Technology Breeds Terrorism

The contemporary man has made much progress in all walks of life due to innovations in scientific avenues. Technology is neither good nor bad but its abuse has generated pathetic situation in the society. Nuclear, biological and chemical weapons have made survival of man tremendously precarious. Hopes for establishment of peace in the world are getting bleaker because of the presence of these Weapons of Mass Destruction in the arsenals of several countries bearing out that man is continuously treading on an off beam course of collective suicide. If powerful states sponsoring terrorism possess WMDs then the poor countries have suicide bombers to retaliate the aggressors in the same coin. Gigantic strides in the field of information technology are continuously worsening the law and order situation. Internet service and mobile network has connected the whole world in the form of a global village they also played key role in making terrorism a global phenomenon. Extremism and terrorism also mounts due to delivery of aggressive speeches, spread of hate-loaded literature and their propagation through print and electronic media. François Rabelais (1494?-1553?), French humanist and satirist rightly said, “Science without conscience is the death of the soul.”1

Use of surface agents (phosgene gas, chlorine gas, hydrogen cyanide and mustard gas), and nerve agents ( sarin, soman, tabun, and VX) that work by blocking the transmission of nerve messages all through the body can cause massive fatalities in chemical warfare. Similarly, biological warfare agents that include bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other microorganisms can kill or incapacitate the exposed people. But casualties caused by the use of these weapons pale into insignificance when compared to massacre caused by the use of nukes. America, China, Russia, UK and France are declared nuclear powers. India and Pakistan have also detonated their nuclear bombs to include themselves in the nuclear community. Israel possesses more than 200 nukes in its arsenal. Several other nations are struggling or have desire to acquire nuclear weapons. These deadly weapons have thrown down a gauntlet for the long nose think tanks to work for averting any future world war that would be fought with biological, chemical and nuclear weapons leading to wiping off the whole human race from the face of the earth. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968), U.S. civil rights leader. “Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.”2

Another different kind of weapon that is called poor man’s was introduced mainly during the World War II by the Kamikaze squadrons who struck their planes to target US naval vessels that sank about 40 America ships. These attacks were the main cause due to which America dropped nukes on the beautiful cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki leading to destruction of the cities and massacre of their populations in the blink of an eye. Freedom fighters and secessionists in different countries have been using suicide bombing against the foreign invaders or the governments from whom they want secession. People Lebanon, Kashmir, Chechnya and Palestine used this weapon against foreign invaders. The LTTE and PKK fighters using suicide bombing as want secession of the land from Sri Lanka and Turkey where their ethnic group is in majority. Largest suicide attack in the human history was 9/11 leading to 3000 casualties. Suicide bombing in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq are repercussions of American unjust War on Terrorism. Thus suicide bombing technique has emerged as potent weapon of freedom fighters, secessionists and non-state actors having limited resources as compared to states. In the future they may be able to acquire chemical, biological and nuclear weapons that can wreak havoc in the world.