Urban Terrorism: Myths and RealitiesOutrageous myths have been created and perpetrated about terrorism in general and terrorism by Muslims in particular. There are two reasons for it. One is, of course, genuine ignorance about things Islamic. The other reason is more sinister. Myths are created and perpetuated because that keeps everyone in business. By spinning yarns about the most horrible things the terrorists are capable of doing, the media ensures that they have a never-ending supply of sensational material with which to keep the people hooked it also enables the intelligence agencies and security forces to appear more relevant and expand their turf in the process. The myths must be busted because they tend to settle deep in the collective subconscious and ultimately come to influence policy decisions. The media, for example, would have you believe that we have not been able to eradicate terrorism only because we do not have enough commandos everywhere! The fact is that terrorism would not be finished by killing a few terrorists. Bomb blasts continue to take place in spite of the arrests of the masterminds . As long as we do not address the root cause, there would be many more willing to kill and get killed. Victory against terrorism can be achieved only if you have completely understood the fundamental reasons of terrorism, the motivation of the terrorists, the intrinsic weaknesses of the targets, the innate strength of the way of the terrorist , and the follies of the approach that you have persisted with so far. If a nation has floundered in its war against terrorism , it is because it has never had a serious and honest-to-God analysis of terrorism. Hence this book. Exhaustive yet attractive, informative yet interesting and above all, extremely hard-hitting it is the ultimate encyclopedia of terrorism. |
Contents
ITS MECHANICS AND EFFECTIVITY | 3 |
ISLAMIC TERRORISM VERSUS TERRORISTS | 23 |
REFERENCES | 37 |
29 | 54 |
ARE WAHABISM AND MADARIS THE CRADLES OF ALL EVIL? | 58 |
30 | 75 |
REFERENCES | 98 |
AN EDIFICE BUILT ON PHANTASMAL FEARS 103119 | 103 |
ALQAIDAACTIVITIES IN OTHER PARTS OF THE WORLD 120125 | 120 |
THE MYTH OF THE OMNIPRESENCE AND OMNIPOTENCE 126142 | 126 |
REFERENCES | 141 |
AN ANALYSIS OF THE MAJOR TERROR STRIKES IN INDIA | 169 |
EXPLOSIVES AND IGNORANCE | 312 |
REFERENCES | 319 |
ONE WHO REFUSES TO FACE REALITY SHALL | 337 |
Common terms and phrases
Abdul able Afghan Afghanistan Ahmad Al Qaida Allah American amongst Arabic army arrested Assassination become believe bid'ah bomb blasts Bombay brain fingerprinting British called car bomb civilians claimed Delhi Deobandi detonated device enemy example explosives fact fight Fiqh fire Gaza grenades guerrilla Hadis Hamas hijackers Hindu ignorance India injured insurgency intelligence agencies Iraq Iraqi Islam Islamist Israel Israeli jihad Kabul Kashmir killed large number leaders LTTE madaris madrisa martyrdom means military mosque movement Muhammad mujahideen Muslims myth narco-analysis nation nuclear officers operation organization Osama bin Laden Pakistan Palestinian Pashtun person pilot police political popular problem Qaida Qur'an reason religion religious Salafism Saudi security forces simple Soviet spoofing suicide attacks suicide bomber Taliban target terrorist attacks terrorists things tribal vehicle Wahabi warfare Waziristan weapons West Western Wi-Fi word