There has not been a major terrorist attack in awhile….so the issue has slipped from the headlines….so to keep the subject alive and the chattering Ignorati on their toes I will attack the subject whenever I get bored.

I recently had the opportunity to teach a course on Terrorism…..basically it was an introduction to the subject…..I wish I had had this article to use for my students would have made my life much easier and after all is that not what we all are looking for….an easier life?

This is an excellent look at the history of terrorism…..

As Max Hill is announced as the UK’s new terrorism legislation watchdog, Peter Oborne explains how David Anderson, the previous appointee, brought insight to one of the defining issues of our age.

Politicians of all parties and many countries have sought to persuade their societies that terrorism is a unique and special form of crime.

They place terrorists in a category of psychopathic evil, marked out by their capacity for inhuman violence. They place terrorists beyond the pale of civilised society and, therefore, beyond the reach of negotiation and settlement. They say that terrorism is the most dangerous and gravest problem of our time.

Most of this political narrative is self-seeking nonsense. It allows politicians to strike resolute poses. It allows them to seek and obtain special powers and to expend huge sums on combatting terrorist threats, to the great benefit of defence and security interests, both public and private.

Source: Terrorism: A history of violence | Middle East Eye

There is an ever expanding role for women in the field of terrorism….even reports are issued about the role of women…..

Source: NCF_RB_LS_policybrief_1320.pdf

Women are becoming more lethal. In jihadist organizations — including even Al Qaeda, which had long banned females from violent roles — women are increasingly taking part in terrorist actions.

Since 1985, terrorism’s so-called invisible women have accounted for a quarter of fatal attacks in Iraq, Egypt, Israel, Lebanon, Chechnya, Sri Lanka, Morocco and Palestine. My research found that by mid-2008, women had acted as suicide bombers 21 times in Iraq’s markets and other civilian venues patronized by Shiites.

Source: Women terrorists increasingly take violent roles – latimes

And that was my historic perspective for the day….terrorism is a subject that needs understanding for it will be with us for many more years to come….