An interesting debate is underway on terror, terrorism and how it is advertised and projected.
truthdig.com addresses the issue in a piece "Terror Goes a Lot Further With Good Advertising":
"A basic argument in Washington’s war on terror, an argument that one might think settled by now, concerns whether al-Qaida is the powerful global organization the Bush administration says it is or whether it has been, since its retreat into the Pakistan tribal areas, mostly an Internet phenomenon.
This is a serious debate in American academic terrorism circles, featuring Bruce Hoffman of Georgetown University, who insists that al-Qaida today is more dangerous than ever. That is the conventional belief in the U.S government and among the academic and think-tank specialists favored by the Bush administration—which has been, after all, al-Qaida’s greatest publicist, regularly announcing alerts against a terrorist outrage which then doesn’t take place, doubtless because of the American warning.
This definition of al-Qaida also carries the clout of American and European bureaucratic interest. If it is false, a lot of official money is being wasted.
On the other side of the argument, according to a recent New York Times report, is Marc Sageman. In agreement with him is a significant part of the West European domestic security community.
Sageman is a Polish-born psychiatrist, sociologist and consultant to the New York Police Department. He sees al-Qaida in Europe and the United States largely as “a bunch of guys hanging out,” looking for drama, excitement and something to do with their lives".
truthdig.com addresses the issue in a piece "Terror Goes a Lot Further With Good Advertising":
"A basic argument in Washington’s war on terror, an argument that one might think settled by now, concerns whether al-Qaida is the powerful global organization the Bush administration says it is or whether it has been, since its retreat into the Pakistan tribal areas, mostly an Internet phenomenon.
This is a serious debate in American academic terrorism circles, featuring Bruce Hoffman of Georgetown University, who insists that al-Qaida today is more dangerous than ever. That is the conventional belief in the U.S government and among the academic and think-tank specialists favored by the Bush administration—which has been, after all, al-Qaida’s greatest publicist, regularly announcing alerts against a terrorist outrage which then doesn’t take place, doubtless because of the American warning.
This definition of al-Qaida also carries the clout of American and European bureaucratic interest. If it is false, a lot of official money is being wasted.
On the other side of the argument, according to a recent New York Times report, is Marc Sageman. In agreement with him is a significant part of the West European domestic security community.
Sageman is a Polish-born psychiatrist, sociologist and consultant to the New York Police Department. He sees al-Qaida in Europe and the United States largely as “a bunch of guys hanging out,” looking for drama, excitement and something to do with their lives".
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