Islamic Terrorism’ in the United States, 1940-2017
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Fighting \the Evil Scourge of Terrorism": From `Jewish Terrorism' to `Islamic Terrorism' in the United States, 1940-2017 Dissertation zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades Doktor der Philosophie in der Philosophischen Fakult¨at der Eberhard Karls Universit¨atT¨ubingen Vorgelegt von Annika Carolin Brunck aus Essen 2018 Gedruckt mit Genehmigung der Philosophischen Fakult¨atder Eberhard Karls Universit¨atT¨ubingen Dekan: Prof. Dr. J¨urgenLeonhardt Hauptberichterstatter: Prof. Dr. Michael Butter Mitberichterstatter: PD Dr. Carsten Schinko Tag der m¨undlichen Pr¨ufung: 23. September 2019 Universit¨atsbibliothekT¨ubingen, Online-Bibliotheksinformations- und Ausleihsystem TOBIAS-lib Contents List of Figures vi 1 Introduction: Talking about `Terrorism' 1 1.1 Project Description . .9 1.2 Theoretical Background . 18 1.3 State of the Art . 21 1.4 Project Outline . 25 2 \Americans Are Suffering from International Terrorism" { The Emergence and Rise of the Discourse on `Terrorism' from the 1940s to the 1970s 30 2.1 Jewish \Terrorist Band[s]" and Soviet \Terror and Sabotage" { The `Terrorism' Discourse in U.S. News Media in the 1940s to 1960s . 37 2.2 \Rebels," \Enemies," and \Terrorists" { The `Terrorism' Discourse in U.S. Academia in the 1950s and 1960s . 51 2.3 \A Definite Turning Point" { The `Terrorism' Discourse in U.S. Politics and Academia in the 1970s . 58 2.4 \An Explosion of Entries" { The `Terrorism' Discourse in U.S. News Media and Popular Culture in the 1970s . 71 2.5 \America Held Hostage" { The Iranian Hostage Crisis as a Case of `International Terrorism' against the United States . 86 iii 3 \This Is [. ] the Work of a Confederation of Terrorist States" { The 1980s, `Terrorist' Networks, and the Reagan Administration's `War against Terrorism' 93 3.1 The Root of All Evil { The Intellectual Origins behind Claims of Soviet Sponsorship of `Terrorism' in the Early 1980s . 99 3.2 \Proof Abounded" { Reading Claims of a Soviet `Terror' Network as Conspiracy Theory . 104 3.3 \The Terror What?" { Responses to the Soviet `Terrorism' Network Conspiracy Theory . 116 3.4 Starting a \War against Terrorism" { The `Terrorism' Discourse in U.S. Politics and Academia in the Mid- to Late 1980s . 128 3.5 Fighting `Arab Terrorists' in the Middle East { The `Terrorism' Discourse in U.S. News Media and Popular Culture in the Mid- to Late 1980s . 146 4 \We Are Confronting the Emergence of New Kinds of Terrorist Violence" { `New Islamic Terrorism' in the 1990s 158 4.1 \A Period of Relative Quiet" { The `Terrorism' Discourse in U.S. Politics and Academia in the Early 1990s . 165 4.2 \Islamic Terrorist Groups Have Mushroomed Throughout the Arab World" { The `Terrorism' Discourse in U.S. News Media and Popular Culture in the Early 1990s . 172 4.3 “Defining the Nature of [. ] Islamist Terrorist Groups" { The `Terrorism' Discourse in Academia in the Mid- to Late 1990s . 186 4.4 Taking \the Fight against Terrorism" to the Political Forefront { The `Terrorism' Discourse in U.S. Politics in the Mid- to Late 1990s . 196 4.5 \There Will Never Be a Last Cell! It's Just the Beginning." { The `Terrorism' Discourse in U.S. News Media and Popular Culture in the Mid- to Late 1990s 207 iv 5 \Terrorism against Our Nation Will Not Stand" { 9/11, the \War on Terror(ism)," and the `Terrorism' Discourse at the Beginning of the New Millennium 221 5.1 An \Age of Terrorism"? The `Terrorism' Discourse in U.S. Academia in the Early 2000s . 231 5.2 \Events Occur in Real Time" { The `Terrorism' Discourse in U.S. News Media and Popular Culture in the Early 2000s . 237 5.3 \The Global Jihadist Movement [. ] Remains the Preeminent Terrorist Threat to the United States" { The `Terrorism' Discourse in U.S. Politics and Academia in the Mid- to Late 2000s . 252 5.4 \Islam's Potential for Extremism" { The `Terrorism' Discourse in U.S. News Media and Popular Culture in the Mid- to Late 2000s . 264 6 Conclusion: The `Terrorism' Discourse in the 21st Century 273 6.1 \We Will [. ] Relentlessly Confront Violent Extremists" { The `Terrorism' Discourse During the Obama Presidency . 287 6.2 Coda: Trump and the Return of Race to the `Terrorism' Discourse . 299 7 Appendix 305 8 Works Cited 330 v List of Figures 1.1 Presidential references to `terrorism,' 1940-2017 . 12 1.2 Reporting on `terrorism' in The New York Times, 1940-2017 . 15 1.3 Knowledge production of the discourse on `terrorism' . 17 2.1 Reporting on `terrorism' in The New York Times, 1940-1970 . 38 2.2 Reporting on different kinds of `terrorism' in The New York Times, 1940-1970 39 2.3 Reporting on `terrorism' in the Palestine conflict in The New York Times, 1945-1950 . 40 2.4 Reporting on `terrorism' in the Algerian War of Independence in The New York Times, 1952-1965 . 42 2.5 Reporting on `terrorism' in connection with the Vietnam War in The New York Times, 1962-1971 . 43 2.6 Reporting on different kinds of `terrorism' in and from the Middle East in The New York Times, 1962-1971 . 44 2.7 Reporting on `terrorism' in connection with the Soviet Union in The New York Times, 1940-1970 . 45 2.8 Reporting on `terrorism' in The New York Times, 1940-1980 . 74 2.9 Reporting on different kinds of `terrorism' in and from the Middle East in The New York Times, 1965-1980 . 75 2.10 Reporting on `terrorism' in connection with the Soviet Union in The New York Times, 1965-1980 . 76 3.1 Reporting on `terrorism' in The New York Times, 1977-2000 . 147 3.2 Reporting on `terrorism' in The New York Times, 1977-1990 . 148 3.3 Reporting on `terrorism' in and from the Middle East in The New York Times, 1977-1990 . 150 3.4 Reporting on `terrorism' and other concepts of (political) violence in The New York Times, 1977-1990 . 151 vi 3.5 Reporting on the `scourge' of `terrorism' in The New York Times, 1977-1990 151 4.1 Presidential references to `terrorism,' 1981-2001 . 166 4.2 Reporting on `terrorism' in The New York Times, 1987-2000 . 174 4.3 Reporting on `terrorism' in and from the Middle East in The New York Times, 1987-2000 . 175 4.4 Reporting on `terrorist' incidents in The New York Times, 1987-2000 . 208 5.1 Reporting on `terrorism' in The New York Times, 1999-2010 . 238 5.2 Reporting on `terrorism' in connection to the events of September 11, 2001 and the \war on terror(ism)" in The New York Times, 1999-2010 . 239 5.3 Reporting on `terrorism' in and from the Middle East in The New York Times, 1999-2010 . 241 5.4 Reporting on `terrorism,' `fundamentalism,' and `extremism' in The New York Times, 2000-2010 . 265 5.5 Reporting on `extremism' in The New York Times, 2000-2010 . 266 5.6 Reporting on `terrorism,' `fundamentalism,' and `extremism' (adapted) in The New York Times, 2000-2010 . 266 6.1 Reporting on `terrorism' in The New York Times, 2005-2017 . 294 6.2 Reporting on `terrorism' in and from the Middle East in The New York Times, 1987-2000 . 296 6.3 Reporting on `terrorism' in connection to the \war on terror(ism)" in The New York Times, 2005-2017 . 296 6.4 Reporting on `extremism' in The New York Times, 2005-2017 . 297 6.5 Reporting on `terrorism' and `extremism' (adapted) in The New York Times, 2005-2017 . 298 vii Chapter 1 Introduction: Talking about `Terrorism' On Monday, July 22, 1946, a little after 12:30 pm, a huge blast ripped through the prestigious King David Hotel in Jerusalem. 91 people died while another 46 were injured and large parts of the hotel's Southern wing were destroyed. At the time, this part of the hotel was used as headquarters by the British authorities who had installed offices in the building, immediately raising suspicions that the hotel had been targeted because of the British administrative presence. The Irgun, a Jewish militant group, claimed responsibility for the bombing which marked a bloody high point in the continuously escalating conflict between the Jewish communities and the British forces in Mandatory Palestine. Back in 1922, Britain had received an official mandate by the League of Nations to administer \the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, it being clearly understood that nothing should be done which might prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine" (\Palestine"). In the years since then, the conflict between the Arab and Jewish populations and the British forces concerning the ownership and control of Palestine had been brewing, regularly erupting into violence and destruction.1 Contemporary commentators were clear in their condemnation of the bombing. British Prime Minister Clement Attlee, for instance, called what had transpired an \insane act of terrorism." Similarly, President Truman warned that \[s]uch acts of terrorism w[ould] not advance, but on the contrary might well retard, the efforts that [we]re being made [. ] to bring about a peaceful solution of this difficult problem." The New York Times also reported on the bombing on its title page the next day, writing that \terrorists, believed to belong to either Irgun Zvai Leumi or the Stern gang, blew up a large part of the offices of the chief secretary of the Palestine Government" (Meltzer 1). The article continued by describing how rescuers \were bringing out bodies on stretchers, leaving a trail of blood over the rubble" before ending on the note that a British White Paper was set to be 1For more on the history of Mandatory Palestine and the events which led to the foundation of Israel in 1948 and the Arab-Israeli War that same year, see, e.g., Bell, Terror; Golani; and Su´arez.