That's one of the main tenets of the Chinese warrior philosopher, Sun Tzu. What goes through the mind of a terrorist? Why do they target civilian targets? What motivates them?
Next week, American Military University is presenting a free webcast. On March 17, from 1 to 2:15 p.m., they will present Inside The Terrorist Mind, an in-depth analysis of the terrorist mind, and how the culture of terrorism fits into the rest of the civilized world.
The panelists will cover topics including:
- Root causes of terrorism
- Variations and history of terrorism
- Views on why individuals join
- The complexity of motivation
- Where do we go from here?
I'll be tuning in and will bring back a full report to you here.Terrorists of the Future?
This is video of Pashtun children in Pakistan playing jihadi suicide bomber. The boy in black hugs his friends as he leaves on a pretend suicide attack. He approaches the boy in white who is playing a security person, then shows his toy bomb before detonating it in the crowd, while the boys in the crowd throw sand in the air to simulate an explosion. Is it just their version of cowboys & Indians or cops & robbers, or is it something much worse? I think the difference is that when we played our games as kids, the goal was to kill the bad guy but stay alive to be the hero. These kids have the goal of dying while killing the infidels.
Watch the video and let us know what you think. I'll warn you, I think it is pretty disturbing.
Earthquake/Tsunami
My thoughts and prayers are with those in Japan, Hawaii and the West Coast who lost loved ones and property today. As I type this, Japan is in utter turmoil. Several nuclear power plants are on the verge of failing. They've evacuated 45,000 from around one plant. Thousands are dead or missing, including an entire commuter train full of passengers.
In Hawaii, there was a lot of flooding and some property damage, but from what I have seen, no loss of life.
In California, many boats and piers were destroyed, and several people died when they were swept out to sea. The daughter and grandchildren of a friend had to evacuate their home near Monterrey, but did not lose anything. The folks at Backwoods Home Magazine had to shut down and evacuate their offices today, but also escaped unscathed.
We need to keep an eye on the nuclear problems in Japan. In WWII they released bomb balloons that reached the US mainland. One would think the air currents could move radiation that far if enough of it escapes the facilities.
How do you give advice when it is your own govt, ie, waco and ruby ridge, who are doing the terrorizing?
ReplyDeleteI think that has to be one of the most disturbing videos I've ever seen. The news on tv is awful on a daily basis but to see little children playing this way is awful on so many levels.
ReplyDeleteIt's easy to sit back and talk about things but seeing it in action whether rehearsed or not makes the beginning of terrorism more real.
Do you know if that webcast will be available for download? I'll be at work at the time.
ReplyDeleteA book that has some interesting info on the why of terrorists as well as how to deal with it is "Living with terrorism" by Howard Linett.
http://www.amazon.com/LIVING-TERRORISM-Survival-Lessons-Jerusalem/dp/B000VBW61E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1300022011&sr=8-1
I'm not overly concerned about significant amounts of radiation making it to the US mainland. That's quite a bit of time and distance to disperse said radioactive particles.
Steelheart
Anon - I think that historically, every government has committed atrocities against its people at one time or another. And ours has done some pretty terrible things to our fellow citizens. But it is by far the best one going today. I think the best defense is to stay aware and knowledgable, and the ballot box is the most powerful weapon we can use.
ReplyDeleteArmy Wife - thanks for the feedback, and thanks to your husband and you for your service!
Steelheart - I just saw your comment, it got hung up in the spam filter. I ended up not able to watch it live, but I think it's available still. I'll look for a link tomorrow and post it. Thanks for the info on the book. I'll look it up. The Israelies definately deal with it daily.