[JakilSong]

In her 2006 book, What Terrorists Want: Understanding the Enemy, Containing the Threat, Harvard professor Louise Richardson describes the strategic policy of the American government as follows:



The declaration of a global war on terrorism has been a terrible mistake and is doomed to failure

….Americans opted to accept al-Qaeda’s language of cosmic warfare at face value and respond

accordingly, rather than respond to al-Qaeda based on an objective assessment of its resources and

capabilities.



In reviewing the book for The New York Review of Books, Max Rodenbeck writes,



In essence, America’s actions radically upgraded Osama bin Laden’s organization from a ragtag

network of plotters to a great enemy worthy of a superpower’s undivided attention. Even as it

successfully shattered the group’s core through the invasion of Afghanistan, America empowered

al-Qaeda politically by its loud triumphalism, whose very excess encouraged others to try the same

terror tactics…. Instead of seizing a uniquely strong opportunity to rally the world behind a positive

vision that would build on the liberal and democratic ideals that made America a great nation, it

adopted a paranoid and bellicose position that dismayed much of the world….Instead of pulling the

rug from under al-Qaeda and related terrorist organizations by removing at least some of their causes

for violence, it created new causes.



Write an essay discussing how America’s political leaders and the “experts” who advise them misconceived the

idea of “terror” as represented by al-Qaeda and its allies. Your argument should build upon insights and understandings you have gained during the course of this semester, from our readings, class discussions, films, and critical reviews. Remember, we’re not interested in specific details of diplomacy, policy, or military engagement. Rather, we’re looking at “terror” as an idea, an ideology, and a form of personal realization.



Louise Richardson grew up in Northern Ireland, so her knowledge “terror” is not just academic in nature.


Ironically this is one of the questions for my History of Terror class. I'll post my answer, thought people might be intirested