The Bombings in the city of Boston, Massachusetts, that claimed three casualties and injured approximately 171, for many confirmed the struggle western nations face against those who are prepared to commit acts of terror. In the wake of 9/11, a wave of terror swept the globe as people worldwide became certain that more such spectacular attacks were inevitable. A global war on terror ensued in order to hunt down terrorists and those who harboured them. A decade on from the events of 9/11 many in the west treat the threat of terror attacks on their soil the same as the possibility of nuclear war during the cold war. There is much propaganda around the issue of terrorism and putting these into perspective is essential.
Terrorism, the use of terror or violence is a tactic utilised by a wide array of individuals, groups and states and something that has existed throughout history. Terrorism did not come into existence on September 11 2001. Terror or violence transcends across various fault lines and there is no single creed, ethnicity, political persuasion or nationality with a monopoly on terrorism. Individuals and groups of individuals from almost every conceivable background from late Victorian-era anarchists to tribal clansmen to North Korean intelligence officers – have conducted terrorist attacks.
Whilst the last decade – Osama bin Laden, Al Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri and the Taliban have been constantly blamed for terrorist attacks the reality is terrorism is a relatively minor threat to most people wherever they are in the world, especially America. The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) in its report: ‘9/11, ten years later,’ noted, excluding the 9/11 atrocities, fewer than 500 people died in the US from terrorist attacks between 1970 and 2010.[1] Since 9/11, a total of 238 American citizens died from terrorist attacks. According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, the average American is as likely to be crushed to death by televisions or furniture as they are to be killed by a terrorist.[2] In fact US government policy is completely disproportionate to what kills many Americans. US policy over the last decade saw a massive escalation of its military foot print across the globe as well as the expansion of homeland security and surveillance laws to deal with a relatively minor threat. More Americans die every year in car accidents, drown in a bathtub, die in a building fire and are struck by lightning then in a terrorist attack.[3]
The proliferation of 24-hour television news networks and Internet news sites magnifies this relatively minor threat. The need to fill the airwaves and compete with a plethora of channels has led to bad reporting and misunderstanding that has hyped terror. The outlandish and startling terrorism stories have led to the audience to become impacted by the propaganda leading to the deed becoming far larger than it really is. On September 11, 2001, millions of people in the US and around the world watched live as the World Trade Centre, came crashing down and people leapt to their deaths to escape the raging fires. Watching this sequence of events in real time profoundly affected many people. Such theatrical attacks exert hold over the human imagination. The sense of terror they create can dwarf the reaction to natural disasters many times greater in magnitude. For example and without belittling any deaths, more than 227,000 people died in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami compared to fewer than 3,000 people on 9/11. Yet the 9/11 attacks spawned a global sense of terror and a geopolitical reaction that had a profound and unparalleled impact upon world events over the past decade.
Alongside this the entertainment industry through film and Drama have taken the issue of terrorism and built multiple myths around the issue. Films such as under siege, the Kingdom, United 93, Olympus has fallen etc. have all contributed to the myth that many Muslims are involved in sleeper cells and plotting spectacular attacks on Western targets. TV series’ such as Homeland and 24 sensationalised the possibility if a WMD’s being snatched by Islamic radicals from a secure, secret facility in order to hold America hostage. When compared to the facts Europol data shows that between 2006 to 2008 99.6% of all terrorist activity in Europe was conducted by non-Muslims.[4] And official FBI records showed 94% of terrorist attacks on American soil from 1980 to 2005 were also perpetrated by non-Muslims.[5]
There can be no doubt that elements within the US establishment needed a pretext to expand US influence around the world at the turn of the 21st century. The Neocons argued in their project for the new American century report of the need for a Pearl Harbor type event to justify a massive increase in US military footprint to further America’s global agenda. No sooner had the dust settled on 9/11, the attacks became the pretext to invade Iraq. Terrorism and the threat of terrorism has been used to justify US action across the globe and it remains in its interest to stoke up this fear. This fear has been used as the pretext to conduct surveillance against US citizens as well as drone attacks around the world. America does have a big problem domestically which claims the lives of thousands, this however is not terrorism. A murder is committed every 36 minutes in the US,[6] 69 Americans die every hour of heart disease, whilst 66 Americans die every hour of cancer. When putting terrorism into perspective, it is quite clear it is a relatively small threat.
Adnan Khan