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Speech offers meaning of
terrorism
By Matt Lindner
Assistant
Campus Editor
Former Dean of International Programs Michael Stohl
returned to Purdue to deliver a seminar on terrorism as part of the
International Agriculture Seminar Series.
The seminar was held in Whistler Hall and was attended
by a small but very appreciative crowd of twenty people. Lowell Hardin,
Professor Emeritus in the School of Agriculture, introduced Stohl.
"Hopefully this won't be the last time that Michael
Stohl addresses us here at Purdue," said Hardin. "His service over the
years has been invaluable and immeasurable."
Stohl proceeded to talk about the various aspects
of terrorism and why the United States is such a particularly inviting
target.
"In countries like Nazi Germany and the old U.S.S.R.,
you never saw many terrorist attacks because everyone was under such
close watch," said Stohl. "The fact that the United States is a democracy
and is generally so wide open makes us an inviting target for terrorists,
because of the lack of surveillance here."
He also said that the main reason why terrorists
commit acts of terrorism is often times more to get attention, and not
to kill or harm people.
"If you look at the statistics provided by the
CIA, over the past thirty years there have been 11,650 acts of terrorism,"
said Stohl. "Of those acts, 86 percent of them were fatality free and
most produced little or no property damage. The main purpose of these
attacks is to get the general public's attention, and cause them to
fear the person or organization behind the attacks."
One of the best ways to get people's attention,
he said, is to attack the United States in some way, shape or form.
"If a terrorist were to attack an Australian boat
going into a New Zealand port, it might receive a sentence or two of
publicity in the newspaper, most likely buried in the back pages of
the front section," said Stohl. "If a terrorist attacks an American
or an American interest, it becomes front page news for weeks here and
also receives a great amount of television coverage as well."
Stohl said that there are seven common myths surrounding
terrorism. Those myths are that terrorism is random without specific
targets, knows no boundaries, is designed to cause massive death and
destruction, is the exclusive activity of non-government actors and
that governments always oppose non-governmental terrorism. Also the
notions that the source of most terrorism can be found in the mind of
a single actor, and that most terrorists are madmen or criminals, are
false.
Stohl said that the two most important terrorist
networks are ones that we can control.
"The networks that I'm worried about the most are
the ones of silence and neglect," he said. "Both are caused by an unwillingness
to work across territorial and state boundaries, and until we are able
to do that, we will not be efficient in our efforts."
Those who attended the seminar found it both interesting
and informative.
"I feel as though I learned a lot from the seminar,
because the message was conveyed and organized very well," said David
Sammons, the director of international programs in the School of Agriculture.
"I was struck by what was explained as being a myth because I thought
that some of those things were true before. This seminar was really
helpful to my understanding of what terrorism is and what its goals
are."
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Speech
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CAMPUS DESK PHONE:
(765)
743-1111 ext. 253
Campus editor:
Kelsey VanArsdall
Assistant Campus
editors: Rachael Conley,
Matt Lindner
To
send a letter to the editor, please email opinions@purdueexponent.org
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