Terrorism is Here to Stay: So What?

The first suicide bombing in history didn’t happen in the 21st century, or even in the 20th. A rather nasty group called “The People’s Will” managed to kill Tsar Alexander II of Russia in 1881 with a bomb. The little wanker who killed the Tsar Liberator, Grinevetsky by name, managed to blow himself up with the same device. Odd how nothing has really changed; terrorism is still one of the minor irritants in modern life, and terrorists always target the wrong people.

Alexander II was, of course, the great reforming Tsar. With the possible exception of Peter the Great, this man did more for the people of his nation than any other leader in history. Freeing the serfs alone (a couple of years before Mr. Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation) makes him worthy of history’s greatest accolades. But he also adopted a newer, more just, penal code, a French-style judicial system, and created a system of local government in which rural districts and large towns alike had elected assemblies and some power to tax. For his trouble, “The People’s Will” assassinated the best friend the people of Russia ever had. His crime was a lack of perfection.

Last week, the leaders of the G-8 agreed to increase aid to the poor, and papered over differences about climate change. They may have muttered empty words about much of their good, future deeds, but the fact that they were muttering at all about the poorest of the poor is a change in the political dialogue of mankind. Some of this was brought on by Mr. Blair’s need for a change of topic, from Iraq to anything else. Some came from the average men and women of the rich nations who signed the Live-8 petition (a couple dozen million of them) to tell their leaders to do something, anything. For their trouble, 49 were blown to bits on Thursday (with a few more still buried between Russell Square and King’s Cross).

But if history shows nothing else, it shows that terrorists are part of the modern urban landscape. And that they are less likely to strike than someone trying to steal an iPod, less effective at causing harm than the flu, and occur about as often as a hurricane north of Washington, DC. Civilized men and women cannot make them go away; terrorists are endemic to modernity. Yet, their bark is worse than their bite.

Writing in The Times on Friday, Gerard Baker said it best, “Is this the best they can do?” The Twin Towers attack was audacious and gut-wrenchingly awful. Since September 11, 2001, though, Al Qaeda has killed no American on American soil – if only the LAPD had that kind of record. The bomb blasts in London were more lethal than the IRA’s bombing spree in the 1970 and 1980s, but only because the Provos would call to warn the police in advance so people could be evacuated (Yes, the IRA is a more civilized group than Al Qaeda). But the less-than-ten-pound bombs are just about the same. They would like to be taken seriously as a military and civil threat, but terrorists are, at best, less of a problem than gang-bangers in some cities. While it will be hard to do so through the up-coming funerals, the best response is to laugh at these guys. As one Londoner put it, “You missed the other 7 million of us, Sunshine.”


© Copyright 2005 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.
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