"In the space between our houses, some bones have been discovered...our procession lurches on, as if we had recovered..."
Who can tell friend or foe in the region? Turkey is in between the frying pan and the fire ... the crossroads of the continents. I always have to ask what the terrorist think they are gaining. It changes no minds, no balances of power, doesn't influence State efforts, infact it usually just hardens resolve and justifies retribution. When did modern terrorism ever yield positive results for the perpetrators? (Brownshirts? Zionist?)
They're angry people with no goals or direction. There are no drug gangs or Turkic skinheads, so the terror groups fill the void.
Seriously, I think it's effective primarily in terms of policy. 9/11 yielded the patriot act and a new surveillance state. 9/11 pushed certain factions of the executive branch to violate geneva conventions. The tube attacks in London could non-trivially be linked to the brexit vote -- not solely, but it definitely changed a lot of people's minds about immigration policies. And the recent ISIS-tinged or ISIS-linked attacks in America are giving strength to the most radical and isolationist voices in our country. These are all things the terrorists would celebrate, making their enemies less free and/or more divided in each case.
Agreed. Terrorism is effective due primarily to stupid responses. Dubya and Cheney scared the citizens of the greatest military power in history to the point where they cheered for the invasion of Iraq leading to ISIS. It is till going on with the relatively recent support for creating a failed state in Libya and many want to finish off Asad to do the same in the rest of Syria not under ISIS control. Bin Laden won and as he said his plan to bankrupt the West due to their response to terrorist attacks continues to be successful. Can't bomb our way out of this and nearly all our responses have been just plain stupid.
I think every group's 'goal' is self-determination. Unless you are buying in to a very long time-line, say 100+ years I can't see any tangible benefits of terror. You'd have a lot better shot by hardening a defensible perimeter or taking out segments of the power structure, like heads of States. ISIS would have had a chance if they just held the ground they took instead of bringing down the wrath of the whole planet. You can't win anything without a logistics plan, supplies from outside the conflict zone.
Good lord have mercy. Just a random assortment of innocent travelers on a Tuesday. Heinous. Agree with those not understanding the goal here.
