Manufacturing Terrorism

What if your own government deliberately creates terrorists? What if their short-term aims – deposing regimes that no longer serve Western interests, justifying invasions of sovereign nations, and expanding the security state at home – have long-term consequences for us all? What if most of the horrific bombings, stabbings and vehicle attacks of recent years are connected – indirectly and sometimes directly – to British, French and American intelligence? These and other hard-hitting questions are posed by T. J. Coles in this disturbing survey of secret political manoeuvrings and covert manipulation. Welcome to the world of manufactured terrorism… Backed by a wealth of documentation, including court records, parliamentary inquiries and little-known but official publications, the author exposes the role of the deep state in brutal acts of terror. Exploring Operation Gladio, Northern Irish terror and, predominantly, Islamic jihad, he argues that intelligence agencies, the military and governments employ six key methods to manufacture terrorism: 1/ Blowback: attacking other countries and provoking violent responses. 2/ Proxies: creating terrorists (including al-Qaeda) and using them against enemies. 3/ Provocateurs: provoking individuals from minorities into committing terrorist acts. 4/ Green-lighting: allowing terrorists to commit attacks in order to justify specific policies. 5/ False-flags: committing terrorism and blaming it on designated enemies. 6/ Simulations: holding drills and exercises as covers for apparent terrorist acts. Contrary to claims that terrorism is caused by people who simply ‘hate our way of life’ – and in contrast to the simplistic narrative of conspiracy websites and talk-shows – Coles argues that each case of terrorism needs to be evaluated separately. Manufacturing Terrorism presents a complex picture that distinguishes between cases of blowback, proxies, false-flags, simulations, etc. It offers an indispensable briefing to help readers make sense of our chaotic and dangerous world.

A groundbreaking work of investigative journalism, The Terror Factory shows how the FBI has - under the guise of engaging in counterterrorism since 9/11 - built a network of informants whose primary purpose is to infiltrate Muslim communities to create phony terrorist plots so the bureau can claim victory in the War on Terror. Now Aaronson reveals in detail how the FBI transformed from a reactive law enforcement agency into a proactive counterterrorism unit, and how so-called terror consultants have made fortunes by exaggerating the threat of Islamic terror in the US.

An ISIS/Trump update to the bestselling book about the FBI's role in manufacturing terrorist plots.

This is a print on demand edition of a hard to find publication. Examines terrorists¿ involvement in a variety of crimes ranging from motor vehicle violations, immigration fraud, and mfg. illegal firearms to counterfeiting, armed bank robbery, and smuggling weapons of mass destruction. There are 3 parts: (1) Compares the criminality of internat. jihad groups with domestic right-wing groups. (2) Six case studies of crimes includes trial transcripts, official reports, previous scholarship, and interviews with law enforce. officials and former terrorists are used to explore skills that made crimes possible; or events and lack of skill that the prevented crimes. Includes brief bio. of the terrorists along with descriptions of their org., strategies, and plots. (3) Analysis of the themes in closing arguments of the transcripts in Part 2. Illus.

The study of terrorism is plagued by three problems - lack of strong theory, a disconnect between academic and public policy work, and the absence of empirical validation. Although the three papers in my dissertation will address different subjects within the study of terrorism, the commonality is a concerted attempt to address the above shortcomings. In the first paper, "The Nefarious Helping Hand", I demonstrate theoretically and empirically via case studies that many terrorist groups are significantly more complex than one-dimensional media and (sometime) academic portrayals, and that these groups depend heavily on well-developed social services and anti-corruption campaigns to gain support from the population. In the second paper, "Terrorism as Revenge for Perceived Unfairness", I argue that terrorism is driven by many of the same motivations as other forms of violence. I argue that perceptions of fairness and species-common inclinations for revenge to punish these perceived violations of fairness are often key motivations for individuals to pursue terrorism. In my third paper, I address a key debate within the terrorism literature---the relative importance of madrassahs for training terrorists. I argue that the two contending positions---madrassahs are not important for recruitment of terrorists and madrassahs are breeding grounds for terror are both overstated. I find that radical madrassah exposure is strongly associated with terrorist activity and is associated with more important roles on terrorist operations in Southeast Asia.

With special reference to Delhi and Jammu and Kashmir, India.

A groundbreaking work of investigative journalism, The Terror Factory was the first book to expose how the FBI, under the guise of engaging in counterterrorism, built a network of more than 15,000 informants after 9/11 whose primary purpose was to infiltrate Muslim communities to create and facilitate phony terrorist plots so that the Bureau could then claim it was winning the war on terror. This tenth anniversary edition of The Terror Factory will focus on the activities of the FBI over the past decade, including how the Justice Department has prosecuted hundreds of defendants on international terrorism charges that emerged from FBI stings. In many of these stings, the informants or undercover agents provided all the money and weapons for the terrorist plots, and sometimes even the ideas -- raising significant questions about whether any of these people would have committed the crimes were it not for the FBI's encouragement. The book will also examine how the FBI is assigning informants to infiltrate right-wing groups, and how the calls for new right-wing anti-terrorism laws would give the Bureau even more power.

Fear is a powerful emotion and a formidable spur to action, a source of worry and – when it is manipulated – a source of injustice. Manufacturing Phobias demonstrates how economic and political elites mobilize fears of terrorism, crime, migration, invasion, and infection to twist political and social policy and advance their own agendas. The contributors to the collection, experts in criminology, law, sociology, and politics, explain how and why social phobias are created by pundits, politicians, and the media, and how they target the most vulnerable in our society. Emphasizing how social phobias reflect the interests of those with political, economic, and cultural power, this work challenges the idea that society’s anxieties are merely expressions of individual psychology. Manufacturing Phobias will be a clarion call for anyone concerned about the disturbing consequences of our culture of fear.

This book offers a timely and critical reflection on how states have responded to the test of terrorism in the long shadow of 9/11. Terrorism has become the hallmark of international relations in the early twenty-first century. This book provides a policy-focused analysis of how certain states have responded to its test by employing a range of viewpoints that encompass state level responses down to a close interrogation of the nebulous non-state actors who have orchestrated spectacular political violence in contemporary times. It engages with the challenges of terrorism from a variety of perspectives that include philosophical discourses, the perils of counterterrorism encapsulated in the death of Jean Charles de Menezes, learning in counterinsurgency, the effectiveness of counterterrorism spending, Al Qaeda’s modus operandi and the threat posed by Boko Haram to Nigeria. This eclectic collection of chapters is an important contribution to the wide-ranging and contested debate about terrorism that has dominated the political discourse in the West since 2001. This book was published as a special issue of Defense and Security Analysis.