Why Terrorism Works: Understanding the Threat, Responding to the Challenge [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

In "Why Terrorism Works", Alan Dershowitz writes a compelling and very frightening recent history of terrorism. Some of the individual acts were shocking--for example, in the recent past, European governments would use terrorist attacks to justify letting other terrorists out of prison (and the governments tended to have a soft spot for terrorists to begin with). So, when one such government held some terrorists for hijacking, they helped other terrorists stage another false hijacking, and as a result, the government released all the prisoners, like some kind of reward.

Alan Dershowitz describes how, although identifying and treating "root causes" of terrorism (poverty, hunger, etc.) may sound like a fine short-term answer, they will actually encourage terrorism--this being what the terrorists want. There have been many peoples throughout history deserving of attention who have not resorted to terrorism, Dershowitz argues.

Dershowitz instead advocates resorting to "barbaric" punishments--like torture, which, by the way, has is still being used in countries like Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Terrorism has been rewarded so long (case in point, the Palestine Liberation Organization, which reached its goal of being recognized by the United Nations through the threat of terrorism) that now only serious measures could prevent it from being used further.

This book, although upsetting at times in its horrid description of terrorist acts and their "punishments" (often, the perpetrator is simply released to their home country and given a hero's welcome) is timely, informative, and very detailed. I would recommend all to read it, just to get more of an understanding of the challenges we face in the war against terrorism, and the possible solutions.

Rarely have I read a book that demonstrated such a disturbing trend - a trend in which terrorism is rewarded with incentives and practically forced into further terrorist actions. Dershowitz follows the apparent (and for terrorism, the appearance of success equates to actual success) causal relationship between terrorist attacks on innocent civilians and the subsequent recognition and advancement of the groups' cause. Because of this, terrorism has been encouraged by not only the lack of deterrence and the lack of a tough stand on terrorism, but also by the effective promotion of it through the advancement of terrorist groups' causes - such as inviting Arafat to speak at the United Nations after numerous plane hijackings and the ordered murder of American diplomats.

As disturbing as the fact that nearly all terrorists captured outside the Middle East were released in a matter of weeks or months (of the 204 terrorists captured between 1968-1975 outside the Middle East, only 3 remained in prison by 1975), is the assertion that for much of the history of modern international terrorism, the policies of our European allies and the United Nations have only served to further increase terrorism. The arguments not only make sense, they're backed by the historical facts.

The root cause of terrorism is its success, and this book takes a good look at how/why it has succeeded (and in some instances failed) thus far and how a moral society should respond to terrorism.

Why is there terrorism in the world today? Alan Dershowitz speculates the reason can be found in the world's reaction to terrorism in the past. He claims the appeasing nature of the European nations when faced with the terrorist acts of Yassir Arafat's PLO (and other Palestinian groups) from 1968 to 2000 convinced the Islamic extremists that terrorism indeed achieved its desired results and is therefore a popular device used today.

Dershowitz details the history of terrorism, going back to ancient times, but he focuses primarily on the terrorism began by Palestinians in 1968 (and continuing to this day). With the exception of the United States and Israel, each country victimized by Arafat's terroristic acts eventually caved to him, met his demands and eventually recognized his cause. Countries like Germany, France and Italy are Dershowitz's favorite targets, as he contends the leaders of those countries acted exclusively with self interest, failing to consider the incentive they were giving to the terrorists to commit harsher and more creative crimes in the future. Dershowitz asks why would terrorists stop terrorizing when not only were they not punished for their crimes, but they were also rewarded with exposure and support. We all know about the Olympic killings in Munich, but how many people know that Germany released three of the murderers involved shortly after their arrest?

According to Dershowitz, the actions of European countries from 1968-2000 made the September 11th attacks inevitable. They received no penalty for similar crimes in the past (and actually received incentive), so why not do it?

Even though Dershowitz is not usually a fan of the politics of George W. Bush (see his book on the election of 2000), he sees the overwhelming response by Bush after 9/11 as the proper action for any nation victimized by terrorism. Whereas Dershowitz believes the European nations encourage future terrorist acts with their actions, Bush's effort to strike back with sever and precise force is the right thing to do.

Dershowitz goes on to discuss scenarios in which torture would be morally acceptable when fighting terrorism. Many people will ask if this is the same Alan Dershowitz who has made a career out of being one of the top civil liberties attorneys in the world. Yes, it is. Even though he puts a deep importance on civil liberties, he also believes the safety of the world takes precedence. Dershowitz has spent years developing his theories on when the safety of the masses trumps the liberties of some. Most of his counterparts prefer to bury their heads in the sand on this issue, unable to face the reality that sometimes liberty must be sacrificed for the betterment of society.

Dershowitz keeps coming back to two important events. First, he uses a quote by George W. Bush after the beheading of Daniel Pearl in which Bush says terrorists must understand that these types of acts only hurt their cause. Dershowitz shows how terrorists have not believed that in the past when their crimes were directed at most of the world (excluding the USA and Israel).

Dershowitz's second favorite event to discuss is the pre-9/11 incarceration of Zacharias Massaoui and civil liberty laws that tied the hands of the authorities who had him in custody. He claims this is a close real world example of the "ticking time bomb" scenario many philosophers and leaders have debated for centuries: what tactics are you willing to take to get information from someone who knows of a catastrophic event but will not discuss it?

Dershowitz's solutions point to a man who truly is concerned with protecting the constitutional rights of the individual and abiding by the laws of the Geneva Convention, but who is also concerned with avoiding the naive policies of most civil libertarians who would rather protect the rights of one man than to save the lives of thousands. Even those who disagree with him on certain issues will see a debate master at work. Rarely are arguments more focused, more passionate, better researched or more convincing. A must read for anyone interested in understanding global terrorism.