Psychological warfare

WITH terror so prevalent in the news since 9/11 it would be easy to think this tactic is a relatively modern innovation. But in various forms it has been used throughout history to break an enemy’s will to resist and frighten them from engaging in further activity. Terrorism combines physical assaults with an attempt to break the mind of the enemy or at the very least to play out the drama of one’s cause on the grand stage of world opinion. Advances in weaponry made during the mid-19th Century such as reliable lightweight explosives, mercury detonators and long-range firearms permitted terrorism to be carried out by small cells of dedicated activists. The Palestinians have used terror since the 1920s and 1930s when the immigration of Jews from Europe conflicted with existing Arab interests.