It wasn't part of any negotiation. No message was intended with it. It spoke for itself, which is unusual. It transcended the political and moved into the metaphysical. There was a kind of cosmic, demonic quality of mind at work here, which refused to have any interest in dialogue and political organization and persuasion. This was bloody-minded destruction for no other reason than to do it.
Required reading: We will look at a number of terrorist organizations and their methods. One of these is the Tamil Tigers, who were finally defeated last month after some thirty years of violence in Sri Lanka. The BBC has background pages on Sri Lanka as well as on the conflict here. And this is a great story on life in the Tiger organization!
Required reading: Probably the most respected expert on terrorism is Brian Jenkins, who works for the RAND Corporation in the US. Here is an Op-Ed by Jenkins in the Christian Science Monitor.
Optional: here is a very interesting interview with Jenkins in an Italian newspaper.
Required: Robert Pape is takes a very methodical, social scientific approach to terrorism. He looks at the data and derives conclusions from what the data indicate. Here is a short New York Times Op-Ed by Bob that explains his theory in easy-to-understand language.
Optional: If you are very ambitious and would like to read Bob's academic article that really examines the data, go here. We will talk about this in class, but I don't expect you to really understand everything that Bob is saying in the article.
Optional: Here is a background piece on Hezbollah.
Optional: This article asks what bin Laden really wants. What is his overall goal?
If you want to research terrorism, look at the MIPT terror database here. It's an outstanding resource!
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