[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
called The Carmagnole, documents this obsession:
Dance dynamite
Dance, dance, quickly
Let us dance and sing (twice)
Let us dynamite, let us dynamite.562
Understanding terrorist innovation 157
One cannot help but notice the similarity with Aum Shinrikyo s already
cited Song of Sarin the Brave. Perhaps the most glaring example in this
regard is the expressive nature of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing in
which Timothy McVeigh meticulously followed the scenario described in
the Turner Diaries, the William Pierce novel that has become the bible of
right-wing militias in the US.563 Not only did the target, tactic and the
explosive mixture correspond precisely to the scenario described in the book
even the size of the explosive device was imitated. As such the Turner
Diaries are a crucial text, in the sense that the book takes great expressive
pride in the ability of the patriots to manufacture improvised weapons and
devices from ordinary household items, because sophisticated weaponry in
the novel s scenario is unavailable.564 Given the obsession of the American
militia movement with this book, tactical improvisation with dual-use
items is a much more likely scenario for the militia groups than a quest for
highly novel technologies. In the same way, in AQ s case it has been the
expressive emphasis on martyrdom as the principal jihadi vanguard and as
the best way to achieve a victory of Islam that has been one of the key
determining factors behind the group s modus operandi. Given the promi-
nence of martyrdom in seminal AQ texts such as the Declaration of Jihad
against the Jews and Crusaders and Ayman al Zawahiri s last will, Knights
under the Prophet s Banner, is it any surprise that since 1998, every single
attack launched directly by AQ has involved suicide delivery?565 And is it
any surprise that AQ-affiliated groups, such as the Algerian GIA, the
Moroccan Assirat al-Mustaqim, the Tunisian Combatant Group, the Indone-
sia-based al Jeemah al Islamiya (JI) or the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan,
have all incorporated this tactic following their ideological cooption into the
AQ network?
Another contemporary aspect of terrorist tactics that deserves close atten-
tion is the beheading practice used by Islamist groups in Bosnia, Algeria,
Tajikistan, Abkhazia, Chechnya, Pakistan, Iraq and elsewhere. Here too we
can trace the origin of this tactic to the literal interpretation of Allah s state-
ment: When you encounter those [infidels] who deny [the Truth Islam]
then strike [their] necks. 566 While this quote is certainly taken out of
context when used to support the contemporary practice of beheadings, for
groups like Zarqawi s Jama at al-Tawhid wal Jihad whose logo depicted a
mujaheed holding a blood-soaked sword, it certainly represents a strict obser-
vance of the Koran in the purest sense. Interestingly, the slitting of throats
has also been practiced by non-Islamist groups for punishment purposes, such
as those of SL. Here again the expressive element was present, this time
however rooting from Andean mysticism, where a person who is killed in this
way cannot be saved because his or her soul cannot escape from the mouth.567
As we can see from these examples, the attachment to a particular tactic
or weapon is one of the key determinants of what type of modus operandi a
group can be expected to adopt. On another note, it should also be emphas-
ized that this expressive or non-rational element goes beyond just tactics and
158 Understanding terrorist innovation
technologies, but is also often prevalent in a group s target selection. For
instance, Black September s decision to attack the 1972 Munich Olympic
Games was largely driven by the refusal of the Olympic committee to allow
the participation of a Palestinian wrestling team.568 And while other factors
such as publicity and media value were also important, the dominance of the
expressive element can be demonstrated by the reciprocal selection of Israeli
wrestlers as primary targets, despite the fact that athletes of this combat
discipline were the most likely ones to have the ability to overpower their
captors. This example clearly demonstrates that the expressive attachment
can in some cases be more important than tactical or strategic considera-
tions, even though in most cases these elements work in conjunction. For
instance, the LTTE s use of a female suicide bomber in the Rajiv Gandhi
assassination made tactical sense, but was no less important than Prabhakha-
ran s proclamation that Gandhi deserved to die in the hands of a
woman. 569
Overall, the groups that have been driven to innovate tactically and/or
technologically differ from conservative organizations by the presence of a
significant expressive or symbolic attachment to a particular weapon, tactic
or the process of innovation itself, or in the sophistication needed to achieve
this capability, to be more precise. While conservative groups often embrace
a similar attachment, its fulfillment either does not require significant devia-
tions from the group s present capability or the emphasis is on different
values than innovation. The 17N ritualism or the SL recognition of
ambushes and attacks as the two fundamental forms of guerilla struggle
provide good examples of this phenomenon.570 Of all of the variables exam-
ined in this book the attachment to a particular weaponry or tactic seems to
have the strongest predictive value with regards to providing an indicator of
a group s attraction to using innovative means. As mentioned, other factors
such as ideology and strategy, or countermeasures can have a profound
impact on the modifications in a group s operations, but whether this
process is accompanied by innovation or not will be determined directly by
this variable.
Group dynamics
The first component of this variable is the background, the value system and
the authority of the leader as a key determinant of the motivation of such a
figure to instigate innovation, as well as his or her ability to impose such a
decision successfully on the rest of the group. In this sense, the group struc-
ture is also extremely important. First, the structure will shape the decision-
making dynamics, determining whether major operational decisions are
based on a consensus of all members, or are rather a product of a top-down
approach with the group s penultimate leadership making the decision and
passing it on to operational sub-units or cells for execution. At the final
level, ideational, operational or power disputes within a group can also
Understanding terrorist innovation 159
sometimes trigger escalation or innovation as a reconciliation tool that will
help the group overcome their differences and unite by channeling their
energy into a major effort to strike the enemy.
The record of this variable with regards to its applicability to the exam-
ined case studies is rather mixed. With regard to the background and
authority of the leader and the overall group structure, the correlation in
Aum s case is strong as the group s innovative tendencies were in many ways
a product of the top bottom approach driven by Asahara, whose God-like
position within the group along with the plentiful mind-control mechan- [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl aikidobyd.xlx.pl
called The Carmagnole, documents this obsession:
Dance dynamite
Dance, dance, quickly
Let us dance and sing (twice)
Let us dynamite, let us dynamite.562
Understanding terrorist innovation 157
One cannot help but notice the similarity with Aum Shinrikyo s already
cited Song of Sarin the Brave. Perhaps the most glaring example in this
regard is the expressive nature of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing in
which Timothy McVeigh meticulously followed the scenario described in
the Turner Diaries, the William Pierce novel that has become the bible of
right-wing militias in the US.563 Not only did the target, tactic and the
explosive mixture correspond precisely to the scenario described in the book
even the size of the explosive device was imitated. As such the Turner
Diaries are a crucial text, in the sense that the book takes great expressive
pride in the ability of the patriots to manufacture improvised weapons and
devices from ordinary household items, because sophisticated weaponry in
the novel s scenario is unavailable.564 Given the obsession of the American
militia movement with this book, tactical improvisation with dual-use
items is a much more likely scenario for the militia groups than a quest for
highly novel technologies. In the same way, in AQ s case it has been the
expressive emphasis on martyrdom as the principal jihadi vanguard and as
the best way to achieve a victory of Islam that has been one of the key
determining factors behind the group s modus operandi. Given the promi-
nence of martyrdom in seminal AQ texts such as the Declaration of Jihad
against the Jews and Crusaders and Ayman al Zawahiri s last will, Knights
under the Prophet s Banner, is it any surprise that since 1998, every single
attack launched directly by AQ has involved suicide delivery?565 And is it
any surprise that AQ-affiliated groups, such as the Algerian GIA, the
Moroccan Assirat al-Mustaqim, the Tunisian Combatant Group, the Indone-
sia-based al Jeemah al Islamiya (JI) or the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan,
have all incorporated this tactic following their ideological cooption into the
AQ network?
Another contemporary aspect of terrorist tactics that deserves close atten-
tion is the beheading practice used by Islamist groups in Bosnia, Algeria,
Tajikistan, Abkhazia, Chechnya, Pakistan, Iraq and elsewhere. Here too we
can trace the origin of this tactic to the literal interpretation of Allah s state-
ment: When you encounter those [infidels] who deny [the Truth Islam]
then strike [their] necks. 566 While this quote is certainly taken out of
context when used to support the contemporary practice of beheadings, for
groups like Zarqawi s Jama at al-Tawhid wal Jihad whose logo depicted a
mujaheed holding a blood-soaked sword, it certainly represents a strict obser-
vance of the Koran in the purest sense. Interestingly, the slitting of throats
has also been practiced by non-Islamist groups for punishment purposes, such
as those of SL. Here again the expressive element was present, this time
however rooting from Andean mysticism, where a person who is killed in this
way cannot be saved because his or her soul cannot escape from the mouth.567
As we can see from these examples, the attachment to a particular tactic
or weapon is one of the key determinants of what type of modus operandi a
group can be expected to adopt. On another note, it should also be emphas-
ized that this expressive or non-rational element goes beyond just tactics and
158 Understanding terrorist innovation
technologies, but is also often prevalent in a group s target selection. For
instance, Black September s decision to attack the 1972 Munich Olympic
Games was largely driven by the refusal of the Olympic committee to allow
the participation of a Palestinian wrestling team.568 And while other factors
such as publicity and media value were also important, the dominance of the
expressive element can be demonstrated by the reciprocal selection of Israeli
wrestlers as primary targets, despite the fact that athletes of this combat
discipline were the most likely ones to have the ability to overpower their
captors. This example clearly demonstrates that the expressive attachment
can in some cases be more important than tactical or strategic considera-
tions, even though in most cases these elements work in conjunction. For
instance, the LTTE s use of a female suicide bomber in the Rajiv Gandhi
assassination made tactical sense, but was no less important than Prabhakha-
ran s proclamation that Gandhi deserved to die in the hands of a
woman. 569
Overall, the groups that have been driven to innovate tactically and/or
technologically differ from conservative organizations by the presence of a
significant expressive or symbolic attachment to a particular weapon, tactic
or the process of innovation itself, or in the sophistication needed to achieve
this capability, to be more precise. While conservative groups often embrace
a similar attachment, its fulfillment either does not require significant devia-
tions from the group s present capability or the emphasis is on different
values than innovation. The 17N ritualism or the SL recognition of
ambushes and attacks as the two fundamental forms of guerilla struggle
provide good examples of this phenomenon.570 Of all of the variables exam-
ined in this book the attachment to a particular weaponry or tactic seems to
have the strongest predictive value with regards to providing an indicator of
a group s attraction to using innovative means. As mentioned, other factors
such as ideology and strategy, or countermeasures can have a profound
impact on the modifications in a group s operations, but whether this
process is accompanied by innovation or not will be determined directly by
this variable.
Group dynamics
The first component of this variable is the background, the value system and
the authority of the leader as a key determinant of the motivation of such a
figure to instigate innovation, as well as his or her ability to impose such a
decision successfully on the rest of the group. In this sense, the group struc-
ture is also extremely important. First, the structure will shape the decision-
making dynamics, determining whether major operational decisions are
based on a consensus of all members, or are rather a product of a top-down
approach with the group s penultimate leadership making the decision and
passing it on to operational sub-units or cells for execution. At the final
level, ideational, operational or power disputes within a group can also
Understanding terrorist innovation 159
sometimes trigger escalation or innovation as a reconciliation tool that will
help the group overcome their differences and unite by channeling their
energy into a major effort to strike the enemy.
The record of this variable with regards to its applicability to the exam-
ined case studies is rather mixed. With regard to the background and
authority of the leader and the overall group structure, the correlation in
Aum s case is strong as the group s innovative tendencies were in many ways
a product of the top bottom approach driven by Asahara, whose God-like
position within the group along with the plentiful mind-control mechan- [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]