Terrorism's dark face

For years, the militants of the ETA and the IRA murdered many civilians and caused great physical damage in Spain and the UK.

Terrorism is currently inflicting suffering and physical damage all over the world, not only in the United States, but in the African countries of Uganda, Angola and Nigeria; in the European nations of Great Britain, France and Spain; in Asian countries like Japan, and throughout the Middle East and Latin America. At any moment, civilians can find themselves facing a terrorist attack, whether sitting at home or at a movie theater, in a shopping center, riding a bus or at their workplace. Naturally, terrorism's ability to enter people's homes has led to considerable anxiety and alarm. People are hesitant to enter crowded areas or use public transport, and their daily lives are becoming intolerable. But that is exactly what terrorism wants to see, whole communities living in fear and alarm.

The evidence from terrible attacks throughout the world certainly confirms that concern. In 1996, there were 296 incidents with 314 people killed and 2,912 injured. In 1997, terrorism's scope began to expand. There were 439 attacks, 398 were aimed at workplaces or non-official premises, leading to the loss of 139 civilian lives, 39 of them civil servants or military personnel.6

On August 10, 2001, more than 250 died in an attack on a train by UNITA guerrillas fighting for Angolan independence.

According to the U.S. State Department, the number of terrorist attacks in 2000 saw an 8% rise over 1999, with 423 deaths and 791 injured. Between 1981 and 2000, the total number of deaths resulting from terrorist attacks was 9,184.7These figures do not include all the people who died in all terrorist attacks across the globe. The report considered only attacks by international terrorist organizations, not those inflicted by local terrorist groups. In Turkey alone there were 21,866 terrorist attacks between August 15, 1984 and October 31, 2001, costing the lives of 5,605 security personnel and 4,646 civilians. A further 16,562 members of the security forces and 5,091 civilians were injured.8

World-Wide Terrorism Events Africa Asia Eurasia Latin America Middle East North America Western Europe

Terrorism Events Between 1981-2000

Graphs prepared by the U.S. State Department. The top one shows the regional distribution of terrorist incidents between 1995 and 2000. The bottom graph gives the chronological distribution of such incidents from 1981 through 2000.

The physical damage and economic harm resulting from terrorist actions add yet another sobering dimension to the picture. The disorder and anarchy provoked by such incidents prevents investment in the affected regions. Attacks aimed at the economic infrastructure does not just hold back development. Existing resources are also destroyed, creating economic difficulties that impede social life across a wide spectrum of areas, particularly education. Military costs of the struggle against terrorism impose yet another burden. This diversion of resources that should be spent on raising standards of living affects not just the nation in question, but the entire global economy.

This summary reveals the grim picture that terrorism represents, bringing destruction all over the world and causing untold harm to people's lives.

On August 30, 1996, 300 people died when a bomb exploded on a train in the Assam region of India. The attack is believed to have been carried out by separatist Bodo guerrillas.	As a result of bomb explosions at the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania on August 7, 1998, 224 people were killed and hundreds were injured. 10
On October 21, 1999, a rocket attack on a crowded shopping center in the Chechen capital of Grozny resulted in 110 deaths and 400 injuries.

THE BLOODY TERROR OF THE SHINING PATH

Peru's Shining Path, a Maoist terrorist organization, caused the deaths of more than 30,000. The picture at top right shows Abimeal Guzman, the organization's leader.

This Marxist-Leninist-Maoist guerrilla group operates in Peru. Founded in the 1960s by Abimael Guzman, a professor of philosophy, the organization was originally regarded as just another political movement. In the 1970s, however, the Shining Path turned into a savage guerrilla group that is now one of the bloodiest terrorist organizations in the world.

Guzman's statements in support of violence are particularly striking. In an April 19, 1980 address, the Shining Path's leader declared, "The future lies in guns and cannons."9 One of his guerrilla followers praised the use of violence: "Blood makes us stronger ... and if it is flowing, it is not harming us, but giving us strength." The organization openly stated that its struggle was built on the use of violence and debated how this could be increased in Peru. As a result, some 30,000 Peruvians were killed in the conflict.

The 1980s saw the end of Guzman's teaching career and the beginning of ongoing terrorism all over Peru. Like the Japanese kamikazes during World War II, Guzman and the Shining Path romanticized death. They believed it was a small price to pay for the rewards awaiting them beyond what Guzman called the "river of blood." Many innocent civilians were abducted, raped, tortured and killed; over one percent of the population died brutal deaths related to political violence. To further their cause, Guzman--then commonly known as "President Gonzalo"--and his Shining Path sought out and killed people of especially modest means, including teachers, mayors and civic leaders.10

For years, the Shining Path inflicted physical and psychological damage, forcing the Peruvian public to live in fear That is a natural consequence of terrorism and, as will be emphasized throughout this book, love is the only way of defeating its root causes. Such a love for humanity will overcome the blind hatred and political necrophilia that terrorism is fed from.

Footnotes