PSu Magazine Winter 2002

I s the man with a homemade bomb a terrorist? Or a freedom fighter? And can either be stopped? Universally accepted answers are hard to come by, but Gary Perlstein, professor in the Administration of Jus– tice Division, understands the issues perhaps as well as anyone. For 20 years he's studied terrorism, terrorists, and the causes of both. His credentials include a 1991 book, Perspectives on Terrorism, and two books on dome tic terrorism due out next summer. He wrote the first article on terrorism for Jane's Defense Weekly, the international bible of military strategists. And the national media have discovered his expertise, routinely camping on his doorstep when incom– prehensible tragedy strikes. His take on terrorism, however, can be, well, unconventional. As members of the C ity C lub of Portland recently enjoyed a buffet at the posh Multnomah Athletic C lub, Perlstein discomfited ome in the well– hee led audience by reminding them that "The United States wa con– ce ived and born in violence." Even 100 years before the Ameri– can Revolution, he noted, dissatisfied colonists succe sfu lly rebelled against the duly appointed government of colonial Virginia. A century later, the American Revolution pitted mutini ts against tho e loya l to the lawfu l gov– ernment. Later came the Ku Klux Klan, Posse Comitatu , and Earth Lib– eration Front. Yet depending on one's point of view, you might consider, ay, the early movement to establish labor unions justified in it violent tactics. Or the Weather Underground. O r Right to Life extremi ts. In other words, as Perlstein often say , "One man's terror– ist is another man's freedom fighter." So how do we decide when some– thing i an act of terrori m and when it's something else? What distinguishes terrorists from mere thugs, says Perlstein, is that ter– rorist's aims are always political, reli– gious, or ideological. They see themselves as altruists working for a better world. And their acts are meant to have psychological repercussions beyond the immediate target. Or, as an ancient Chinese proverb puts it, "Kill one man. Frighten 10,000." But ultimately, Perlstein says, the terrorist uses acts of terrorism toward one goal: ga ining the world's ear. "Terrorism is a mean to an end,"