Terrorism: Does It Achieve Anything?
by It can be argued that there are two separate ways of using terror as a weapon: One is to maintain the status quo and the other is to change something, usually in terms of a political and/or economic regime. The question is, does the use of terror achieve these ends in either case?
A Force For Change
The corollary of this argument, if acceptable, must therefore be that terrorism by elements of the local population does, in many cases, bring about change largely because it can turn the tide of popular opinion against the status quo, thereby bringing about its downfall at the ballot box. For as long as there is democracy in the home country of the occupying force, this is always likely to be the case.
To visit Ireland once again, an examination of the history of that land reveals atrocities on both sides, and for a long time successive British governments were able to maintain control using both regular forces and mercenaries in the form of the “Black and Tans”. They also enjoyed popular support at home and the political machinations that resulted in partition in 1922 were seen by the majority of the British people as an economic and political triumph.
It was not until the Provisional IRA brought the struggle for home rule to the British mainland that the electorate began to sit up and take serious note of what had been, up until then, something that was happening in another country. As the body count rose, so too did the clamour for change, a cry taken up by the media who, up until that point, had remained faithful to the government’s position of being in the ‘right’, while the rebelling forces were in the ‘wrong’.
It is arguable that the Conservative government’s hard line on Northern Ireland played a considerable part in their downfall, ushering in the more liberal regime of Tony Blair who sought and gained a settlement with the Irish interests involved in the struggle. The bombers stopped bombing, the political prisons opened their doors and the troops went home, back to the arms of their loved ones who had fought long and hard for their return.
Was this a triumph of democracy or terrorism? Surely, if anything, it indicates that change is brought about by the will of the people, but that the people’s will can in itself be changed by events that threaten the wellbeing and safety of the population. If terrorism changes anything, it changes attitudes and popular opinion. That change, regardless of political or economic interests, is ultimately the force that will determine the maintenance or otherwise of the status quo.
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