Urban Terrorism: Myths and Realities

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Outrageous myths have been created and perpetrated about terrorism in general and terrorism by Muslims in particular. There are two reasons for it. One is, of course, genuine ignorance about things Islamic. The other reason is more sinister. Myths are created and perpetuated because that keeps everyone in business. By spinning yarns about the most horrible things the terrorists are capable of doing, the media ensures that they have a never-ending supply of sensational material with which to keep the people hooked–it also enables the intelligence agencies and security forces to appear more relevant and expand their turf in the process.

The myths must be busted because they tend to settle deep in the collective subconscious and ultimately come to influence policy decisions. The media, for example, would have you believe that we have not been able to eradicate terrorism only because we do not have enough commandos everywhere! The fact is that terrorism would not be finished by killing a few terrorists. Bomb blasts continue to take place in spite of the arrests of the 'masterminds'. As long as we do not address the root cause, there would be many more willing to kill and get killed.

Victory against terrorism can be achieved only if you have completely understood the fundamental reasons of terrorism, the motivation of the terrorists, the intrinsic weaknesses of the targets, the innate strength of the 'way of the terrorist', and the follies of the approach that you have persisted with so far. If a nation has floundered in its 'war against terrorism', it is because it has never had a serious and honest-to-God analysis of terrorism. Hence this book.

Exhaustive yet attractive, informative yet interesting–and above all, extremely hard-hitting–it is the ultimate encyclopedia of terrorism.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR N C Asthana

Dr. N.C. Asthana, IPS, Inspector General, holds a doctorate in Physics and in his outlook and approach remains a scientist first and foremost. He is a veritable polymath; a sui generis myriad-minded progeny of learning who epitomizes a singular synthesis of an unprecedented depth of knowledge in the most diverse fields and an exceptionally creative intellect. Talent does what it can, and genius does what it must; he combines both. The present book is a classic example of the tremendous command with which he expounds simultaneously on subjects as disparate as particles physics, cosmology, neuroscience, molecular biology, pphilosophy and metaphysics, etc. in a most scholarly and yet exceptionally lucid manner. He has earlier authored the world's very first book on the science of intelligence entitled "Intelligence and Security Management", and hitherto the most exhaustive study on terrorism entitled "Terrorism, Insurgencies and Counter-insurgency Operations".