source of this book is MY own research that i did after the attacks, source masterial was tons of case files from archives ( you will be surprised what you can find in online court archives, and various transcripts on interviews with them. after 26/11 attacks on mumbai, i researched as bit and this is what i found. please give views, good or bad. but no jokes, and actually try to apply brain in what you say, i mean apply brain in whatever you tell us this thread is NOT about Islamic terrorism, it is about TERRORISM as as whole First let’s try to answer the famous question: WHAT IS TERRORISM? Terrorism is the systematic nonstop use of terror as a means of coercion. Coercion means - The application to another of either physical or moral force. When the force is physical, and cannot be resisted, then the act (resistance) produced by it is nothing, so far as concerns the party coerced. When the force is moral, then the act, though avoidable, is accusable to the party doing it, unless he is so paralyzed by terror as to act in a natural, violent manner. At the same time coercion is not negated by the fact of submission under force. “I consented under compulsion†is the condition of mind which, when there is volition (The act of willing or choosing; the act of forming a purpose; the exercise of the will) forced by coercion, cancels the result of such coercion. My Simple definition is “any deliberate attack on innocent civilians, regardless of one's cause, is unacceptable and fits into the definition of terrorism†There are many myths in the world regarding terrorism, first and foremost being that terrorism is a new creation of Radical Islamists. Reality, terrorism has existed since forever, even before the states, existed before religion, and before Rome, it has been started and used as a tool to achieve POWER. Throughout history, power has been achieved by inciting fear. Most societies have been founded on fear, Submission to the established order and to force has been most of humankind’s sole avenue to security and, ultimately, to freedom. The use of terror to govern began at the very birth of organized society as a means of dissuasion or punishment. Terrere means “to make tremble†in Latin. The Assyrian, whose brutal methods of reprisal was intended to crush the spirit and break the will. Terror remains suspended like a sword in times of peace over the heads of all who dare to rebel. It has served as a guarantor of mass obedience. State sponsored terrorism once unleashed, it can set an example to constrain behavior without the necessity of fighting. The Mongols and Tamer lane used terror in this way to reduce cities without having to resort to siege. Terrorism is definitely not confined within the current usage or meaning of the term which puts it as an illegal use of violence in terrorist type activities. Terrorism is the most violent form of psychological warfare, While history of terrorism is as long as the history of civilization, there are three basic periods of terrorism. Prehistoric era. This is the age that was the time of making of civilizations, see this period as the time when villages were being transforms into states, with the use of force or more importantly with the threat of use of force, i.e. you work for me/with me, or we kill you and everyone of you. This was the time when everyone was a combatant, i.e. everyone in a particular value group was a soldier as well as peasant. Terrorism in time was essentially limited to three “causes†enslaving the other value group, taking over their land, for sacrifices. Normal historic era. This is the age, when the civilizations were fully functional, and entire world was collected in nations, in these times there was two types of terrorism, one was of rebels against the state, and second was of state against another state. Various revolutions etc are the example of the former while assassins of middle Ages are the example of second. One must understand that throughout historical times, religion and political power have gone hand to hand. Most countries in the world have their origins in their religions. Which as the time passed got disassociated from religion. In other words, practically there were religion states, but as the time passed, religion took a backseat and new value groups such as skin colors, place of origins, or languages they speak, or how they manage money, took front stage and the countries got reorganized on basis of that itself. And they are still reorganizing. Nations have essentially gone from approx 5 in the starting of time to over 200 now, the five of the most prominent were: Chinese, Indians, Iraqis, Romans, South American. (You’ll be tempted to add Israelis or Palestine or British or something similar in that regard, however they were essentially a race in historic periods, a value group as a nation group emerged in history as the time progressed). Modern era. Terrorism is definitely not isolated to the followers of Islam only as many believe. Terrorism is practically used as a weak’s exclusive weapon against the strong. The first modern terrorist have been the Irish republican army however, they have been largely neutralized politically. And after that Islamic political organization have been largely responsible for most of the terrorist activities in the world. In fact if you would open your mind, organizations such as militaries and police exist more on the threat of a preventive or retaliatory action than the action itself albeit on a very subtle scale. This book is specifically addressing terrorism and an attempt to explain what’s common in a terrorist, what make them kill, and most importantly how to DEFEAT them.. ---------------------------Image------------------------------- You can Google the net for the meanings of the terms in figure. Every terrorist act is a “performance†designed to influence three different value groups, Target of terror The target of demands, The target of influence. Target of terror: the non combatant civilian population which demonstrates to them that we can strike anyone, anywhere. In effect making them feeling powerless, and which in turn makes TERRORIST feel powerful Target of demand: it is the extortion type demands placed by terrorist organization, which are almost always impossible to meet. Target of influence: it is the influences to potential recruits, which shows them that they have “power†so they should join the “leaders†Terrorism is a type of political violence; mostly it is symbolic in nature, therefore >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>TERRORISM IS A BEHAVIOUR<<<<<<<<<<<<< And for those of you, who think that terrorists are crazy fanatics, think again, most terrorists are actually normal, more normal that some of the politicians in the world are. In fact we can conclude from all the research in the world that, individual psychology is not sufficient enough or cannot explain why people become terrorists, instead, group, social and organizational psychology is what seems to explain why people become terrorists. Basically meaning in plain language that, people don’t’ want to become terrorists because they want to become terrorists, instead people become terrorists after one or more of three things happen A member of social structure is already involved in the business, Or joining the organization considered a viable tool to increase social standing and or providing psychological/emotional support with a very particular stress on collective identity Or a want of adventure i.e. an adrenaline filled feeling of feeling alive and kicking. Some emotionally disturbed psychos have carried out attacks, but they can be at best considered as a chance act, nothing more, in fact terrorist organizations regularly screen out emotionally challenged individuals because they are a threat to the group. Criminal terrorism is a form of terrorism in which a message is being given, so when a criminal gang assassinates a top police official or a judge, it’s a message to other cops and judges†don’t come after us or we’ll get you†this specific type of terrorism is countered by a different strategy STATE TERRORISM State terrorism refers to the state turning its own resources (police/military/courts) against its own people, whether justified or not. Main examples would be Saddam Hussein’s against Kurdish rebels and Sudan against its Darfur region In the beginning of the new age of terrorism, many tried to take “ credit†for a terrorist act, to the point that many were trying to take credit for the same “performance†However after 9/11 the situation changed, more and more acts were getting anonymous i.e. none was claiming responsibility for the “performance†Fall of communist terrorist organizations after the fall of communism in erstwhile Soviet Union resulted in most of the “hot headed†feeling being channeled through new avenues, most known being the rightwing racist / Semitic / survivalist ones and the religious fundamentalists. And the ones who didn’t knew any of the two, formed their own “terrorist†organizations such as earth liberation front and animal liberation front. Then there were the religious terrorists, who were not no longer trying to influence the west but driving them out. Terrorism therefore can be defined as a means for following main causes: Nationalist-separatist, < such as Kurdish/ Irish etc > Social revolutionary, < various communist / Marxist/ > Religious fundamentalist, < Islamic> Right-wing, <most organization which almost act like they are fighting a non existent authority> Single-issue terrorists< animal rights/environment rights> We should have logically expected them to be different in psychology; however, it is not the case. The nationalist-separatist terrorist are usually loyal to their parents but disloyal to the regime, in their mind they are carrying on the mission of their parents and grandparents whose lands had been taken away from them and they are a failure because they are a victim and they have the right to strike back. These people are mostly from the “loser†families. Unfortunately for some groups, this hatred has been increased to a level that it almost acts like hatred is in their genes. Some of the most known organizations have this “quality†have been Islamic Hezbollah, Irish, some tribes of Africa. They breed hatred to a level that the person automatically acts like he is “born†to die for a cause; unfortunately the cause no longer exists, but living is not an option, “they have to dieâ€. This blind submission to the cause in turn gives the leaders of the organization god like powers. And it’s they who make the collective identity of the terrorist. They make socially outcast, alienated and frustrated youth into a terrorist. He provides a sensible message that justifies the individuals into obeying all commands of the leader as if it has been given to them by god himself. Message can be based on anything, content doesn’t’ matter, and to surprise of many, it doesn’t even has to make sense, intelligence takes backseat when charisma or social collective identity takes over. Following is an account of the words that have been written or spoken by terrorists themselves or their supporters. This should serve as a comprehensive guide to the normal individual who wants to see inside the mind of a terrorist. I have given the name and as much explanation as I could give, please Google for more information on the individual or the organization.