What Do Terrorists Want?

Known for their propaganda by deed, terrorist actions demonstrate their existence and their strength.  In taking action, they want to elicit a reaction such as: American and Israeli withdrawal from the Middle East, British withdrawal from Northern Ireland, or the collapse of capitalism.

It is often thought that bin Laden was deliberately attempting to provoke a war between Islam and the West by launching the 9/11 attack.  He was hoping that the US would respond militarily and that the Islamic world would then unite against it.  Al-Qaeda’s second in command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, said in an essay: “(It is necessary to attack the US because the) masters in Washington and Tel Aviv are using the regimes [such as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan] to protect their interests and to fight the battle against the Muslims on their behalf.  If the shrapnel from the battle reaches their homes and bodies, they will trade accusations with their agents about who is responsible for this.  In that case, they will face one of the two bitter choices: Either personally wage battle against the Muslims, which means the battle will turn into clear-cut jihad against infidels, or they reconsider their plans after acknowledging the failure of the brutal and violent confrontation against Muslims.  Therefore, we must move the battle to the enemy’s grounds to burn the hands of those who ignite fire in our countries.”

So long as there was a reaction, therefore, the terrorist purpose was served.

In the end, the 3 R’s framework does not just serve to help us understand terrorism and terrorist purpose.  It similarly gives us a view about as it provides indicators concerning how terrorism and the terrorist threat may be neutralized.