Writing and Terror: Peter Herman’s Unspeakable
- August 08, 2019
- by
- Matt
From the so-called ‘anarchist terror’ of the late 19th century to al Qaeda and Islamic State, the history of terrorism is filled with episodes in which governments have overreacted to terrorist violence. Emergency antiterrorist legislation, military tribunals, wars and quasi-militarisation, extra-legal procedures, torture, administrative detention, national security hysteria – all these responses have been repeated...
The Terror Election
- June 04, 2017
- by
- Matt
From a strategic point of view terrorism has a dismal predictability. Whatever its context or motivation its central objectives are usually the same: a) to provoke a militarily more powerful opponent into an overreaction that will strain its opponent’s resources and draw it into a debilitating confrontation from which the terrorist hopes to gain in...
Murder in Westminster
- March 23, 2017
- by
- Matt
So far nothing is known about the murderer who mowed down pedestrians and cyclists on Westminster Bridge and assaulted parliament with a kitchen knife yesterday.
The murderer is dead, having completed his homicidal spree with an act of suicide-by-cop. Last night Channel 4 News bizarrely identified him as Trevor Brooks, aka Abu Izzadeen, the Islamist bigot...
Nice and the Atrocity Factory
- July 16, 2016
- by
- Matt
Yesterday evening I was driving to play a game of tennis, when I heard the sounds of screaming people on the radio being mown down by a truck in Nice. I immediately turned it off. This isn’t because I think I have some privileged right to ignore such horrors. But I don’t need to hear...
2016: All Aboard the Armageddon Express
- January 02, 2016
- by
- Matt
One thing you can say about the maniacs who are intent on dragging us to destruction is they don’t waste any time. They don’t listen to seasonal bromides from the Queen or anywhere else asking us to light candles in the darkness.
Not for them New Year messages about peace, hope and goodwill. In a...
Terrortalk
- December 13, 2015
- by
- Matt
Many years ago, when I was doing my A’ Levels, my English teacher gave us three basic rules of thumb to apply when reading texts: 1) What is the author trying to achieve? 2) To what extent does he/she succeed on his/her terms? 3) To what extent does he/she succeed on your terms?
I’ve always found...
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