OMNI
TERRORISM NEWSLETTER #1, April 18, 2015.
Compiled by Dick Bennett for a Culture of Peace and Justice. Seenewsletters on War on (of) Terror and State Terrorism.
What’s at stake: An effort to distinguish three closely related, overlapping subjects: TERRORISM, STATE TERRORISM, US WAR ON (WAR OF) TERRORISM (such a large subdivision of State Terrorism needs separate treatment). For the poet Nizar Qabbani, “’terrorism’ is the word used by oppressors to defame a national liberation struggle.” Tariq Ali, Bush in Babylon (pp. 6-7).
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Newsletters
Index:
Contents Terrorism Newsletter #1
Howard Zinn, Three Kinds of Terror Bombing
Zinn, Google Search
George Monbiot, Orwell Would Now Be a Terrorist
Dick, Boston Marathon Bomber, Terrorist or Criminal?
2008 Mumbai Attacks
Two Books That Examine “Terrorism” and “Anti-Terrorism”
Melissa Finn, Al Qaeda and Sacrifice
Carrington, Transforming Terror
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Reporting on Terrorism
HOWARD ZINN, “ON TERROR.” NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW (August 19, 2007).
Three kinds of terror bombings: deliberate, inevitable, unintentional. Suicide and aerial bombings equivalent. During the War on Vietnam War and the Wars on Afghanistan and Iraq, the perpetrators Johnson, Nixon, and Bush justified the mass killing of civilians by saying the bombings were accidental or inadvertent. But civilian deaths in aerial bombing are inevitable. Thus: “The terrorism of the suicide bomber and the terrorism of aerial bombardment are indeed morally equivalent.” --Dick
Google Search Results, Howard Zinn, On Terror, Feb. 17, 2014, first page
1. Our War on Terrorism | The Progressive
The Progressive
By Howard Zinn, November 2004 Issue. I am calling it "our" war on terrorism because I want to distinguish it from Bush's war on terrorism, and from Sharon
2. Quote by Howard Zinn: How can you have a war on terrorism when ...
Goodreads
Howard Zinn — 'How can you have a war on terrorism when war itself is terrorism?'
3. Howard Zinn on The Uses of History and the War on Terrorism ...
Democracy Now!
Dec 18, 2006
Howard Zinn is one of this country's most celebrated historians. His classic work "A People's History of ...
4. Terrorism And War by Howard Zinn - Third World Traveler
The continued expenditure of more than $300 billion for the military every year has absolutely no effect on the danger of terrorism. If we want real security, we ...
5. Howard Zinn Quotes
It's not right to respond to terrorism by terrorizing other people. And furthermore, it's not going to help. Then you might say, "Yes, it's terrorizing people, but it's ...
6. Howard Zinn on Obama: "If you want to end terrorism, you have to ...
YouTube
May 14, 2009 - Uploaded by yrrmom
We ought to hold Obama to his promise to be different & bold & to make change. So far, he hasn't come thru ...
7. Howard Zinn's Terrorism and War, a review » CounterPunch: Tells ...
CounterPunch
Jun 9, 2002 - Terrorism and War, a collection of interviews with Howard Zinn by Anthony Arnove, is an honourable and rare exception. It is a part of a series ...
8. Historian Howard Zinn: “Largest Lie” is the “U.S. War on Terrorism ...
Jan 29, 2010 - The “largest lie,” wrote hisorian Howard Zinn who died yesterday at age 87, is that “everything the United States
9. Howard Zinn on War Zinn Education Project
“How can you have a war on terrorism when war itself is terrorism? ... This second edition of Howard Zinn on War is a collection of 26 short writings chosen by ...
10.Book Review -- Terrorism and War
Terrorism and War This book contains a series of interviews with Howard Zinn conducted between September 2001 and late January 2002. Howard Zinn shows ...
Searches related to Howard Zinn, On Terror
Orwell Was Hailed a Hero for Fighting in Spain. Today He'd Be Guilty of Terrorism
George Monbiot, Guardian UK , Reader Supported News, Feb. 11, 2014
Monbiot writes: "If George Orwell and Laurie Lee were to return from the Spanish civil war today, they would be arrested under section five of the Terrorism Act 2006. ... They would go down as terrorists."
READ MORE
George Monbiot, Guardian UK , Reader Supported News, Feb. 11, 2014
Monbiot writes: "If George Orwell and Laurie Lee were to return from the Spanish civil war today, they would be arrested under section five of the Terrorism Act 2006. ... They would go down as terrorists."
READ MORE
BOSTON MARATHON BOMBING
Yesterday, April 16, 2013, two bombs exploded……..
WHAT DID OFFCIALS AND NEWSPAPERS SAY?
WAR OR CRIME? THE HORRIFIC DIFFERENCE A WORD MAKES by Dick Bennett
An announcer on The Weather Channel likened the explosions to 9-11. It is an appropriate analogy, but with an unexpected meaning.
We allowed our leaders to turn the destruction of the Trade Towers
And now two young men murdered two people and injured several with bombs. How should that act of violence be labeled? Was it “terrorism” requiring the response of our trillion dollars anti-terrorism apparatuses? Or a crime requiring the response of the Boston police? What has happened to our sense of proportion in disciplined police work?
These young men were not the shock troops of some state terrorism or some terrorist organization. They were young men who grew up in violence in the United States and indoctrinated by violence in the United States. Our nation, our violent, militarized nation, called them “terrorists” and swooped down upon them as though they were some invading army and shot to death one of them.
Consider the consequences of magnifying local crimes into world threats. The number of people killed in mass shootings in the United States
But the Bush Administration chose to call the World Trade Buildings plane attacks by a handful of revengeful Muslims mainly from Saudi Arabia terrorismand to launch a global crusade—a real state terrorism--against everybody even infinitely remotely associated with the killers and probably as many not. And since President Obama took office, “more than 350 [drone] strikes in Pakistan , Yemen and Somalia Afghanistan , “U.S.
In this context of paranoid “war against [by] terrorists,” let us keep our heads. Let local, national, and international police do their work: find the killer(s) of our marathoners, charge them, give them a trial by jury, and if found guilty send them to prison. [As indicated at the beginning, this was written shortly after the Marathon bombing. The surviving and youngest of the two bombers was apprehended, tried, and convicted. At this moment—April 18, 2015-- his sentence is pending.]
References
Goodman, Leonard. “Drone Justice Is Blind.” In These Times (May 2013) 16.
“Harper’s Index.” Harper’s Magazine (May 2013) 15.
2008 MUMBAI ATTACKS
In partnership with  American Terrorist COMING APRIL 21, 2015Check local listings » FRONTLINE and ProPublica investigate American-born terrorist David Coleman Headley. (0:31) FRONTLINE and ProPublica investigate American-born terrorist David Coleman Headley. FRONTLINE investigates American-born terrorist David Coleman Headley, who helped plan the deadly 2008 siege on Mumbai. In collaboration with ProPublica, the film -- an updated and expanded version of A Perfect Terrorist -- reveals how secret electronic surveillance missed catching the Mumbai plotters, and how Headley planned another Charlie Hebdo-like assault against a Danish newspaper. THE LATEST The Mumbai terrorist attacks killed 166 people — including six Americans. Could they have been prevented?  December 21, 2014, 8:50 pm ET · by James Glanz of The New York Times, Sebastian Rotella of ProPublica, and David E. Sanger of The New York Times Indian and British intelligence agencies were both spying on the online activities of one of the alleged plotters, but couldn’t connect the dots.  June 12, 2013, 1:51 pm ET · by Sebastian Rotella ProPublica Officials have credited the program with helping to capture David Coleman Headley, but a closer examination shows the U.S. only caught up with him after a tip from British intelligence.  April 4, 2013, 3:38 pm ET · by Sebastian Rotella ProPublica A new study released today helps explain how Lashkar-i-Taiba, one of the world’s most dangerous militant organizations, is integrated into Pakistani society.  Sebastian Rotella examines new information and materials about the Mumbai terror attacks.  January 24, 2013, 3:54 pm ET · by Sebastian Rotella ProPublica Although David Coleman Headley avoided the death penalty, Judge Harry Leinenweber says the sentence “will keep him under lock and key for the rest of his natural life.”  A federal judge Thursday sentenced a Chicago immigration consultant to 14 years in prison for his role in supporting the Pakistani terrorist group that worked with Pakistan’s intelligence service to carry out the 2008 Mumbai attacks and plot a follow-up strike in Denmark.  An interactive film that explores the tangled web of relationships that helped the American behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks move from small-time drug smuggler to international terrorist and spy.  September 4, 2012, 12:17 pm ET · by Sebastian Rotella ProPublica The Obama administration’s decision to designate the leadership of Pakistan’s Lashkar-e-Taiba group as terrorists last week sends a pointed, if largely symbolic, message to a Pakistani government that remains unable or unwilling to crack down on the organization.  August 9, 2012, 12:08 pm ET · by Sebastian Rotella ProPublica Zabiuddin Ansari’s statements to Indian police have reinforced evidence of Pakistani intelligence’s role in a terror plot that killed six Americans at the same time Pakistan was receiving billions of dollars in U.S. aid.  It’s the tucked-away target that David Coleman Headley cased for the terrorist group Lashkar-i-Taiba. Here’s more on the history of Chabad House, what happened there during the 2008 attack on Mumbai and how the family members of those killed are moving forward.  David Coleman Headley isn’t a household name in the United States, but given his role in the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai he is now as well known to Indians as Osama bin Laden is to Americans.  Mumbai police crime chief Deven Bharti recounts what he learned while investigating the movements of David Coleman Headley as he scouted targets in Mumbai.  U.S. officials say David Coleman Headley slipped through the cracks, but ex-wives and Indian authorities say the government had information about the his activities before the 2008 siege that killed 166 people.  It took the 2008 Mumbai attacks for much of the world to recognize Lashkar-i-Taiba’s threat, but renowned French investigative judge Jean-Louis Bruguière had for years warned of the Pakistan-based terrorist group’s evolving international ambitions.  October 20, 2011, 4:14 pm ET · by Azmat Khan and Sabrina Shankman After years of criminality and deception that included scouting targets for the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks — a slaughter that left 166 people dead — Pakistani-American David Coleman Headley was arrested by U.S. authorities in October 2009.  During five days as the star witness in a federal terrorism trial in Chicago, David Coleman Headley revealed details of what he described as his links to both Pakistan’s intelligence service — the ISI — and the terrorist organization Lashkar-i-Taiba.  David Coleman Headley, an American who has confessed to helping plan the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, told a court that he plotted a similar attack against a Danish newspaper with the support of a Pakistani terror group and the country’s intelligence agency, the ISI. RELATED PROGRAMS |
TWO BOOKS EXAMINE “TERRORISM” AND SUGGEST ALTERNATIVES TO WAR
Al-Qaeda and Sacrifice: Martyrdom, War and Politics
Melissa Finn. Pluto, 2012.
Publisher’s blurb:
(Mohammad-Mahmoud Ould Mohamedou, Graduat)
(Wanda Krause, Assistant Professor and Co)
(Shannon Bell, Department of Political Sc)
(Rohan Gunaratna, Professor of Security S)
(Mohammed M. Hafez, Associate Professor, )
(Professor Beverley Milton-Edwards, Schoo)
(Christina Hellmich, University of Readin)
(Richard Jackson, University of Otago
(Alex Houen, author of Terrorism and Mode)
Al-Qaeda and Sacrifice is a pioneering critical intervention into the study of terrorism. Challenging the commonly held idea that ‘suicide-bombings’ are motivated by a nihilistic hatred of life, Melissa Finn argues that it is more honest and helpful to examine such violent agency through the concept of ‘sacrifice’. The book provides a unique look at the way ‘sacrifice’ is used in the Arabic language and in the writings of Islamists and jihadis.
Finn offers penetrating insights into jihadi thought on its own terms, arguing that it constitutes a political theory which can be usefully compared and related to western political theorists, from Machiavelli and von Clausewitz to Hannah Arendt, Julia Kristeva and Judith Butler. She critically examines the strategy of ‘sacrifice’ in martyrdom operations and ultimately concludes that the heedless certainty of such violence undermines attempts to redress political grievances.
Al-Qaeda and Sacrifice is a unique contribution which goes beyond simplistic or apologetic explanations of terrorism and allows the authentic jihadi voice to speak for itself.
Finn offers penetrating insights into jihadi thought on its own terms, arguing that it constitutes a political theory which can be usefully compared and related to western political theorists, from Machiavelli and von Clausewitz to Hannah Arendt, Julia Kristeva and Judith Butler. She critically examines the strategy of ‘sacrifice’ in martyrdom operations and ultimately concludes that the heedless certainty of such violence undermines attempts to redress political grievances.
Al-Qaeda and Sacrifice is a unique contribution which goes beyond simplistic or apologetic explanations of terrorism and allows the authentic jihadi voice to speak for itself.
About The Author
Melissa Finn is a lecturer in the Department of Political Science and the Department of Global Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo , Canada Middle East , entitled Veiled Constellations: The Veil, Critical Theory, Politics, and Contemporary Society (Spring 2012).
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REVIEWED IN YES! MAGAZINE (Fall 2011) by Valerie Trueblood.
“TERRORISM” IN ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
[The best I can do with these few references from 2012 at this moment is to hope our scholars and students will study our state newspaper’s reporting of “terrorism” from 9/11 to present--substance enough for many student papers, MA theses, and a dissertation or four.]
Foreign War on Terror 11-26-12
Fajez, Rahim. “5 Taliban prisoners OK transfer to Qatar
Rittel, Claudia Isabel. “Terror suspect’s trial begins in Germany
Savage, Charlie. “Delays sour detainees on plea deals with U.S.
ADG Staff. “Bin Laden Documents released: They show terrorist losing touch with allies, keeping aim on U.S.
Abbot, Sebastian. “Afghan al-Qaida Boss killed in strike.” ADG 5-30-12
Youssef, Maamoun. “Successor remembers bin Laden.” ADG 6-4-12
Myers, Steven Lee. Schmitt, Eric. “U.S. Labels Haqqani network as terrorists.” ADG 9-8-12
Houser, Jerry R. (Editorial.) “Libya
ADG Staff. “ Jordan
Domestic War on Terror 10-30-12
Bloomberg News. “Bomb conspirator’s father sent to prison.” ADG. 2-12-12
Bloomberg News. “Yale Law School
Finn, Peter: The Washington U.S.
Al-Haj. “Army’s rout by al-Qaida stokes Yemenis’s ire.” ADG. 3-7-12
Peltz, Jennifer. “Suspect in terror plot pleads innocent.” ADG. 3-14-12
Rising, Malin. “ Beaten, quizzed on mosque, says U.S.
ADG Staff. “Immunity stands in detainee suit.” ADG. 5-3-12
Tarm, Michael. “3 aimed to firebomb Chicago
Lavoie, Denise. “Man admits planning to bomb Pentagon.” ADG. 7-21-12
Schmidt, Michael. “Airport program a magnet for racial profiling.” ADG. 8-12-12
Yost, Pete. “Terror surveillance query left unanswered by agency.” ADG. 9-12-12
Forliti,, Amy. “Jury finds man a terror recruiter.” ADG. 10-19-12
Leverett, Beth. (Editorial.) “The world we live in.” ADG. 10-10-12
Days, Tom. Long, Coleen. “Bangladeshi arrested in plot to detonate bomb outside Fed.” ADG. 10-18-12
Johnson, Gene. “Airport plotter gets tougher prison term.” ADG. 10-25-12
Blaney, Betsy. “Saudi man gets life.” ADG. 11-14-12
END TERRORISM NEWSLETTER #1