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4.0 out of 5 stars
A very good analysis, April 16 2004
In this fascinating work, author and historian Caleb Carr looks at modern terrorism in the context of the history of war. It is the author's contention that throughout the history of warfare, people have often targeted the civilian population of their enemies in an attempt to undercut their support for their government or for certain causes. The author further contends that the combatants that resort first to the use of terror tactics and those who use them the most viciously are certain to see their own position dangerously undercut.Starting with ancient Rome, the author traces the history of the West, as the idea of limited war, involving respect for civilians and a minimization of casualties, kept being rediscovered and then abandoned. In the final analysis, the Muslim extremists who have taken up terrorism as their weapon have damaged their own cause, and now the United States must actively fight against these extremists, while avoiding using terror and spurring the Middle East on to future terror. I must admit that people are correct to question some of the author's analyses. Indeed, I found the author's treatment of the CIA and Vietnam to quite unobjective, and his denunciations of strategic bombing and economic embargo made me wonder how he would have suggested that the United States battle Japan during W.W.2 (presumably through grinding island-invasion campaigning). Also, some of his other analyses seem out of balance as well. But, that said, the author isn't entirely anti-West, showing as he does that it has only been in the West that people have striven to eschew terror as a weapon. Indeed, he is quite clear that non-Western people's use of terror produced its own consequences - such as the African complicity in the slave trade, and the Native American's use of terror rebounding to their own destruction. Overall, I found this to be a very good analysis, and I do think that the author goes a long way towards proving his point. I would go one step further, the American invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, seeking to remove them as terrorist supporting states while attempting to limit civilian casualties, suggests that the Bush administration has been reading this book.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
A Lesson that Needs to be Taught Better, Jan 12 2003
Terror and its consequences have always bubbled near the surface of our collective consciousness, but it took the events of 9/11 to make us view terror as openly as had the Israelis since 1948. As the Saudi-guided jets crashed into the World Trade Center, Americans instantly began to perceive the nature of the menace that had previously lain dormant in what was supposed to be the only country on earth free of such concerns. In THE LESSONS OF HISTORY, Caleb Carr disabuses the reader of the seeming sanctuary that he surely must have felt solely by virtue of his being an American. Carr sees the current emphasis on combatting terrorism as far more than the radical Islamic tint that has commonly if not incorrectly been associated with it. Carr's thesis is that terrorism has been an enduring part of hostilities ever since combatants first began to toss rocks at one another. He begins with a chronological sweep of terrorism, beginning with the Roman destruction of Carthage, and continuing with analyses of how future emprire-states used state-sponsored terrorism as the means to defeat opponents who may or may not have themselves been using it. Carr suggests that terrorism is not only ineffective in the short run in that it does not even accomplish its stated goals, but that it is also ruinously counterproductive in the long run in that those nations who inflict terror on others inevitably find that they are subject to worse terrorism in the future. Thus, terrorism as an adjunct to more traditional war-making activities has always failed and will continue to fail. I have no problem accepting this basic premise, but the manner in which he states his case makes his thesis less convincing than it might otherwise have been. To begin with, the brevity of his book (256 pages) does not allow him sufficient space to give each example of failed historical terrorism the consideration it needs. What Carr does it to give his topic an overly superficial once over. War is so inherently chaotic and the distinctions between accepted battle between uniformed combatants and irregular terrorists who mask their terrorism under the banner of freedom fighters is often so fuzzy that the reader needs more than Carr's undocumented say so that Franklin Roosevelt's and later Harry Truman's decision to put Hiroshima and Nagasaki to the nuclear torch was clear 'evidence of the self-perpetuating vengeful nature of terror.' (page 181) Further muddying the issue was his cultural bias against the French, the English, and the United States in what he sees as their long-standing propensity to use terror as a means to wage war. Carr shows an unabashed admiration for Ho Chi Minh and Mao Ze Dung's waging of a guerrila warfare that somehow never crossed the line between legitimate acts of insurgency and illegitimate acts of self-serving terrorism. Carr's basic thrust, however, is clear, even if I disagree with his presentation. The United States had better learn to refrain from lashing out at a largely civilian sector in any future wars, for if American military might is used to send a message to those civilians of a hostile power, then that message might be far different from the one intended.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Puts Terrorism in a Historical Context, Aug 24 2002
Terrorism is terrible, and never less than shocking, but Caleb Carr puts it in the light of history."The Lessons of Terror: A History of Warfare Against Civilians: Why It Has Always Failed and Why It Will Fail Again" shows us how terrorism has been used, and why terrorist efforts like the World Trade Center tragedies will accomplish nothing but carnage. While America sees the evil ugliness of world terrorism, Carr notes how, thoughout the years, terrorism has been a tool by most militaries, even our own in the US. His emphasis on the military side of terrorism, as opposed to a few radicals will be alarming. His analysis of various US civil and international wars and conflicts isn't pretty, and, on such a short book, not easily agreed with at face value. Still, he forces the reader to see past the result of the war, and see the process of war with moral and ethical truth, one way or another. It is a frustratingly short book, but necessary nonetheless. His points are substantiated, but with his thesis so broad-stroking, it would be good, if in subsequent editions he likewise broadens his support of these points. Timelines, charts, tables all would help. Just the same, Carr courageously asserts that terrorism is not unique to foreign political and miliary entities. He tries to avoid the public relations skews that we have put on our own actions. Boldly, his is unafraid to say what both liberals and conservatives already are too keenly cognizant of, that we've not always played wargames fairly. Don't accept Carr at his word, nor expect to agree with every argument. I certainly don't. I do agree, however, that we need to consider the defining and perspective of terrorism with a honest look at what the US has done and is doing. I fully recommend "The Lessons of Terror: A History of Warfare Against Civilians: Why It Has Always Failed and Why It Will Fail Again" by Caleb Carr. Anthony Trendl
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