Crime and Violence: Forces for
Good or Evil?
Terrorism
Dr Helen Jones
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Where were you when the world stopped turning?
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September 11th
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8.46am: American Airlines flight 11, from Boston, crashes into the north tower
of the World Trade Centre
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9.03am: United Airlines flight 175, also from Boston, crashes into the south
tower. Both buildings are aflame
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9.17am: The Federal Aviation Administration shuts down all New York City
area airports.
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9.21am: The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey orders all bridges and
tunnels in the New York area closed
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9.30am: President Bush, speaking in Sarasota, Florida, says the
country has suffered an "apparent terrorist attack."
9.37am: American Airlines flight 77 follows the course of the Potomac
River before crashing into the Pentagon
9.40am: The FAA halts all flight operations at U.S. airports, the first
time in U.S. history that air traffic nationwide has been halted
10.03am: The south tower collapses, sending clouds of dust and
debris into the streets of lower Manhattan
10.06am: United Airlines flight 93 crashes in a field near Shanksville,
Pennsylvania
10.10am: A portion of the Pentagon collapses
10.29am: The north tower collapses
Who Knew?
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In January 1996 the CIA's Counterterrorism Center created a special
unit focusing on Osama bin Laden after his involvement in planning
and directing terrorist acts becomes more evident to the U.S.
intelligence community.
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May 26, 1998 Osama bin Laden held a news conference in
Afghanistan declaring war on the United States.
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August 1998 the FBI and the Federal Aviation Administration receive
information that unidentified Arabs plan to fly an "explosive-laden
plane" from an unnamed country into the World Trade Centre.
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By October 1998 U.S. intelligence officials learn that al Qaeda was
trying to establish an operative cell within the United States.
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April 2001 A source with terrorist connections speculates that bin
Laden might be interested in using commercial pilots as terrorists.
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April 18, 2001 The FAA sends another warning to U.S. airlines that
Middle Eastern terrorists could try to hijack or blow up a U.S. plane
and that carriers should "demonstrate a high degree of alertness."
June 22, 2001 The FAA issues another warning to U.S. airlines
July 10, 2001 FBI Agent Ken Williams sends a memo to the
counterterrorism division at the FBI's Washington headquarters. It
outlines a theory that Middle Eastern students at an Arizona flight
school could be al Qaeda agents training for hijackings. FBI analysts
review the memo but do nothing.
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September 10, 2001 The National Security Agency intercepts two
communications from Afghanistan to Saudi Arabia. "Tomorrow is zero
hour," says one. "The match begins tomorrow," says the other. The
messages are not translated until September 12.
Labelling theory and legitimisation
How do we interact with each other?
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Does interaction indicate power relations?
Do you understand my behaviour in the same way I do?
If you are known by a certain name or title will I feel differently about
you?
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If you look through hundreds of years of history, the imperial
countries have been basically immune [from attack] …
…almost any crime, a crime in the streets, a war, whatever it
may be, there’s usually something behind it that has elements
of legitimacy…
the atrocities you commit somewhere else don’t exist … take
the United States … [centuries ago] fundamentalist fanatics
from England came over here and started exterminating the
local population … it wasn’t a small affair; it was millions of
people … When I was growing up as a kid, we played cowboys
and Indians. We were the cowboys and we killed the Indians.
(Chomsky, 2003 Power and Terror. pp14-17)
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Adbusters – provides an alternative view on
US culture
http://kinfish.com/usa/index.php?page=4
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WORLD WAR II 1941-45
Fought Axis forces for three years; first nuclear war, against Japan.
GREECE 1947-49
Supports and directs extreme right in civil war.
PHILIPPINES 1948-54
CIA directs war against leftist Huk Rebellion.
PUERTO RICO 1950
Nationalist insurrection challenges American occupation; US command
operation puts down rebellion.
KOREAN WAR 1950-53
Joins South Korea and other allies to fight China and North Korea.
IRAN 1953
CIA directs overthrow of elected left-leaning government, installs Shah.
GUATEMALA 1954
CIA directs exile invasion and overthrow of leftist government; military junta
installed.
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LEBANON 1958
US occupation ends under UN Observer Group.
VIETNAM WAR 1960-75
Fought South Vietnam rebels and North Vietnam forces; 1-2 million killed.
CUBA 1961
CIA-directed "Bay of Pigs" invasion.
LAOS 1962
Green Berets active in training, military buildup, support of rightist forces during
guerrilla war.
PANAMA 1964
Control of Panama Canal Zone challenged; rioting against US forces.
INDONESIA 1965
Army coup assisted to an unknown degree by CIA; left-leaning elected
government toppled; between 250,000 to 1,000,000 lives lost.
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DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 1965-66
Troops invade during election as pre-emptive action against leftist rebellion or
communist government.
GUATEMALA 1966-67
Command operation; Green Berets aid in combat against leftist rebels.
CAMBODIA 1969-75
War against leftist forces; intense bombing; up to 2 million killed.
OMAN 1970
US directs Iranian invasion in support of Omani government against Marxist
"Dhufar rebellion."
LAOS 1971-73
US directs South Vietnamese invasion.
CHILE 1973
CIA-backed coup ousts elected leftist president; rightist dictator installed.
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ANGOLA 1976-92
CIA assists South African-backed rebels.
EL SALVADOR 1981-92
Advisors aid government forces against leftist rebels.
NICARAGUA 1981-90
US directs guerrilla exile invasion ("Contra war") against revolutionary
government; US forces plant mines.
LEBANON 1982-84
Marines help police negotiated evacuation of Palestine Liberation Organization;
US forces combat Muslim and Syrian fighters in support of Christian
government.
HONDURAS 1983-89
Military bases established for US-backed "Contra war" with Nicaragua.
GRENADA 1983-84
US troops topple pro-Cuban government.
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LIBYA 1986
Air strikes against nationalist government with terrorist links.
BOLIVIA 1986
Operation Blast Furnace; US troops and Bolivian police face peasant
resistance in cocaine-producing regions.
IRAN 1987-88
Intervention on side of Iraq in war against Iran.
U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS 1989
Troops restore order after civil unrest spurred by Hurricane Hugo.
PHILIPPINES 1989
Armed US aircraft support constitutional government against failed coup.
PANAMA 1989-90
Nationalist government ousted by 27,000 US soldiers; more than 2,000 people
killed.
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GULF WAR 1990Operation Desert Storm drives Iraq out of Kuwait; 200,000+ killed. No-fly zone
ongoing; periodic bombing.
SOMALIA 1992-94
US-led United Nations occupation during civil war.
YUGOSLAVIA 1992-94
US troops in NATO operation to enforce sanctions against Serbia and
Montenegro.
BOSNIA 1993-95
Operation Deny Flight patrols civil war no-fly zone; air combat, Serbs bombed.
HAITI 1994-96
Troops restore elected leftist president to office three years after coup.
CROATIA 1995
American and NATO forces attack Bosnian Serb airfields prior to Croatian
offensive.
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SUDAN 1998
Pharmaceutical factory with terrorist links bombed; retaliation for terrorist
attacks on US embassies in Africa.
AFGHANISTAN 1998
Bombing of Islamic fundamentalist military camps; retaliation for terrorist
attacks on US embassies in Africa.
YUGOSLAVIA 1999
US aircraft play the key role in heavy NATO air strikes against Serbian forces in
Kosovo.
COLOMBIA 2000
Special Forces train anti-narcotics and anti-rebel battalions, supply combat
aircraft.
MACEDONIA 2001
US forces in NATO's Operation Essential Harvest partially disarm Albanian
rebels.
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AFGHANISTAN 2001
In retaliation for terrorist attacks in US, forces
attempt ouster of Afghanistan's Taliban government,
attack bases linked to Islamic militant Osama bin
Laden.
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Since then, there have been more than 30 further
‘Use of United States Armed Forces Abroad’
according to the US Congress (report ends in 2007):
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http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/crs/rl32170.pdf
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…you don’t consider that what you do to other people matters … if you
take a poll among US intellectuals, support for bombing Afghanistan is
just overwhelming. But how many of them think that you should bomb
Washington because of the US war against Nicaragua, let’s say, or
Cuba or Turkey or anyone else? …if one is right, why is the other one
wrong? …there couldn’t be a moral principle more elementary. All you
have to do is read George Bush’s favorite philosopher (Jesus). There’s
a famous definition in the Gospels of the hypocrite, and the hypocrite
is the person who refuses to apply to himself the standards he applies
to others. (Chomsky, 2003: pp28-29)
Terrorism
A dictionary definition might give us:
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“The systematic use of violence as a means to intimate or
coerce societies or governments”.
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"One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter."
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Expected result of the violence: Let's define an action as "terrorism" if
the use of violence would reasonably be expected to harm innocent
civilians. This is to be distinguished from a "military" action, where the
use of violence is not reasonably expected to harm innocent civilians.
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Nature of the actor: A "state" action would be one conducted by a
sovereign government. A "guerrilla" action will be one conducted by a
non-governmental entity.
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Four different types of violent acts: Hence, we can have both state
military actions and state terrorism actions. Likewise, there can be
both guerrilla military actions and guerrilla terrorism actions.
US and UK terrorism?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1740538.stm
 In January 2002 the BBC reported on the number of Afghan
civilians killed by US bombs. Nearly 3,800 Afghans died
between 7 October and 7 December 2001.
US military contravened Protocol I Additional to the Geneva
Conventions of 1949. The Protocol categorically prohibits:
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direct attacks against civilians or civilian objects;
indiscriminate attacks (attacks which do not attempt to distinguish between
military targets and civilians or civilian objects);
disproportionate attacks (attacks which, although aimed at a legitimate military
target, have a disproportionate impact on civilians or civilian objects).
http://www.amnestyusa.org/document.php?lang=e&id=9DEF4263FC2E35CA80256FE7004FE4C0
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Amnesty International is concerned about the use of cluster bombs
close to civilian areas in Iraq.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/2946054.stm
Human Rights Watch suggest that the number of civilians killed or
wounded since the war ended in Iraq is higher than it was
during the conflict.
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2003/04/26/northern-iraq-civilian-deaths-higher-war-ended
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Was Britain’s decision to enter the war in Iraq legal according to
international law?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1042998,00.html
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"In some ways, the peace has proved more
lethal than the war," said Hania Mufti,
London Director of the Middle East and North
Africa division of Human Rights Watch.