Strategy against Terrorism Not Yet Defined
Dettmer, Jamie, Insight on the News
Some old rules about fighting terrorism, learned at bloody cost in Northern Ireland and during the Soviet-supported "wars of national liberation," need to be recalled and restated.
Veteran British antiterrorist experts say the first rule is to remember that terrorists feed on overreaction. Democratic societies that alter themselves by introducing draconian security measures that restrict civil liberties undermine the morale of their own people. Unleashing overly harsh retaliation garners sympathy for the terrorists, is counterproductive and risks making new enemies and inspiring more gunmen and bombers.
The second rule is to define your objectives as the struggle continues so that you can achieve them. If you set grandiose goals that are not accomplished you advertise impotence, depressing your own people …
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Publication information:
Article title: Strategy against Terrorism Not Yet Defined.
Contributors: Dettmer, Jamie - Author.
Magazine title: Insight on the News.
Volume: 17.
Issue: 38
Publication date: October 15, 2001.
Page number: 13.
© 1999 News World Communications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group.
This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.
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