The 1972 attack on the Olympic Games and the Beslan School Massacre
Abstract
In the world, sporting events and major institutions have become subject to globalization consequences with national security becoming a major concern. This observable fact has been demonstrated necessarily by the act of terrorism. Following the attacks in the Munich Olympic games of 1972, governments have been confronted with the dire need to make implementations on protective policies not in favor of any terrorist attacks in response to collective fear of the world population. In the act of formulating effective counter-terrorist strategies, a constructive universal explanation on terrorist activities and terrorism as an aspect is needed. Antiterrorism motivation is of considerable with the involved implications. The categorization of the comprehensive motivations basing on the targets and methods on terrorist selection often reflects on their purpose. Terrorism as a recognized phenomenon is of significance as a proper means of fighting their threats and also serving as a means in prosecutions of terrorist suspects. Terrorism is believed to be motivated by religious, political or ideological objectives. It is also justified by philosophical, political, racial, religious and ethnic grounds making the act idiosyncratic. The civil society in remembers collectively the events defining terrorism in the two major explosions that marked the collaborative shunning of terrorisms and the political dividends involved. The Beslan case is an example of the perfect memorial representing an inhuman case of faulty oblivion. Comparison of the two cases indicates of the continual commemoration mass attacks on innocent civilians as terrorist victims. Recently, political and local outrage has been expressed through culture, art and mass media against acts of terrorism where state fails to defend the innocents.
Introduction
In the annals of the late century globalization of terrorist activities, the Munich attack of 1972 during Olympic Games and the massacre in Beslan School forms part of the two remarkable and riveting incidences of a serious terrorist scare. Comparison of the two main cases results to a robust discourse on contrast illustrating complexity of international terrorism activities. Though the outcomes of the two significant historic attacks are common, they are vastly different due to the victims and chronology of events involved. In both attacks, the protagonist’s had influence with their geo-political state and domestic affairs involvement with the counter offers. This essay analyses the comparison and contrasting aspects of the role of participating terrorists, the scenarios and the procedural description of the two crucial attacks outcome. It argues that the technology and nuclear advent has contributed to the shaping of contemporary terrorist rise. What makes the attack essentially similar is due to the fact that it happened during a nuclear age. The two attacks explains of the concepts including mutual doctrine of assured destruction, deterrence and terror balance concept to help justify the contribution of the nuclear age in shaping up of terrorism acts.
The complexity of defining terrorism
In the last few years in history, it has been common to come across the term terrorism. Many argue that it is an immoral act, and that indeed there is a need for measures that will handle the situation. At the beginning of the century, Bush came up with the idea that the US will take it into their hands to fight terrorism. This has consequently led to a lot of acrimony and bitter taste to some individuals’ mouths, but the positive impact it has also had is quite undisputable. However, the issue has not been in fighting terrorism. The main challenge is the most basic act, defining what terrorism is in the world. Some will argue that for terrorism to occur there must be an occurrence of loss of lives. Other definitions will point out at the destruction of property. For this, it is regardless of whether it is public or private wealth, although destruction of public property like government agencies carries more weight. If the destruction were to lead to any economic loss, then this may present another outlook towards terrorism. Fighting terrorism is hard because of the lack of proper definition. This is because an act may be considered as terrorism by an individual while others may view it as a freedom fighter or revolutionist. Furthermore, an action may be considered as a terrorist attack by some while others may consider it as an act of security or self-protection. The Munich disaster and the Beslan attack are clear indicators of this issue.
The attack on the 1972 Olympics was the mainstream example of terrorism in those years. The definition of terrorism was seriously put in the test by the attackers. The group identifying itself as Black September has clearly stated its intention. The fact that the government did not act on tip offs about the incident beforehand from a Palestine informant shows the amount of seriousness that the issue was taken with at the time (Munich Olympic Massacre 2006). After the country was denied delegation in the Olympics, the group blatantly claimed that it would seek a way to participate in its own way. This is not even taking into account the claim that it was seeking revenge against Israeli. This is echoed by the event itself in which they took hostage of only the Israeli nationals. This comprised of the team and the coach. In fact, capturing the Germans was not part of the plan. In a way, this may not occur as an act of terrorism to some but as retaliation to Israel. The only problem was the stage in which they chose to present their agenda in the faces of many worldwide viewers (Munich Olympic Massacre 2006). The Beslan attack is another case which may not have a clear definition of terrorism. This was because the main motive of the militants was to gain independence of Chechnya. Thus, the people of Chechnya may view the act as a sense of liberation and not a terrorist attack. In order to fight terrorism, there must be a clear definition of what terrorism is so that there can be formulation of strategies to fight the vice.
The use of morality to justify terrorism as a tactic
Considering the different outlooks towards the issue on terrorism, it is not uncommon to hear some justifications of the act. Some argue on the benefit that such intended acts have on the target population. One of the justifications that terrorist may have for their actions is morality. This occurs in an instance which is referred to as a double effect. The terrorist may not have the intention of killing people and may only have the intention to force their opponents to act according to their specifications and orders. However, in most cases things go awry and the people involved in the act end up losing their lives. Other terrorist may choose to kill and destroy first in order to send the message to their opponents. Certainly, this is not the right method although under morality the matter could as well be given a chance. The argument is that it is all about performing the lesser evil than the opponents. An example of this case is the continued acrimony between Israeli and Palestine nationals. The same may well be said of the recent cases of invasions of Russia in Chechnya. In both cases, the terrorist can argue on the basis of morality and even if this does not legalize their actions, it means that it could be morally justified.
When the Palestines were denied delegation in the 1972 Olympic, the unanimous decision was that they will participate in their own way. Considering that their rivals were participating in the competitions, this would only fuel their rage and desire to settle things with Israel once and for all. Prior to the games, Israel had attacked the country and harmed some of the population. In fact, some of the Palestine nationals were in n the prisons of their enemies (Munich Olympic Massacre 2006). This would irk the Palestines a lot more, leading them to capture the players of their enemies participating in the competition. Considering the harm that Israel had caused to the Palestines, it is evident that this action was a lesser evil. It is certainly undeniable that the choice of their venue may not have been the best, but this was the only way to reach millions of viewers around the world. While some innocent people may have been involved in the act, the message did reach the whole world. Legally, this does not provide any immunity of whatsoever kind to the actions of the Black September group, but morally it may have been justified as they later claimed.
In Russia, this was the case with the Beslan attack. The differences between Russia and Chechnya had left the latter in poor condition. Considering that Russia was superior in matters of intelligence and technology, it was not a surprise to find Chechnya with their backs against the wall. The Beslan attack was a retaliation of some sort although it finally led to even bigger ramifications than those of the Munich disaster (Snetkov 2007). Despite the similarity in motives behind these two attacks, it is evident that the Beslan attack used a tactic that is impossible to morally justify. The attackers in this case went for children in a school unlike the Munich disaster which involved other innocent individuals from the enemy country. In the Beslan attack, there was a massive 777 children involved. Finally, the total toll of the dead was approximately 380 people. This attack has created long term effects in the country especially considering that it is a more recent act than the Munich disaster. The motives in both cases were to reach the enemy and make them surrender and finally stop the acrimony. However, killing more than 700 children cannot be justified even in moral grounds (Snetkov 2007). It is unlikely that this can be represented as the lesser evil even after the Russians had done extremely grave acts in Chechnya. However, it is a subject of discussion, and it is evident that moral justification can be included in the argument about terrorism.
Use of terrorism and terrorist organizations to achieve state policy goals
There is a misguided notion that all terrorist activities are as a result of the bad groups, and that is illegal in all countries (Martin 2010). The reason why this is misguided is because there are instances in which these organizations have full support from their governments to act in this manner. Considering that most of the terrorist acts are used to counter other government, it is undisputable that it is the governments of these terrorist that send them to fulfill policies. In fact, the only difference in wars between countries is the tactics. Some use soldiers and the army to attack other countries and the general perception of the public does not change much. However, if another country uses militias to attack another country, the public goes awry with taunts of terrorism. This is evident in the cases of both the Munich and Beslan attacks.
In Beslan, it was the civil leader of Chechnya who sent the terrorist to attack Russia. In a political move, the leader had decided that it was enough what the Russians had done in his country. He was unable to fight the enemy in his own country but still had to send a message against the invasion. Thus, the leader sent the militia to attack the country until Russia decides to exit Chechnya. There was also a demand that the leaders of Russia should make an appearance in the school where the children had been held hostage for a long time. It was only when Russia became e defiant and used forceful measures to invade the school that there was the enormous loss of lives (Snetkov 2007). In the 1972 Olympics, the Palestines attacked to get the attention of the world on the real situation between them and Israeli. Considering that there was a tip off earlier from a national of the country, it is evident that this was a well known plan from the country. The country did not have another plan to communicate to the world and at the same time hurt their opponents, apart from probably the most popular event of the year (Munich Olympic Massacre 2006). Thus, it is evident that the two cases of terrorism were just a state move to achieve state policy goals. Also, it is imperative to point out that the two cases did achieve the intended target message although it is undeniable that there were immense ramifications from the attacks. Thus, most if not all of the terrorist attacks are initiated by the state either through support of resources or ideas and tactics.
Dissident terrorism (revolutionary, nihilist, and nationalist)
This refers to different types of terrorism on the basis of the intentions of the attackers. Revolutionary believe that there is something wrong with the current state of affairs in a society and that it is necessary to end it soon. Nationalists believe that there rights are being trampled on and that it is essential to fight back and earn their rights and respects (Martin 2010). Finally, the Nihilists only act on the basis of forcing a revolution even without a clear picture of the final outcome. The Beslan attack was a case of nationalist terrorism. The group was had the full support of the government because they were all not happy with the state of issues in the country. This terrorist attack was to protect their own country, and it seemed as if this was their only last viable option to persuade Russia to exit their country. The 1972 attack in the Olympics was a clear nihilist act (Martin 2010). The reason why the two countries have been involved in the acrimonious duels in history has been mainly based on religion. The attackers in this instance were trying to force Israeli release nationals that they had held in their own country due to various reasons. Furthermore, the terrorist attack did not plan for the final result since it was just a revenge mission and did not intend to broker peace between the two unlike the case of Russia and Chechnya.
Gender issues in terrorism
Terrorism is a male dominated area if the number of the captured people is anything to go by presently. However, there have been cases of women also participating in these activities in the recent past. In the 1972 attack in the Olympics, all the members of the Black September group were all men. The same applies to the Beslan attack in Russia just a few years ago. However, this has changed in the recent years with more women having involvement in the terrorist activities than earlier before. Presently, women are used as suicide bombers and also as transporters and kidnappers. There have been reported cases of women in Chechnya, Russia and other Arab countries. These women kidnap the children who are later used as hostages by the terrorist groups. All these are cases that were unheard of in the last century (Martin 2010). Also, most of the hostages held by the kidnappers are usually women and children. Therefore, gender has a large role in the world of terrorism.
Use of terrorist tactics by criminal organizations
Terrorism relies on spreading fear, and intimidating the opposing side to get what the terrorists want. Terrorism is widespread in many parts of the world with the source being from countries in the Middle East. Although these countries are the ones associated with terrorism, it is fundamental to note that terrorists can come from any country. When comparing the 1972 attack on the Olympic Games (Reeve, 2011) and the Beslan School Massacre one finds similarities in the tactics the attackers used. These two were acts of terrorism, and the parties carrying out the operations both had no legal justification to carry out the activity.
One of the main tactics terrorists have used in the past is the use of hostages to compel the targets to comply with their demands. In 1972, during the attack of the Olympic attack, the Palestinian terrorists used the Israel Olympic team as hostages to compel the Israelites to release Palestinian prisoners (Reeve, 2011). In an operation later named the Munich massacre, the Palestinian mercenaries later killed the whole Israel Olympic team. While the Palestinians were the key architect, Germans played a role in the attack. This brought back memories of the Jews, and the German war. It seemed that the surviving Neo-Nazis still had issues with the Israelites.
In September 2004, armed militants took hostage of a school in Beslan, holding 1100 people hostage including 777 children. This was a terrorist operation as the attackers intended to compel the Russian government to end the Second Chechen war. The militants killed 380 people in the course of their operation, which caused changes in the Russian government.
After these attacks events that followed only served to fuel further animosity between the warring communities. After the Beslan massacre, the Russian government was not forthcoming with information on the events that led to the terrorist activities. Parts of the government concerned with media coverage denied the media personalities permission to uncover the truth, and report. This was also the case in the 1972 Olympic attack (Reeve, 2011). The German authorities were not particularly forthcoming with information. This lack of information created speculations in both cases and increased tension between the opposing parties.
The threat of domestic terrorism
Domestic terrorism is dangerous as citizens of a given country carry out the terrorist activities. In many countries, these are cases of concern as even tracking the culprits is even harder. Many of these cases of domestic terrorism go unpunished as the authorities hardly catch up with the perpetrators (McDonnell, 2004). Although they are of low, magnitude compared to international terrorism, lives are still lost which is a threat to the security of all citizens.
Domestic terrorism forms bases for the international terrorism as many perpetrators start as domestic tourists. In the Olympic attack, the Palestinians did not act on their own information. They had to have had help from a domestic source, which helped the militants have access to the Olympic team. The source of this information, whether aware or unaware, participated in the act of terrorism. The Beslan School Massacre was mainly domestic. Though it was high in death of people, and destruction, it was an attack to quell domestic grievances. The Islamic insurgents led an army of local militants to attack locals. Domestic terrorism is an enormous threat nowadays as terrorists prefer to apply it to perpetrate international terrorism (McDonnell, 2004). These terrorists take advantage of the developed telecommunications to turn locals into domestic terrorists. If not curbed, domestic terrorism is the biggest threat to security as terrorists can carry them out easily since they have little surveillance from the authority.
References
1972 Munich Olympics Massacre. (2006). Background Information Summaries, 2.
Martin, G. (2010). Understanding terrorism: Challenges, perspectives, and issues. Los Angeles: Sage.
McDonnell, J. F. (2004). Constitutional issues in federal management of domestic terrorism incidents. Lincoln, NE: Universe.
Reeve, S. (2011). One day in September: The full story of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre and the Israeli revenge operation “Wrath of God”: with a new epilogue. New York: Arcade.
Snetkov, A. (2007). The image of the terrorist threat in the official Russian press: the Moscow theatre crisis (2002) and the Beslan hostage crisis (2004). Europe-Asia Studies, 59(8), 1349.
