Some Observations on the Relationships Between Terrorism and Freedom (From Terrorism, Protest and Power, P 44-53, 1990, Martin Warner and Roger Crisp, eds. -- See NCJ-130873)

• NCJ Number: 130876
• Author(s): P Wilkinson
• Date Published: 1990
• Length: 10 pages
• Sale Source: Avebury Publishing Co
• Publication Type: Research (Theoretical)
• Language: English
• Country: United Kingdom

Annotation

Most scholars agree on the basic elements of terrorism, although contemporary terrorists usually define themselves as freedom fighters, soldiers of national liberation struggles, or warriors of liberation.

Abstract

The five elements of terrorism are (1) the intention to create extreme fear or terror; (2) random and symbolic targets including civilians and civilian property; (3) the effort to influence a wider audience than the immediate victims; (4) the use of particularly brutal forms of violence; (5) and exploitation for a variety of purposes including influencing the mass media, public opinion, sectors of the population, and governments. Terrorists' claims that they are using violence to achieve freedom are usually spurious. In fact, in liberal democracies they are actually seeking the freedom to impose their minority tyranny on the majority. In both ideological and political terms, terrorism is incompatible with the values and institutions of liberal democracy and should be recognized as a totally illegitimate and morally unacceptable means of striving for a cause. Notes