NATIONAL8 (Spotlight Weekly]

Deadly Desperation

Terrorism draws strength from a deepening sense of individual despair mixed with fanatic faith in a cause

By AKSHAY SHARMA

The September 11 attacks in New York City and Washington DC — the worst terrorist assaults in human history — was brutal in its scale and impact. The United States swiftly announced an all-out war on terrorism, carefully building a broad international coalition.

While the images transmitted around the world on that fateful morning brought to life the wildest fancies from Tom Clancy thrillers, the aftermath has prompted a new look at the phenomenon of suicide-terrorism and ways of confronting it.

"Whereas it is certainly not possible yet, to create a acceptable definition of terrorism, it is both possible and necessary to specify certain features to the phenomenon," says Cindy C. Combs in "Twenty-first Century Terrorism".

The Japanese air force organized kamikaze suicide squadrons in the last months of World War II. Pilots flew their aircraft loaded with explosives directly into US naval vessels. Kamikaze pilots, sacrificing their lives in a last-ditch effort to stop the American advance, sank about 40 US ships. Most modern terrorist groups draw strength from this mixture of an individual’s willingness to die for a cause he or she deems nobles.

"The terrorists, are often than not, seem to be succeeding in pushing the government in a no-win situation. Unsure about how to respond to the challenges posed by terrorism, the government has been unable to prevent the situation from deteriorating," writes Ved Marwah in "Uncivil Wars." "Unfortunately, there are popular misconceptions about what needs to be done. General ignorance of the nature of terrorism and what motivated the terrorists is not limited to media persons and unformed citizens. Even our political leaders and so-called ‘security experts’ are often unaware of all the facts about terrorism and terrorist acts," says Marwah, a former director-general of the National Security Guards of India.

He adds, "The authorities have a different and an inevitable task. But that does not justify their reluctance to discuss the issues and learn from their past mistakes. There can be more than one view about how a particular situation should be handled, but an informed public onion is the surest safe guard against wrong policy decisions and their faulty implementation."

The US State Department currently designates seven world governments as state sponsors of terrorism. Though most no longer engage directly in terrorist activity themselves, they may support terrorist groups by providing funding, arms, or other material support; or by providing training, logistical support, sanctuary, or diplomatic facilities. The United States employs a wide variety of economic and other sanctions to pressure states into discontinuing their support for terrorism. In some (but not all) cases, allied states or the United Nations may impose sanctions, as well.

In the early 1900s Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud developed some of the first psychological theories of suicide. He emphasized the role of hostility turned against the self. American psychiatrist Karl Menninger elaborated on Freud's ideas. He suggested that all suicides have three interrelated and unconscious dimensions: revenge/hate (a wish to kill), depression/hopelessness (a wish to die), and guilt (a wish to be killed).

An American psychologist considered a pioneer in the modern study of suicide, Edwin Schneidman, has described several common characteristics of suicides. These include a sense of unbearable psychological pain, a sense of isolation from others, and the perception that death is the only solution to problems about which one feels hopeless and helpless. Cognitive theorists, who study how people process information, emphasize the role of inflexible thinking or tunnel vision ("life is awful, death is the only alternative") and an inability to generate solutions to problems.

According to psychologists, many suicide attempts are symbolic cries for help, an effort to reach out and receive attention. When this sense of deepening despair enters the shadowy underworld of international terror, it creates a recipe for almost limitless disaster. Groups with diverse, even opposing, ideologies and differing goals often help each other when they share a common enemy. While a terrorist act may be over in a matter of minutes, the planning and the coordination of such an event may take years.

Despite their ideological differences, Middle Eastern terrorist organizations participated in two international summits — in Beirut, Lebanon, and Teheran, Iran — in the year before the September 11 attacks, intelligence experts say. Two Palestinians, Musa Abu Marzouq, of Hamas, and Ramadham Abdullah Shallah of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, organized the conferences, which were called "The Jerusalem Project".

"Unlike the soldier, the guerrilla fighter, or the revolutionist, the terrorist… is always in the paradoxical position of undertaking actions the immediate physical consequences of which are not particularly desired by him," says terrorism expert David Fromlin. "An ordinary person may kill someone because he wants the person to be dead, but the terrorist will shoot down everybody/somebody even though it is a matter of complete indifference to him whether the person lives or dies." That is what makes the war on terrorism at once scary and necessary.

Snooker Challenge 2001

Surya Tobacco Company is organizing "Surya Nepal Snooker Challenge 2001" from September 24 to October 14. "Our maiden venture, the First Surya Nepal Snooker Challenge, was a grand success and our commitment to make the event a pan-Nepal championship will now be realized with our second championships," Ravi Raj Aryal told reporters on behalf of the Surya Tobacco Company.

The prize money has been increased three times, reaching a whopping Rs 530,000. The tournament is being organized jointly by the Surya Tobacco Company and the Billiards Snooker and Pool Association of Nepal (BSPAN) and is also supported by the Cosmos Solarium.

The preliminary rounds are to be held across the 28 parlors in the cities of Kathmandu, Pokhara, Narayanghat, Butwal, Dharan, Birgunj, Itahari and Biratnagar. The finals shall be held at the Lainchaur Covered Hall in Kathmandu. The qualifying rounds will be completed by October 1 and the final rounds are to commence from October 7.

The turnout is expected to exceed 1,000. Participants will compete with themselves over 20 days with the winner getting richer by over Rs 75,000 plus a certificate and a trophy. The runner-up will take home Rs 50,000 and the second runner-up Rs 25,000 respectively along with trophies and certificates. The player securing the highest breaks in the final rounds will win a prize of Rs 25,000. Winners in the qualifying stage and the runner up will take along with them Rs. 6,000 and Rs 4,000 respectively.

Two players will qualify from each of the venues for the final round and they will compete among themselves with the eight seeded players in the BSPAN order of merit.

"We will continue to strive to make the tournament international by ensuring that all specifications are per international standards," said Aryal.