“Dramatic violence choreographed to create an atmosphere of fear and alarm, which causes people to exaggerate the threat.” That’s the definition of terrorism coined by Brian Jenkins, one of America’s foremost experts on the subject. Jenkins goes on to define another term, one we should become more familiar with: self-terrorism.
He writes that government officials, journalists, networks, talking heads, and believers in doom “all collaborate in creating a fission of fear.” They are self-terrorists. They terrorize us and themselves, like children telling horror stories after the lights go out
There ARE terrorists out there, and our government and allies of all faiths and many nations are searching it out and fighting it. So what are we to make of politicians who blast the President for avoiding the words “terrorism” and “war”?
Dick Cheney says the President’s pretending we’re not at war. Congressman Peter King (R-NY) says the one most important thing could do now is “to use the word terrorism more often.” Pete Hoekstra (R-MI), Virginia Fox (R-NC), Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC), Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele, and others are all piling on in enthusiastic agreement.
They are amplifying the efforts of Al Qaeda and its collaborators to spread terror. They are self-terrorists. They are helping the enemies of civilization. They need to be repudiated.
