Terrorism has failed
Extremist political goals have yet to be achieved.
It would be hard to argue, in a post 9/11 society, that any western civilian hasn’t had their day to day life affected. While terror attacks like 9/11 have lead to increased surveillance and security measures, the question arises — have they accomplished their political goals? From a strictly ‘us vs. them’ standpoint it appears that yes, they have. While yes, thousands were killed in 9/11, it is unclear whether this attack and those like it work in favor of the perpetrators and their political aims.
Terrorism is defined as “the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims.” In order to determine if these attacks ‘worked,’ therefore, we must examine the stated political aim of the perpetrator. I plan to utilize 9/11, due to the massive amount of available information, as a case study.
Al-Qaeda had numerous political motivations for 9/11: support of Israel by United States, the embargo of Iraq, as well as the presence of US military in Saudi Arabia. There were also, of course, other implied motives which we won’t touch on today. The point of a terrorist attack, as I’ve explained, is to accomplish a political goal. The question is, then, did 9/11 work?
Al-Qaeda’s first goal in committing the atrocities of 9/11, it appears, was to discourage U.S. support of Israel. Post-9/11, however, in 2003, specifically, “on the heels of the Second Intifada and a sharp economic downturn in Israel,” the US provided Israel with $9 billion in conditional loan guarantees. It appears that Bin-Laden’s stated goal of targeting and attacking the United States in order to decrease our support for Israel fundamentally failed.
The United States, since 9/11, has continued to support of Israel nearly without question, financially, as well as by brokering deals and publicly supporting certain Israeli policies and actions. While not al Qaeda’s direct goal, it appears that this continued support has assisted terrorist organizations in other ways. According to University of Chicago Professor John Mearsheimer and Harvard Professor Stephen Walt, Israel “serves as an important recruitment tool for terrorist organizations,” as they are able to link perceived anti-Muslim Israeli actions to the United States. So although attack did not change U.S.-Israeli policy, it has furthered support and recruitment for terrorist organizations.
Al Qaeda’s other stated reasons for 9/11 were the embargo of Iraq, and presence of U.S. military in Saudi Arabia. The embargo of Iraq began on August 6, 1990 — staying largely in place through May 2003. The embargo restricted nearly all trade into Iraq, with the exception for humanitarian aid. The embargo remained in effect until 2003, eventually being lifted due to Sadam Hussein’s fall from power. While al-Qaeda’s goal of ending the embargo was accomplished, it was incidental at best. Their political agenda, therefore, was again not achieved through 9/11. Al-Qaeda’s other stated goal was the removal of the U.S. military from Saudi Arabia. The U.S. military was stationed Saudi Arabia for the stated claim of enforcing oil shipping lanes related to the Iraqi embargo. Unsurprisingly, therefore, when the embargo ended, the U.S. military divested its forces. This is another example of al-Qaeda’s goal being incidentally accomplished.
9/11 most certainly did not directly accomplish its goals. Al-Qaeda, it appears, got relatively lucky, with two of its three goals essentially being achieved accidentally due to shifts in the geopolitical landscape.
The question remains unanswered — does terrorism work? Issue by issue, no it does not work. U.S. policy, in relation to al-Qaeda’s stated goals, simply did not shift due to 9/11. If political goals weren’t achieved, why do these groups continue to proliferate terror? Religion? Poverty? A fundamental misunderstanding of geopolitical realities? This question is far harder to answer. Regardless, terrorism does not work, as the West, and the U.S. specifically, have refused to capitulate to extremist political demands.
