and Western support of insurgent forces is done in the name of democracy. Another element of Western thought on terrorism focuses on the role of the media as a theatre of terrorism, through which the terrorists can freely proclaim their goals. Some semantic techniques used by the U.S. government in justifying its policies: confining terrorism to non-State actors employing force to challenge traditional governments, inventing the concept of international terrorism, and focusing on the attack of innocent civilians as the essence of terrorism. The authors describe the U.S. terrorism industry, comprised of the government sector, think tanks, and other experts as a vehicle for keeping these false assumptions alive, while the mass media transmits them to the general public. 62 notes