Roots of Terrorism
Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
After 9/11 and the declaration of war on terrorism, there have been numerous efforts to understand those that perpetrate these horrific crimes on humanity. The discourse runs the gamut from terrorists are crazy to they are not “bad” just misunderstood. We’ve engaged psychologists to help us understand why and been presented with possible themes including; materialist, social identity, justice, and rationality theories. A common excuse as to why terrorists attack the US is our foreign policy, colonization, and globalization efforts over the past 200+ yrs. In 1905, George Santayana provided the famous quote; “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” What can we learn from our history about terrorism?
Once the terroristic colonists gained their independence they quickly found out that Great Britain no longer protected American flagged vessels from the Barbary pirates. Initially our budding democracy sought to negotiate a solution with these terrorists.
“In 1786, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams met with Tripoli’s ambassador to Great Britain to ask him by what right his nation attacked American ships and enslaved American citizens. He claimed that the right was founded on the laws of their prophet and that it was written in the Koran that all nations that didn’t acknowledge their authority were sinners, and that not only was it their right and duty to make war upon these sinners wherever they could be found, but to make slaves of all they could take as prisoners, and that every Muslim slain in battle was guaranteed a place in Paradise.”
These attacks on early American interests were not perpetrated because of our colonization efforts or foreign policy; as a newborn country we hadn’t the time to create international issues or conflict. I judge the religious and social identity theme used by the Barbary pirates in the 18th century was a smoke screen for their materialistic goals; it wasn’t about religion but money and power. During the first few years of existence, the United States was paying upwards of a million dollars a year; 20 percent of our annual revenues to the terrorists to not attack our ships. That’s comparable to today’s defense expenditures.
When Thomas Jefferson became president in 1801 he ceased making the payments and spent the funds improving our Navy. Just as Osama Bin Laden declared war on the US, once Jefferson ceased making payments, the Pasha of Tripoli responded by chopping down the flagpole in front of the US Consulate and declaring war on the United States. Tunis, Morocco and Algiers followed suit. Jefferson understood the terrorists were motivated by materialistic goals and sought to provide justice to their illegal actions. What has really changed in 238 years since our independence? Religion was used in Jefferson’s day by the pirates as justification for their illegal actions; are the religious drumbeats of today’s terrorism a similar smoke screen for power grabbing and materialistic goals of the perpetrators?
History tells us letting terrorists hold us ransom is not the answer. Be it monetary tribute or psychological fear commanded by the criminals we should not bend to their demands and not cower from providing justice to those who perpetrate illegal and immoral acts. Dealing with terrorism from a position of strength as demonstrated by Thomas Jefferson in 1801 will help to end the war on terrorism. It is true terrorism will not be defeated by military force, law enforcement measures and intelligence operations alone. We must also enhance dialogue and broaden understanding among civilizations, in an effort to prevent the indiscriminate targeting of different religions and cultures. This will help counter the forces that fuel polarization and extremism action. President Reagan’s quote, “Of the four wars in my lifetime, none came about because the U.S. was too strong,” rings true for our war on terrorism. Having a strong military and effective law enforcement capabilities will bring peace of mind to the public and make even the most resolved terrorists think twice before attacking while we work the dialogue to resolve our differences.
