[WikiEN-l] terrorism

Wed Jan 21 08:23:17 UTC 2004

Martin wrote: 
>By contrast, suppose that Osama bin Laden had not crashed two aircraft 
>into the WTC, but was a terrorist. With the exception of people interested in
>Middle East politics, nobody would know who he was. Indeed, prior to
>attacking the WTC, Osama  bin Laden was a terrorist, and wasn't famous 
>enough to get onto "I'm a celebrity, get me out of here".

Not sure about the "I'm a celebrity, get me out of here" reference, but OBL 
was a widely-known terrorist before 9/11. Remember the embassy bombings in 
Kenya and Tanzania and Clinton's response by bombing Al-Queda bases in 
Afghanistan with cruise missiles? OBL was mentioned many times in reference 
to that attack as the probable mastermind. In fact his name came-up rather 
quickly in the news as a possible suspect in the 9/11 attack due to previous 
exposure. 

>Similarly, Zero is making a similar "what if?" point. Suppose that Osama 
>bin Laden was not a terrorist, but had still crashed two aircraft into the
>WTC. Perhaps he wrote some buggy software, or was an incompetent 
>air traffic controller, or turned on his mobile phone in the cabin, or was 
>a drunk pilot. He'd still be a household name. Kill three thousand people 
>in a single day, and you're going to be famous, no matter how you do it.

Disasters resulting from accidents and incompetence do not result in terror 
rocking a nation. Intent has a lot to do with that. 

'They are targeting us', is massively different from 'what a horrible 
accident'. Accidents happen, that is part of life. Most people are perfectly 
fine accepting that and continue to get in their autos every day (which BTW 
killed 10 times as many people in 2001 than 9/11 did). But when we *know* 
that others are out to get us; well that has a tendency to change one's life.  

This added dimension to the loss of human life greatly changes the dynamic of 
the whole event. It elevates it way beyond terms of just the lives and 
property that were lost - a whole nation is attacked in a profound and 
personal way. That's terrorism. 

>Being regarded as a terrorist doesn't get you a lot of fame. There must be
>hundreds of ex-IRA members wandering about Ireland as we speak, and I 
>don't know any of their names. 

Yeah, so. Plenty of minor actors in Hollywood too. 

>Fame comes from what you DO. How you are regarded also comes  
>from what you do. However, fame does not come from how you are 
>regarded (well, I guess porn stars are maybe an exception).

What terrorists DO is far more than just kill people and destroy property (see 
above). 

And just as some actors get better parts and thus become more famous, some 
terrorists are able to commit higher profile terrorist acts and thus become 
more famous. But the name of their profession can and should be mentioned in 
articles about them. Even if it is attributed in cases where there is a 
significant dispute about that in the outside world. 

-- Daniel Mayer (aka mav)