Iraq and International Terrorism

Artur WEJKSZNER Institute of Political Science and Journalism Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznañ Iraq and international terrorism Introduction Terrorism, most generally understood as killing in order to achieve political gain, has accompanied humanity since the dawn of history.1 This simplified definition, which is only one of many, does not aim at explaining its essence. Over more than two centuries of attempts at fully explaining it, the idea has turned out to be very difficult to grasp and, to make matters worse, due to ideological reasons, has acquired contradic- tory connotations.2 To date several hundred definitions have been formulated, definitions which, in all cases, do not describe the phenomenon satisfactorily.3 For the sake of this article, however, it is worth making one more attempt. Terrorism is intimately con- nected with three matters: violence, terror and politics. If these elements are considered central to this phenomenon, then the definition proposed by Bruce Hoffman is fairly important and useful. According to his definition, terrorism is the conscious creation of terror and the use of violence or threats of violence when striving to attain political change. Terrorism is conceived purposefully so that it would have a long term psycho- logical impact, going considerably beyond the immediate victim. By means of public- ity, accomplished as a result of violence, terrorists hope to achieve influence and power in order to bring about changes at a local or international level.4 Across its existence, the phenomenon has gone through various evolutionary phases. One of the latest phases is the era of international terrorism. It is difficult to pre- 1 In Conor Gearty’s opinion we can read about terrorists in historical legends, among others in Flavius who wrote about the so called sykariuses (assassins with daggers).The precursors of terrorists were also assassins (an Ishmael Shiite sect), who murdered the leaders and participants of crusades to the Holy Land (C. Gearty, Terroryzm, Warszawa 1998, pp. 11–12). 2 Contemporary definitely negative connotations must be confronted with the views of French revolution leaders. Maximillian Robespierre claimed that “terror is only justice – quick, strict and ste- adfast, therefore it is the emanation of virtue” (B. Hoffman, Oblicza terroryzmu, Warszawa 1999, p. 14 quoted from R. R. Palmer, The Age of Democratic Revolution, vol. 2: The Struggle, Princeton University Press, Princeton 1970, p. 126). 3 Alex P. Schmid claims that there are (in English literature) at least 109 definitions (Political Terrorism: A New Guide to Actors, Authors, Concepts, Data Bases, Theories and Literature, Transac- tion Books, New Brunswick 1988, p. X). 4 B. Hoffman, op. cit., p. 42. 108 Artur Wejkszner cisely identify the point at which the internationalization process of terrorism began. Nevertheless the suggestion that the process refers particularly to the Near East and that it occurred during the 1990s might be agreed on.5 The internationalization of terrorism came into being due to purely practical reasons. Palestinian terrorist organizations as- sembled within the framework of Palestine Liberation Organization wanted, especially through acts of terror against third country citizens, to make the international commu- nity aware of the existence of the Palestinian problem. The most well known and the most spectacular operation of Palestinian fighters was that of Black September on 5 September 1972 during the Olympic Games in Munich.6 As a result of the operation 11 Israeli sportsmen were killed. Although it was immediately condemned, the act resulted in attracting interest to the Palestinian problem and the UN granting Special Observer status to the PLO several months afterwards. The activity of Palestinian formations, and tens of other formations created later which used modus operandi formed by the Palestinians, would not have been possible without strong backing by certain states. They have been named “sponsors of international terrorism” in the literature about this subject. The connotations of this term seem to be obvious. However, when such a compli- cated phenomenon as terrorism is analysed, it is worth remembering, on one hand, the difficulties in defining the concept (especially as regards the latest evolutionary stage), and that on the other hand, attempts at marking clear borders between various types of terrorism fairly often prove to be arbitrary and ineffective. This is visible, for example, when considering domestic and international terrorism. The former refers to terrorist attacks carried out on the territory and against the property and citizens of only one country and by citizens of this country based on its territory,7 whereas the latter refers to situations in which terrorist attacks take place in a foreign country or in which the attack target is citizens of a country other then the per- petrators’ country and also these in which terrorists are stationed on foreign territory.8 The border between these two forms of terrorist activity is currently becoming blurred because of the internationalization or globalization of terrorism. It has been noted on many occasions that a domestic terrorist organization which acted against its fellow countrymen had consulted its operations at an international level.9 5 Ibidem, pp. 64–65. 6 More about this see: J. K. Cooley, Green March, Black September: The Story of the Palestinian Arabs, Frank Class, London 1973. 7 B. Bolechów, Terroryzm w œwiecie podwubiegunowym, Toruñ 2002, p. 43. 8 Ibidem, p. 43. 9 In certain situations it is possible then to talk about the existence of domestic terrorism sponsored internationally, though this concept is not as formal as the above-mentioned two concepts. The best example here is al-Qaeda’s activity, which constitutes the so called Salafid International together with dozens of other terrorist organizations operating locally (for more see: Y. Alexander, M. S. Swet- nam, Siewcy Œmierci. Osama bin Laden i inni szefowie al-Qaedy, Warszawa 2001, pp. 12–75; P. L. Williams, Al-Kaida. Bractwo terroru, Warszawa 2002, pp. 25–39). Iraq and international terrorism 109 A similar situation exists in the case of two further types of terrorism: state and state sponsored terrorism. State terrorism means that civil service officials are directly involved in terrorist operations, while state sponsored terrorism means commissioning and controlling or supporting selected terrorist organizations or terrorists acting in a given state authorities’name or interests. If the two above-mentioned criteria are com- bined, a series of subtypes can be distinguished. There is, for instance, domestic state terrorism or international state terrorism.10 It is worth asking the question here: Why have the members of contemporary terrorist formations decided that the most effective way of struggling for their goals is moving terrorist activity to the international plane? This new method of non-classic armed fighting has arisen from the fact of the confrontation of two highly unequal powers. They are represented, on the one hand, by contemporary modern countries, on the other hand, by sub national groups fighting for their particular interests.11 The latter do not de facto have any effective instruments with which to exert pressure on the opponent or communications besides an escalation of violence on an unheard-of scale and using the power of contemporary media (satellite TV or the Internet). The goals which are to be achieved by such means seem to be of secondary importance in this situation. It is a fal- lacy that only terrorists motivated by religious beliefs (for example Islamic fundamen- talists) function in this way. In the history of contemporary terrorism there have been, and there still are, many organizations referring to secular ideologies (including nation- alistic ones), which more or less successfully (vide: Palestinian national independence organizations), operate on this basis. In this context the following question seems to be justified and far more important: What is the purpose and how do the subjects of state authorities become involved in terrorism? One of the most important motives in taking this type of action is the desire to have an effective, even though illegal, influence on the international environment. The point here is, particularly, the intention to weaken militarily stronger opponents “from inside” or to have a powerful argument (for example referring to one’s resignation from supporting terrorist formations12) during negotiations conducted in the international arena.13 Other goals seem to be less significant, though not meaningless. The desire to extend regime influence (including ideological influence)14 or suppression of opposi- tion residing in third countries might belong to the goals. As far as the way in which states support international terrorism is concerned, practical methods have always varied. A given country may use its own state apparatus in the form of special or diplo- 10 More in: B. Bolechów, op. cit., pp. 43–48. 11 M. Van Creveld, The Transformation of War, The Free Press, New York 1991, p. 225; also see: D. Tucker, Skirmishes at the Edge of Empire: The United States and International Terrorism, Praeger, Westport, Connecticut 1997. 12 The example of Lebannon, which resigned from supporting international terrorism and obtained many concessions on account of this, may be given here. 13 M. Madej, Miêdzynarodowy terroryzm polityczny, Warszawa 2001, pp. 53–56. 14 The question if

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