Chapter Twelve:
Ideological Terrorism
The Status of Ideological
Terrorism
The Status of Ideological Terrorism

Ideological terrorism vs. single-issue
terrorism
 Ideological terrorism refers to small
groups who terrorize for the purpose of
imposing their political ideals on others
 Single-issue terrorists embrace a single
cause such as antiglobalism, animal
rights, ecology, abortion, or anarchism
 Ideological terrorism developed from
theories of revolution and was closely
tied to models of guerilla warfare
The Status of Ideological Terrorism

The effect of religious violence on ideological
terrorism
 Most of the groups lost sponsors when the
Soviet Union collapsed
 Right-wing groups modified their politics with
tailored-made religions, especially in the
United States
 As death and violence increased with the
advent of religious terrorism, many ideologues
renounced violence
 The nations that continued to support
terrorism did so under the new rules of the
game
 They either endorsed religion or let the
issue driving violence become a surrogate
religion expressed in absolutist terms
The Status of Ideological Terrorism

Surrogate religion
 The group replaces religious behavior
with an ideology that has the power of
religion
 When violence is internalized, that is,
focused on its own members, the group
can become a religious cult
 If the group targets victims in the
outside world, it frequently behaves like
a religious terrorist organization
The Status of Ideological Terrorism

State-sponsored terrorism
 State-sponsored terrorism is terrorism
supported by a nation-state
 Ideology is related to state-sponsored
terrorism, but ideological terrorism has been
transformed since the fall of the Soviet Union
 The ideology that supports terrorism tends to
come from the passion surrounding an issue,
not state sponsorship
 State sponsorship may occur on the fringes,
but a single ideology drives the violence
Ideology and Marighella’s
Urban Model
Ideology and Marighella’s Urban
Model

Urban guerilla and urban terrorism
 Ideologically driven terrorism emerged
from anticolonialism
 The model for such terrorism was
based on the idea of the urban guerilla
and urban terrorism. These ideas were
initially championed by Frantz Fannon
Ideology and Marighella’s Urban
Model

Frantz Fannon

In the Wretched of the Earth, Fannon writes that
Western powers have dehumanized non-Western
people by destroying their cultures and replacing them
with Western values

The masses end up suffering a perpetual identity crisis:
To succeed, they are forced to deny their heritage.
Fanon argues that the natives can follow only one
course of action: revolution

He claimed decolonization was destined to be a violent
process because it involved replacing one group of
powerful people with another group; achieving freedom
was inherently violent
Ideology and Marighella’s Urban
Model

Frantz Fannon

Fanon advocated rural guerrilla warfare as the primary
method of revolution

Terrorism had a specific purpose: to terrorize
Westerners and their followers into submission

Urban terror was to create mayhem, and all terrorism
was to be excessively brutal to communicate fear.
Fanon’s guerrilla model thus uses terrorism as a
strategy and deviates from typical guerrillas who try to
build a military force
Ideology and Marighella’s Urban Model

Carlos Marighella and the Marighella model

For the Liberation of Brazil and The Minimanual of the
Urban Guerrilla, Marighella designed and presented
practical guides for terrorism

Marighella wanted to move violence from the
countryside to the city and designed a method for
organizing a campaign of terror that has been used by
groups ranging across the political spectrum

The Japanese Red Army

The Freemen of Montana

The basis of revolution was violence

All violence could be urban-based and controlled by a
small group of urban guerillas
Ideology and Marighella’s Urban Model

Robert Moss’ synopsis of Marighella’s writings

Urban terrorism was to begin with two distinct phases,
one designed to bring about actual violence, and the
other designed to give that violence meaning

The terror campaign was to be accompanied by a
psychological offensive, that is, a mass movement of
revolutionary sympathizers, to provide peripheral
support for terrorists

A campaign of revolutionary terrorism in an urban
setting could be used to destabilize government power;
Governmental repression was the goal of terrorism at
this stage

Marighella believed that the public supported
government policies because they did not recognize the
repressive nature of the state. A terrorist campaign
would force the government to reveal that repressive
Ideology and Marighella’s Urban Model

The firing team
 The purpose of the urban guerrilla is to
shoot. The job of the firing team,
Marighella’s basic unit, is to kill
 The firing team is composed of four to
five terrorists. Several firing teams are
needed to construct a terrorist
organization, but the team can exist on
its own
 The firing team is the basic weapon of
the urban guerilla
Ideology and Marighella’s Urban Model

The Marighella model and terrorism
 This model of urban terrorism and revolution
would be an excellent theory for
revolutionaries if it were functional
 It does not work; it does not topple
governments
 Most ideological terrorist groups have followed
the path of Marighella. They cannot become
strong enough to create a new order, but they
can terrorize a community or country
The Demise of Left-Wing
Ideology in Europe
The Demise of Left-Wing Ideology
in Europe

Raymond Corrado and Rebecca Evans



The ideological terrorists of the 1960s, on both the left
and the right, were expressing their frustration with the
social structures imposed by a modern industrial society
The fundamental difference between ideological and
nationalist terrorists can be found in their goals.
Ideological terrorists in Europe reject the economic and
social structure of industrial capitalism; they want a
new order
Nationalists, on the other hand, frequently embrace
capitalism and fight for ethnic self-determination. They
desire economic opportunity within the context of a
strong national identity. Nationalism stays, ideology
does not
The Demise of Left-Wing Ideology
in Europe

Raymond Corrado and Rebecca Evans

Corrado and Evans conclude, the popularity of
nationalistic and left-wing terrorism was changing

As pluralistic governments worked to relieve
frustration, the attractiveness of terrorism waned,
and terrorists lost their support base. Corrado and
Evans assumed that terrorist violence would fade
away, only reappearing in a few sporadic incidents
The Demise of Left-Wing Ideology
in Europe

Three key events that changed the political
destiny and the world
 The Berlin Wall came down, leading to the
reunification of Germany
 To the south, new nations emerging from the
former Yugoslavia took up arms and resumed
a centuries-old struggle
 The Soviet Union dissolved, along with the
authoritarian rule of the Communist Party in
the republics of the former Soviet Union and
Eastern Europe
The Demise of Left-Wing Ideology
in Europe

Pluchinsky and supraindigenous terrorism
 By the term supraindigenous terrorism,
Pluchinsky meant that local terrorist activities
would extend beyond local boundaries; Each
time a government brings one variety of
terrorism into check, a new strain appears
 As the structure of Europe and the world
changed from 1989 to 1992, European
terrorism also changed
 Ideological terrorism swung from the left to
right, changing its structure as it moved
The Demise of Left-Wing Ideology
in Europe

Stephen Segaller

Segaller believes that the European leftists were
seeking unity out of weakness, not strength

Modern European terrorism emerged in the 1960s as an
extreme reflection of left-wing activism

By 1970, most left-wing groups and the resurgent
nationalist groups modeled themselves after the
Marighella model

In 1985, the left-wing movement faced its weakness
and tried to form a confederation to gain momentum

The left-wing coalition was an effort to pool dwindling
resources and support
The Demise of Left-Wing Ideology
in Europe

The Red Brigades
 The organization of the Red Brigades
was unique in European terrorism
 They came closer to matching the
Marighella model than did any other
group in Europe
 The Red Brigades had a variety of
urban centers. Each unit became a
fairly autonomous organization within
its own area
The Demise of Left-Wing Ideology
in Europe

The current state of left-wing terrorism in Europe

The ideological basis for left-wing terrorism in Europe is
out of vogue

Only three groups remained active in the 1990s

Dev Sol in Turkey

GRAPO in Spain

17N in Greece

The ideological basis for left-wing terrorism has been
eliminated

Single-issue terrorism is in its infancy in Europe

The bigger threat comes from international Jihadists,
cultlike groups, and new strains replacing the old
Iraq Insurgency: Guerillas
or Terrorists, Ethnic or
Ideological?
Iraq Insurgency: Guerillas or Terrorists,
Ethnic or Ideological?

Objectives for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq

The United States sought to enforce a mandate from
the United Nations to end the production and
possession of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq

The United States wanted to end the reign of Saddam
Hussein and implement a democratically elected
government

The stated purpose was to end collusion between
Saddam Hussein and al Qaeda

After the major offensive, the campaign of violence
against the United States and its allies was horrendous

Democratic elections took place in Iraq in January of
2005, but the Iraq insurgency continued
Iraq Insurgency: Guerillas or
Terrorists, Ethnic or Ideological?

Three main insurgent groups
 Displaced Ba’athists who were part of
Sadddam Hussein’s regime
 Many Ba’athists believe they can reclaim
power. The see themselves engaged in a
guerilla campaign
 Iraqis who want the United States to leave
their country
 Sunni militants
 Militant Shi’ites
 Iraqi Criminals
Iraq Insurgency: Guerillas or
Terrorists, Ethnic or Ideological?


Jihadists who have come to Iraq to fight the
United States
 Some flock from surrounding areas to fight
as guerillas
 Some are terrorists within an al Qaeda\style umbrella
 They are behind many of the murderous
kidnappings and suicide bombings
The three insurgent groups do not share a
common vision for the future of Iraq and they
are frequently at odds with each other
Iraq Insurgency: Guerillas or
Terrorists, Ethnic or Ideological?

The culture factor




An old Arab folk saying illustrates the overriding
importance of family ties in Arab culture and the
response to “the stranger”: “I and my brothers against
my cousins; I and my cousins against the stranger”
When such cultural aspects combine with the various
ideologies motivating insurgent groups, it is possible to
see that a major portion of the insurrection does not
involve terrorism
Many of the actions against Americans and their allies
do not involve terrorism
If the United States is to end major combat operations
in Iraq, it will need to implement a strategy that
addresses the major issues that insurgents and terrorist
groups use to justify violence