Terrorism that wasn’t one

I woke up this morning and wondered: Why is it actually called “Terror-Attack”? It’s not terror attacking, is it? Terror is merely going along with it.

When looking around a bit, it seems that there’s nor real definition of the word terror. There are several meanings, all are mostly the same, but still slightly different. What they’ve all got in common is that nobody wants Terror to happen and everybody is afraid in experiencing it.

But the word Terror includes also some action just taking place in order to spread fear.

Today the Report of the Committee related with researching the issue of the 22. Juli 2011 delivered their report. Roughly 482 pages full of information about everything that happened, that didn’t happen and what could have prevented from happening.

And every single article or comment in Newspapers about it is related somehow to the world of Terror.

I wondered: Are per definition the actions that took place last your really Terror? It surely felt and still feels like it. Especially in the first moments on that day the general state of mind was everything else than calm. But the madman had a plan and that plan wasn’t to spread fear. It was more political, more planned through and everything else than just to frighten people. Doesn’t this rule out Terror? Isn’t it more a political agenda he wished to fulfill in the most terrible way?

As more and more I’m thinking about it, as more I see a discrepancy between what happened and what words everybody including me agrees to use to describe it: Terrorattack, Terrorist, Bombattack, Terroractivity, Terrortarget. All these words trigger in my head pictures. Pictures I don’t like. Pictures that frighten me. Pictures that don’t have much in common with the reality of my life.

There it was one man going nuts and taking actions into his hand which he shouldn’t even have considered. He had targets he wanted to achieve and he had a plan how to do it. He didn’t randomly chose people, no matter who. The major difference: it wasn’t about spreading fear. He wasn’t that nuts.

In my understanding that rules out the option of terrorism. I have to admit that I’d rather call it terrorism as well. It makes it so easy. Those people are sick, can’t see clear, lost their contact to reality - they are per se bad people. Terror and everything related to it is so charged with emotions, that you intuitively know on which side you belong. It’s one of the rare occasions where something is black and white. Life becomes simple in dealing with terror: if you’re not with us, you’re against us.

The danger lies within. Knowing how you stand to such actions is one thing. But using this as argumentation for other interests is another thing and it’s likely to misplace one for the other. There is no such thing as a terrorattack, it’s not the terror that attacked. Terror is partly a feeling, if it could attack you couldn’t even defend yourself. It’s the madman how’s attacking. There’s something like a bombattack if you want to, but picking up on terrortarget it’s getting difficult again. And still everybody knows what you mean when using those words. Because they’ve become institutions, self-driven memes that need no further explanation. And if I say we need to be able to defend ourselves against such a terrorattack, everybody agrees and has an idea how - more or less. Though it’s impossible. But we can’t accept that.

We want to be safe. 100% safe if possible. We want our beloved ones save. But whenever you want something, you also have to give something in return. There’s not a single time when it’s not like that. And I wonder what it will be we will be willing to give to get the illusion of being 100% safe. We will be paying and it will be a high price, because not being frightened has a very, very, very high value. To everybody.

We are already scared of being scared. And being reminded and reminding ourselves with words of Terror doesn’t make it easier.

One more thing: Whenever somebody is speaking of/demanding protection against or procedures and laws to prevent Terror: My dear friends: Terror can’t be prevented and you can’t protect yourself against it, that’s why it’s terror, that’s why it’s so frightening.