This page intentionally left blank The Trouble with Terror What is terrorism and can it ever be defended? Beginning with its definition, proceeding to its possible justifications, and culminating in proposals for contending with and combating it, this book offers a full theoretical analysis of the issue of terrorism Tamar Meisels argues that, regardless of its professed cause, terrorism is diametrically opposed to the requirements of liberal morality and can only be defended at the expense of relinquishing the most basic of liberal commitments Meisels opposes those who express sympathy and justification for Islamist (particularly Palestinian) terrorism and terrorism allegedly carried out on behalf of developing nations, but, at the same time, also opposes those who would tolerate any reduction in civil liberties in exchange for greater security Calling wholeheartedly for a unanimous liberal front against terrorism, this is a strong and provocative attempt to address the tension between liberty and security in a time of terror is Lecturer in the Political Science Department at Tel-Aviv University She is the author of Territorial Rights (2005) TAMAR MEISELS The Trouble with Terror Liberty, Security, and the Response to Terrorism TAMAR MEISELS CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 8RU, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521899482 © Tamar Meisels 2008 This publication is in copyright Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press First published in print format 2008 ISBN-13 978-0-511-42930-9 eBook (EBL) ISBN-13 978-0-521-89948-2 hardback ISBN-13 978-0-521-72832-4 paperback Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of urls for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate For Abigail and Martha Contents Acknowledgments page ix Introduction Part I Defining and Defending Terrorism Defining terrorism – a typology The apologetics of terrorism: a refutation Part II Freedom, Security, and Rights in a Terrorist Age: Liberal-Democratic Dilemmas 30 55 How terrorism upsets liberty 57 Combatants – lawful and unlawful 90 Part III Fighting Terrorism 127 Targeting terror 129 Torturing terrorists 165 Torture and the problem of dirty hands 196 Bibliography 228 Index 234 vii ... Lecturer in the Political Science Department at Tel-Aviv University She is the author of Territorial Rights (2005) TAMAR MEISELS The Trouble with Terror Liberty, Security, and the Response to Terrorism. .. Defining and Defending Terrorism Defining terrorism – a typology As the leaders of Western democracies and their security forces increasingly struggle with terrorism, their lawyers and philosophers... of terrorism Following Coady, I refer to them as “tactical” in that they define terrorism in terms of the specific tactic employed, rather than with reference to the nature of their perpetrator