The long read: why the battle for Syria and Iraq is often a war waged with words
In 1995, there were about 1,000 books with the word “terrorism” in their titles. By 2011, that had multiplied tenfold and the proliferation continues this autumn, with an onslaught of authors focusing on the spreading stain of violence in the Middle East. Little wonder that many of us have succumbed to “threat fatigue”. Contrary to […]Justin Marozzi writes for the National:
In 1995, there were about 1,000 books with the word “terrorism” in their titles. By 2011, that had multiplied tenfold and the proliferation continues this autumn, with an onslaught of authors focusing on the spreading stain of violence in the Middle East. Little wonder that many of us have succumbed to “threat fatigue”.
Contrary to the warnings of the intelligence services, however, this may not be a bad thing. While religiously motivated terrorist attacks in the West have constituted personal tragedies, in terms of scale, they have been mosquito pricks not sledgehammer blows.
A survey of the years from September 11, 2001, suggests not so much the great success of terrorist groups in the land of the infidel as its abject failure. Mass-casualty attacks have been few and far between, although it seems reasonable to expect low-level, low-tech, “lone wolf” attacks to continue sporadically, such as the recent train attack in France.
