CASUALTIES OF POLITICALLY INSPIRED VIOLENCE AND TERRORISM
Terrorism predates organized warfare. Lone indivi- duals and small bands surreptitiously attacked their enemies long before armies of men were thrown into battle. Terrorism took the form of killing lea- ders or potential challengers to a throne and of spreading panic by carrying out barbaric acts.
Although the means and the goals have evolved over the centuries, terrorism still involves the unlawful use of force against persons or prop- erty in order to intimidate a government, frighten a civilian population, or coerce a segment of the pub- lic to surrender to political or social demands. Unlike common criminals, terrorists do not commit violent offenses to line their pockets. They intend to advance their social, religious, or political cause and seek publicity for their dramatic deeds to score propaganda victories. They attack certain targets to gain the attention of a third party—the audience they are desperately trying to influence. By relying upon stealth and deception, terrorists can disrupt and demoralize more powerful adversaries who would easily defeat them in conventional warfare. Terrorist violence includes bombings, suicide mis- sions, assassinations, airplane hijackings, kidnappings for ransom, and hostage taking to arrange prisoner exchanges or to negotiate from a position of strength. But modern forms can also encompass new tactics, such as cyberattacks, to sabotage and disrupt computer operations (FBI, 2001).
Focused terrorism is aimed at specific targets and symbols such as corporate headquarters and government officials. Indiscriminate acts of violence inflict casualties on innocent, randomly selected tar- gets of opportunity who just happen to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Usually, those who are wounded or murdered have no special connec- tion to, substantial influence over, or particular responsibility for the political, social, and religious conflicts that motivated the terrorist attack. The injured parties are pawns or bargaining chips in high-stakes power struggles and fear campaigns designed to spread panic and undermine confidence in the government.
The public can be affected indirectly in several ways. People may become cynical and pessimistic either about the enemy or about their own side’s widely proclaimed lofty ideals and may lose faith in the ability of their government and its criminal jus- tice system to protect and serve them. Indirect vic- tims are not personally involved in an attack but suffer the adverse consequences of it (for example, their livelihoods are linked to the fortunes of the
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tourism industry, which experiences business losses in the aftermath of a disruptive event). Besides fear- ing the terrorists, sectors of the public may also become frightened of their own law enforcement agencies if onerous national security restrictions are imposed and cherished civil liberties are sacrificed in the quest to root out hidden terrorist cells and dis- rupt clandestine networks conspiring to strike again (Kratcoski, Edelbacher, and Das, 2001).