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Lone Wolf Terrorism - What's That About?

Miscellaneous, opportunist mayhem, mostly.

It is not Boko Haram, or the Brigate Rosse, or the Viet Cong. It’s 'running amok’ (a term appropriated from the Malay language). More here. It’s been going on for ever, so what’s different now?

Those who run amok are usually young, usually men. They grab a weapon; a knife, a car, anything will do; and attack people, as many as possible, and if they get themselves killed, that’s okay too. The word ‘frenzy’ is usually in the definition somewhere. It’s like the comedown off meth, without the meth. What’s Lone Wolf Terrorism got to do with Islam? Apart from the western press and pollies gassin' on about it - nothing. This pathology is known in Islam. The opposite of jihad, it’s seen as 'hirabah', a grievous transgression of shari'ah law. The penalty is eternity in hell, fed only on the fruit of the zaqqum tree. Forget the supposed virgins that our profit-driven press keep lasciviously banging on about. All claims that their actions are in service of Islam, are based in spiritual and religious ignorance. (It’s like our local hoons claiming their burnouts in service of Ferrari.) So if wantonly killing people is a sin against Allah, what causes them to keep doing it? Labelling these youngsters ‘terrorists’, let’s them feel like freedom fighters. It pumps them up to act out. They’re more likely to do weird shit if they think they’re being Che Guevara, rather than a lost-soul murderer (although these days, who knows, maybe there is some emo kudos in that). Add to that, being fed a story about ‘becoming a martyr’, and you’ve got yourself a cheap weapon of varying effectiveness and efficiency (unless they come to their senses part way through, and then it’s all, “what the….am I doing???!!!”). Plenty of people feed on this affliction of frustrated youth. The 3 Grimy Reapers Power hungry warlords in the Middle East; in the West, the profit-driven press and the vote-hungry politicians, all parasitise the poor ol’ run amokker. From local to international, warlords have always known that disaffected youth are a rich source of murderous, suicidal angst - and, they’re surprisingly gullible, - ya just gotta know how to play ‘em.

Similarly vote-hungry politicians have always known that the electorate can be won on the fear ticket, - ya just gotta know how to scare 'em. A short history-ish.

Following the Bush Family Wars (Gulf 1990-91, Iraq 2003-11), along with a power vacuum, we left good reason to hate all things western. (Google ‘Highway of Death’ and be prepared to realise ‘our’ side were not the good guys - Trigger warning for those who are disturbed by mass murder.)

Then the Middle Eastern warlords made the most of the mess left by the meddling (and profiteering) westerners.

So what’s that got to do with the west being threatened by, (not hordes as the profit-driven press and vote-hungry pollies would have us believe), a couple of dozen of these Lone Wolf Terrorists? The canny Middle Eastern warlords call on the run amokkers to ‘destroy the great satan’ and start focussing the adolescent rage of the angsty kids, who then connect, as kids do these days, to other angsty kids, all over the world. They spread the word of the great satan’s evil, ‘look it’s all over the news, for all to see’, and send out the call for martyrs. A small, tiny number of angsty lost kids on the other side of the world are like, ‘did I hear something about martyrdom and virgins, in the name of Allah, in support of my oppressed brothers? Count me in!’ and voilà, Lone Wolf Terrorists spring up sporadically around the planet. Then, the Western profit-driven press, never ones to let the greater good get in the way advertising income, come to the trough for their go. Reporting on the psychology of running amok doesn’t sell. Screamed headline hyperbole, florid images, and column kilometres of fear mongering; that’s what captures the punters’ eyes and the advertisers’ dollars. Ah, terrorism, ka-ching!! And finally, our further-right-than-is-appropriate-for-good-government, Western politicians make the most of a tragic situation by pumpin’ up the hype. They’re all like, “Look! Look at ‘them’. Be very scared of ‘them’. No, don’t look at me. Just keep looking at ‘them’, not me. And when ‘they’ are a bit quiet, you just watch ‘those refugees’ who ran from ‘them’ because ‘they’re’ really just more of ‘them’ so let’s just call everyone from ‘over there’, ‘them’, and lock ‘them’ all up. See how I’m keeping you safe. Now don’t you worry about who gets taxed what, or who I let rape the land at will. You just keep your eyes peeled for terrorists, they’re everywhere you know.” Mmmm, terrorism, votes!! OMG!?! What to do??!! For starters, stop calling these kids terrorists, that only encourages:

- them,

- the profit-driven press,

- and the power hungry politicians/warlords,

to all run amok.

Set-tle. Lone Wolf Terrorism … That’s Not Terrorism...

… Now, that’s terrorism!

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