the new terrorism fanaticism and the arms of mass destruction

[...]... Josephus called them brigands of a new type, and he considered them mainly responsible for the national catastrophe of the year 70, when the second Temple was destroyed and the Jewish state ceased to exist Another early example of terrorists is the Order of the Assassins in the eleventh century, an offshoot of the Ismailis, a Muslim sect Hassan I Sabah, the founder of the order, was born in Qom, the Shiite... been chosen more often than not as the prima ratio of self9 | |The New Terrorism appointed saviors of freedom and justice, of fanatics and madmen, not as the ultima ratio of rebels against real tyranny ZEALOTS AND ASSASSINS Political murder appears in the earliest annals of mankind, including the Bible The stories of Judith and Holofernes, of Jael and Sisara the Old Testament heroes and villains, have... exploits of the nineteenth century occurred in March 1881 and May 1882, respectively: the murder of Tsar Alexander II, and the assassination of Lord Cavendish and Thomas Henry Burke, the chief secretary of the British administration in Ireland and one of his principal aides Neither event came out of the blue As in Ireland, there had been a revolutionary tradition in Russia antedating the murder of the tsar... those of the past and from each other that the term terrorism no longer fits some of them In the future, new terms will probably be found for the new varieties of terrorism What of the legitimacy of terrorism in certain conditions? Terrorism seldom appeared in brutal dictatorships such as in Nazi Germany or Stalinist Russia, for the simple reason that repression in these regimes made it impossible for the. .. supporting terrorism in certain circumstances Among the more prominent victims of terror were the minister of education; two ministers of the interior; two police chiefs of Moscow; Stolypin, the prime minister; and Grand Duke Serge Aleksandrovich, governor general of Moscow An important difference between the second and the first wave of terrorism was the sheer magnitude of the terrorist campaign Whereas the. .. the siege of and the collective suicide at Masada These patriots (or ultrapatriots, as they would be called in a later age) attacked their enemies, mainly other Jews, by daylight, very often during the celebrations of holidays, using a short dagger (sica) hidden under their coats It was reported that they killed one high priest, burned the house of another, and torched the archives and the palace of. .. the meantime, Nikolai Mezentsev, the head of the political police, had also been shot because of his role in the arrest and mistreatment of members of the People’s Will group, and soon the organization was debating the fate of Mezentsev’s successor, Drenteln By that time the majority of the group had been won over to terrorism and the belief that a terrorist strategy would lead to quick successes The. .. apprehended and executed, and there was relative quiet on the Russian home front for twenty years The number of conspirators had been small, and while they enjoyed considerable sympathies among the intelligentsia and the middle class in general, there 17 | |The New Terrorism were not enough replacements to continue the struggle They were all very young and many of them were students, but there were... to and the use of these weapons will not take a year or two but ten or fifteen The technical difficulties standing in the way of effective use of the arms of mass destruction are still considerable But the danger is so great, the consequences so incalculable, that even the occurrence of a few such attacks may have devastating consequences The traditional, ‘‘nuisance’’ terrorism will continue But fanaticism. .. War, the terrorist action shifted from Europe to the Middle East and Asia There was no neo-Nazi or neo-fascist terrorism in the years after 1945, as many had feared; with the defeat of the Axis powers, the fanatical enthusiasm had vanished In Eastern Europe and the Balkans, including those areas in which terrorism had been endemic, the presence of the Red Army and, later on, the heavy hand of the local . from those of the past and from each other that the term terrorism no longer fits some of them. In the future, new terms will probably be found for the new varieties of terrorism. What of the legitimacy. possible that access to and the use of these weapons will not take a year or two but ten or fifteen. The technical difficulties standing in the way of effective use of the arms of mass destruction are. place, the sicari were actively involved; one of them was the com- mander of the fortress Masada. Josephus called them brigands of a new type, and he considered them mainly responsible for the national