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“Terrorism<\/a> should be defined in terms of the illegal<\/a> use of violence<\/a> for the purposes of influencing somebody’s behaviour, inflicting punishment, or taking revenge. … It has been practised on a larger scale, globally, both by governments<\/a> and by private groups. Private groups fall into various categories. The political terrorist<\/a> is only one category out of many others. …<\/p>\n For every lost by unofficial terrorism, a thousand have been lost by the official variety. … There was a rise of fascist governments in third-world<\/a> countries, particularly throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s. All these fascist governments – in Indonesia, Zaire, Iran, South Korea, and elsewhere – were fully supported by one or the other of the superpowers. They have committed a huge amount of terrorist violence, the source of which is the state<\/a> …<\/p>\n Regarding the political private terrorists … there is … very little inquiry as to what they are about. If I had to identify a few factors explaining the roots of terrorism, I would say first of all the desire to be heard. … It’s normally undertaken by small helpless groupings that feel powerless. The Vietnamese never committed terror. The Algerians did not commit terror of this kind.<\/p>\n Secondly, terrorism is an expression of anger, of feeling helpless, angry, alone<\/a>. you feel that you have to hit back. …<\/p>\n Another face is a sense of betrayal, which is connected to that tribal ethic of revenge<\/a>. … Bin Laden … saw America as a friend; then he sees his country being occupied by the United States and feels betrayed …<\/p>\n Victims<\/a> of violent abuse often become violent people. The only time when Jews produced terrorists in organised fashion was during and after the Holocaust. …<\/p>\n Finally, the absence of revolutionary<\/a> ideology has been central to the spread of terror in our time. … The Marxists<\/a> argued that the true<\/a> revolutionary<\/a> does not assassinate. … Social problems require social and political mobilization, and thus wars<\/a> of independence are to be distinguished from terrorist organizations. The revolutionaries didn’t reject violence, but they rejected terror as a viable tactic of revolution. That revolutionary ideology has gone out of the movement. In the 1980s and 1990s, revolutionary<\/a> ideology receded, giving in to the globalized<\/a> individual<\/a>. I’ve spoken<\/a> in very general terms, but these are among the many forces that are behind modern<\/a> terrorism.”<\/p>\n aus: Eqbal Ahmad: Confronting Empire. Interviews with David Barsamian. Cambridge, Mass.: South End 2000, S.95-98.<\/p>\n