Terrorists: Crusaders, Criminals and Crazies
Terrorism appeared to be a satellite for human history as every nation has examples of illegal campaigns for the interests of a group or even a whole nation.
In early ages, the terrorists mostly represented political interests and fought for social rights, whereas today other reasons come to the fore. Nowadays resources that make the terrorist acts successful are relatively accessible and the quantity of terrorists arose. Thus, the government has to develop a strategy for withstanding the terrorism. When the security services know the nature of terrorists’ behavior, they are able to decide how to deal with the terrorists. Hacker categorized terrorists to three groups: crusaders, criminals and crazies.
Although none of the known terrorist acts is of a pure category, the general aim becomes understandable. Three typologies differ in their motives, inclination to negotiations and expectations to success and survival. The terrorists, specified as crusaders, come out for the higher goals. They are inspired by unimprovable idea or philosophy, often religious or political. They think their act serves the higher goal that cannot be achieved with any legal advance actions.
The crusaders terrorists are well-disciplined, properly tained and thoroughly prepared for the act. This increases the feasibility of the successful attack. Since the crusaders fight for the idea, they do not expect to survive after the attack, and thus, they hardly enter into negotiation process. Negotiations for the crusader would mean the betrayal of the idea. Most of their attacks are sudden and are realized instantly (bombings, suicide bombings, shootings, assassinations), so once they happened, the society only faces the consequences. The main aim is thus to prevent such attacks.
For plane hijackings and seizure of hostages, the result mostly depends on the qualification of the security service officers. In this case, the response attack with terrorist seizure or hostages rescue is more effective than negotiation.Criminal type terrorists seek for personal profit. The only idea that overcomes them is the idea of money. They usually aim to success and are willing to negotiate in case of failure. Their demands are usually logical and achievable, and the terrorist are willing to accept the rational alternative in case of failure.
Plane hijackings, kidnappings, seizure of hostages for ransom are the criminal terrorist acts. The crazies terrorists are the most contradictory. Their reasons for acts do not have aany logic, and goals are clear only for them. The terrorist acts alone and lives in his own world, often he is not in touch with reality. This might be because of mental disease or disorder.
Typically, he plans the attack unthoroughly, does not consider the details, so he can be disclosed. If hostages are taken, the survival operation success depends on the skills of the negotiator. It is possible to prevent the bombing or other sudden attacks, depending on the security system. The majority of modern terrorists can be referred to crusaders. A modern example of the crusader terrorist is Osama bin Laden, who took responsibility for 9/11 attacks. Lee Harvey Oswald, John Kennedy’s assassinator, belongs to crazies group.
The criminal terrorists may be represented by Bruno Richard Hauptmann, who kidnapped a child of a famous aviator Charles Lindbergh and claimed for a ransom in 1932.The aim of the security services is to prevent the terrorist acts. When we realize that the terrorists are crusaders, criminals or crazies, we can discern their motives. The comprehension of the terrorist’s motivation is significant as it determines whether to take actions or enter into negotiations. This will help to reduce the consequences of terrorist acts.
