Warriors and Scholars: A Modern War Reader

Old Whines in New Bottles: Some Thoughts on the Psychology of Terrorists and Terrorism

229 OLD฀WHINES฀IN฀฀ NEW฀BOTTLES:฀฀ SOME฀THOUGHTS฀ON฀ THE฀PSYCHOLOGY฀OF฀ TERRORISTS฀AND฀฀ TERRORISM Born฀in฀New฀York฀City฀on฀May฀6,฀1931,฀Dr.฀Norman฀Itzkowitz ฀earned฀his฀Ph.D.฀from฀Princeton฀University฀in฀1959.฀He฀is฀ currently฀professor฀of฀Near฀Eastern฀Studies฀at฀Princeton฀and฀ is฀also฀a฀member฀of฀the฀Advisory฀Board,฀Center฀for฀the฀Study฀ of฀Mind฀and฀Human฀Interaction฀at฀the฀Medical฀School฀of฀the฀ University฀of฀Virginia. In฀addition฀to฀his฀teaching฀responsibilities฀and฀scholarly฀ pursuits,฀Dr.฀Itzkowitz฀has฀been฀actively฀involved฀in฀university ฀service฀at฀Princeton.฀He฀served฀as฀Departmental฀Director฀ of฀Undergraduate฀Studies,฀1961–66;฀and฀Department฀Director ฀of฀Graduate฀Studies,฀1971–73.฀Dr.฀Itzkowitz฀also฀served฀ as฀Master฀of฀Wilson฀College฀at฀Princeton,฀1975–89.฀When฀he฀ took฀over฀the฀mastership,฀Wilson฀College฀was฀a฀four-year฀college ,฀and฀the฀success฀of฀Wilson฀College฀led฀to฀the฀organization฀ of฀the฀Committee฀for฀Undergraduate฀Life฀(CURL),฀which฀devised ฀a฀residential฀college฀scheme฀whereby฀all฀freshmen฀and฀ sophomores฀ live฀ in฀ five฀ residential฀ colleges฀ in฀ which฀ they฀ have฀their฀living฀space,฀meals,฀social฀life,฀academic฀advising,฀ and฀other฀support฀systems. Dr.฀Itzkowitz฀is฀the฀author,฀co-author,฀editor,฀or฀translator DR.฀NORMAN฀ITZKOWITZ 230 Terrorism ฀of฀eleven฀books฀on฀Near฀Eastern฀or฀Balkan฀subjects฀and฀the฀author฀ of฀eleven฀articles฀dealing฀with฀the฀same฀areas.฀฀ I฀want฀to฀share฀some฀thoughts฀on฀the฀topic฀of฀the฀psychology฀of฀ terrorism฀and฀terrorists.฀One฀of฀the฀outcomes฀of฀the฀horrific฀events฀of฀ September฀11,฀2001฀[9/11],฀was฀to฀focus฀the฀attention฀of฀our฀nation฀ and฀the฀world฀on฀terrorism฀and฀terrorists.฀Prior฀to฀9/11฀terrorism฀was฀ largely฀something฀that฀happened฀to฀other฀people฀in฀far-off฀places,฀and฀ terrorists,฀except฀for฀those฀in฀the฀Bader-Meinhoff฀gang,฀or฀the฀IRA,฀ seldom฀had฀faces฀and฀stories.฀We฀had฀knowledge฀about฀the฀existence฀of฀ suicide฀bombers฀as฀well฀as฀of฀Tamils฀and฀Algerians,฀who฀blew฀people฀ up฀as฀they฀sat฀in฀sidewalk฀cafes.฀We฀knew฀about฀the฀doings฀of฀people฀ like฀David฀Koresh฀and฀Terry฀Nichols,฀but฀that฀seemed฀to฀be฀the฀work฀ of฀psychopaths฀rather฀than฀of฀terrorists.฀After฀9/11฀a฀new฀vocabulary฀ implanted฀itself฀in฀our฀consciousness,฀such฀as฀al-Qaeda฀and฀Jihad.1 ฀ Now,฀more฀than฀one฀year฀after฀9/11,฀we฀find฀ourselves฀using฀old฀ and฀now฀outmoded฀terminology—what฀I฀call฀“old฀whines”—such฀as฀ “making฀the฀world฀safe฀for฀democracy,”฀or฀“safeguarding฀our฀JudeoChristian ฀heritage,”฀or฀“we฀need฀to฀consult฀with฀our฀allies฀and฀get฀ people฀on฀board.”฀Now฀we฀are฀putting฀those฀“old฀whines”฀in฀new฀ bottles฀with฀such฀labels฀as฀“Nukes:฀Iraq฀has฀weapons฀of฀mass฀destruction ,”฀or฀“Smallpox฀or฀Anthrax:฀Take฀your฀Pick,”฀or฀“America฀is฀united ,฀and฀we฀will฀consult฀the฀UN฀but฀go฀it฀alone฀if฀necessary.”฀ Indeed,฀going฀it฀alone฀may฀be฀the฀only฀course฀of฀action฀available฀ to฀the฀United฀States.฀Despite฀the฀breast-beating฀around฀the฀world฀by฀ the฀international฀community฀horrified฀by฀the฀events฀of฀9/11,฀Islamic฀ terrorism฀has฀succeeded฀in฀the฀object฀of฀its฀terrorism.฀As฀the฀former฀ CIA฀psychoanalyst฀now฀retired,฀Jerrold฀Post,฀has฀so฀eloquently฀put฀it,฀ the฀purpose฀of฀terrorism฀is฀to฀terrorize.2 ฀Only฀Great฀Britain฀appears฀to฀ 1 ฀Editor’s฀note:฀Dr.฀Itzkowitz฀presented฀this฀paper฀at฀the฀UNT฀Military฀History฀ Seminar฀on฀September฀28,฀2002.฀ 2 ฀Editor’s฀note:฀Dr.฀Jerrold฀Post฀is฀Professor฀of฀Psychiatry,฀Political฀Psychology, 231 Old฀Whines฀in฀New฀Bottles be฀willing฀to฀stand฀with฀America฀against฀the฀threat฀of฀al-Qaeda’s฀terrorist ฀campaign฀and฀Saddam฀Hussein’s฀projection฀of฀himself฀as฀sitting฀ on฀a฀pile฀of฀both฀biological฀and฀nuclear฀weapons฀he฀is฀ready฀to฀unleash ฀upon฀the฀West.฀There฀are฀still฀reasonable฀doubts฀whether฀British ฀Prime฀Minister฀Tony฀Blair฀can฀carry฀his฀country฀along฀with฀him฀ in฀his฀allegiance฀to฀the฀United฀States.฀Up฀until฀the฀recent฀elections฀in฀ Turkey฀that฀brought฀an฀Islamic-oriented฀government฀to฀power,฀we฀ could฀count฀on฀Turkey’s฀support.฀But฀now฀it฀is฀not฀clear฀whether฀ Turkey฀will฀allow฀the฀United฀States฀to฀use฀Turkish฀air฀bases฀in฀a฀war฀ against฀Iraq,฀and฀it฀is฀equally฀unclear฀whether฀the฀United฀States฀will฀ be฀willing฀to฀allow฀Turkey฀to฀annex฀some฀parts฀of฀northern฀Iraq฀to฀ forestall฀the฀creation฀of฀a฀Kurdish฀state฀on฀its฀eastern฀border.฀What฀ is฀still฀lacking฀in฀all฀the฀discussions฀about฀terrorism฀and฀terrorists฀ is฀some฀thoroughgoing,฀meaningful฀overview฀as฀to...