The History of Terrorism: From Antiquity to al Qaeda

484 Pages·2007·4.15 MB·English

by  Gérard Chaliand

THE HISTORY OF TERRORISM
Publié avec le concours du Ministère français chargé
de la culture, Centre national du livre. Published with
the assistance of the French Ministry of Culture’s
National Center for the Book.
The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous
contribution to this book provided by the Literature
in Translation Endowment Fund of the University of
California Press Foundation, which is supported
by a major gift from Joan Palevsky.
THE HISTORY OF
TERRORISM
FROM ANTIQUITY TO AL QAEDA
Edited by
Gérard Chaliand and Arnaud Blin
Translated by Edward Schneider,
Kathryn Pulver, and Jesse Browner
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
BERKELEY LOS ANGELES LONDON
University of California Press, one of the most distin-
guished university presses in the United States, enriches
lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the
humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its ac-
tivities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and
by philanthropic contributions from individuals and in-
stitutions. For more information, visit
www.ucpress.edu.
University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, California
University of California Press, Ltd.
London, England
© 2007 by The Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Histoire du terrorisme. English
The history of terrorism : from antiquity to al Qaeda
/ edited by Gérard Chaliand and Arnaud Blin ; trans-
lated by Edward Schneider, Kathryn Pulver, and Jesse
Browner.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn-13: 978-0-520-24533-4 (cloth : alk. paper)
isbn-13: 978-0-520-24709-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Terrorism—History. I. Chaliand, Gérard,
1934–. II. Blin, Arnaud. III. Title.
HV6431.H5713 2007
363.32509—dc22 2006032389
Manufactured in the United States of America
15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is printed on New Leaf EcoBook 50, a
100% recycled fiber of which 50% is de-inked postcon-
sumer waste, processed chlorine free. EcoBook 50 is
acid free and meets the minimum requirements of
ansi/astm d5634–01 (Permanence of Paper).
Contents
Preface vii
1 Introduction 1
Gérard Chaliand and Arnaud Blin
2 Terrorism as a Strategy of Insurgency 12
Ariel Merari
PART I
THE PREHISTORY OF TERRORISM
3 Zealots and Assassins 55
Gérard Chaliand and Arnaud Blin
4 Manifestations of Terror through the Ages 79
Gérard Chaliand and Arnaud Blin
PART II
TERRORISM FROM 1789 TO 1968
5 The Invention of Modern Terror 95
Gérard Chaliand and Arnaud Blin
6 Anarchist Terrorists of the Nineteenth Century 113
Olivier Hubac-Occhipinti
7 Russian Terrorism, 1878–1908 132
Yves Ternon
8 The “Golden Age” of Terrorism 175
Gérard Chaliand and Arnaud Blin
9 Lenin, Stalin, and State Terrorism 197
Gérard Chaliand and Arnaud Blin
10 Terrorism in Time of War:
From War II to the Wars of National Liberation 208
Gérard Chaliand and Arnaud Blin
PART III
TERRORISM SINCE 1968
11 From 1968 to Radical Islam 221
Gérard Chaliand and Arnaud Blin
12 The Roots of Islamic Radicalism 255
Philippe Migaux
13 Al Qaeda 314
Philippe Migaux
14 The Future of the Islamist Movement 349
Philippe Migaux
15 Suicide Operations: Between War and Terrorism 363
François Géré
16 The United States Confronting Terrorism 398
Arnaud Blin
17 Terrorism in Southeast Asia—Threat and Response 420
Rohan Gunaratna
Bibliography 435
Contributors 445
Index 447
Preface
Throughout history, power has more often than not been wielded
through terror—that is, by inciting fear. All despotic societies have been
founded on fear, as have so-called totalitarian regimes in the modern era.
Submission to the established order and to force has been most of hu-
mankind’s sole avenue to security and, ultimately, to freedom. Without
reaching all the way back to prehistory—itself ruled by terrifying inse-
curity vis-à-vis nature, wild beasts, and other men—the use of terror to
govern began at the very birth of organized society as a means of dis-
suasion or punishment.
Terrere means “to make tremble” in Latin. The first Mesopotamian
empire, that of Sargon of Akkad, was founded on terror. The same was
later true of antiquity’s first military empire, the Assyrian, whose brutal
methods of reprisal were intended to crush the spirit and break the will.
Announced with warlike violence, terror remains suspended like a sword
in times of peace over the heads of all who dare to rebel. In the despotic
societies that make up the major portion of history’s fabric, it has served
as the tool of enslavement and guarantor of mass obedience. State ter-
ror, whether implicit or overt, has haunted the centuries as war’s bogey-
man, the specter of mass murder. Once unleashed, it can set an example
to constrain behavior without the necessity of fighting. The Mongols and
Tamerlane used terror in this way to reduce cities without having to re-
sort to siege.
Historians of terrorism may point out that the word “terror” applies
vii
viii / PREFACE
to the state terror of the French Revolution, but they often neglect to add
that, to varying degrees, the phenomenon was a constant of earlier eras
and has also been prevalent ever since. Indeed, terrorism, the principal
aim of which is to terrorize, is a historically far broader phenomenon
than suggested by the term’s current usage, which essentially boils it
down to the description or analysis of the illegitimate use of violence in
terrorist-type activities.
The fact that the most notorious instances of contemporary terrorism
have a religious dimension, notwithstanding their political aims, should
serve to remind us that this has also been true historically of most forms
of terrorism, such as that of the Jewish Zealots of the first century c.e.,
for example, or of the Isma\ili sect of Assassins from the eleventh to the
thirteenth centuries. Indeed, the religious point of reference was long
central to most societies, and this phenomenon has not yet exhausted it-
self.
Nowadays, terrorism beats out guerrilla warfare as the preferred and
practically exclusive weapon of the weak against the strong. Its primary
target is the mind. In that sense, terrorism is the most violent form of psy-
chological warfare, and its psychological impact is commonly under-
stood to be far greater than its physical effects. Stooping to often pathetic
means, terrorism is a way of creating power in the hope of seizing from
below that which the state wields from on high.
Gérard Chaliand and Arnaud Blin
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
Gérard Chaliand and Arnaud Blin
Of all the passions capable of enslaving man’s will,
none is more incompatible with reason and liberty
than religious fanaticism.
Robespierre
It happened in Washington, D.C., at a conference on terrorism—or,
more precisely, counterterrorism—organized by the Pentagon’s Defense
Intelligence Agency (DIA). Most of the participants worked for the di-
verse (and numerous) American intelligence services, which had all, to
varying degrees, become involved in the war on terrorism. After the Cold
War, most of these cloak-and-dagger men had moved into the specialized
and growing field of “new threats”—threats that also include nuclear
proliferation, weapons of mass destruction, and organized crime. This
strange gathering of identically dressed men listened attentively to a se-
ries of speakers hold forth on the essence of the counterterrorism strug-
gle. Late in the day, however, as the last speaker was about to take the
floor, a bizarre figure strode up to the podium carrying a briefcase and a
bag. With his long hair and black hat, his thick beard, sunglasses, torn
pants, and leather vest, he stood out like a sore thumb from the intelli-
gence bureaucrats. Suddenly, opening the briefcase and bag with light-
ning speed, the stranger threw two hand grenades into the crowd and
pointed an M16 rifle into the paralyzed audience.
There was no explosion, and the M16 remained mute. The man
calmly took the microphone and began to address the audience. The lis-
1