WMD TERRORISM IN SOUTH ASIA: TRENDS AND IMPLICATIONS

WMD TERRORISM IN SOUTH ASIA: TRENDS AND IMPLICATIONS

Ever since that fateful September day when terrorists struck New York’s World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington DC terrorism, particularly terrorism brought about by weapons of mass destruction WMD , has become the buzzword in international relations jargon. As the United States embarked on a long-term, comprehensive campaign to fight global terrorism, South Asia, too, began to experience the fall out of the scourge called terrorism. Since September 2001, this region has had its fair share of terrorist acts, worsening an already delicate political situation. Experts and analysts have added their words to the hype surrounding the concept of WMD terrorism and many a grim picture is being painted about the likelihood of WMD terrorism striking new targets.

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  • 1 Virginia Held, ‘Terrorism, Rights and Political Goals’, in R. G. Frey and Christopher W. Morris (eds.), Violence, Terrorism and Justice, New York: Cambridge University Press 1991.
  • 2 Jessica Stern, The Ultimate Terrorists, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1999, pp. 11-12.
  • 3 Developments leading to the spread of WMD terrorism are discussed more elaborately in Rashed Uz Zaman ‘The Weaponization of Terrorism: Real Dangers or False Alarms?’ Theoretical Perspectives, Vols. 7 & 8, 2000-2001, pp. 48-81. See also Jessica Stern, op. cit. (fn. 2); Jonathan B. Tucker, ‘Chemical and Biological Terrorism: How Real a Threat’, and Mark Juergensmeyer, ‘Understanding the New Terrorism’, Current History, April 2000.
  • 4 B. G. Salmore, D. W. Simon and Karl Heinz Kamp quoted in Stanley S. Jacobs, ‘The Nuclear Threat as a Terrorist Option’, Terrorism and Political Violence, Vol. 10, No. 4, winter 1998, p. 156.
  • 5 Karl Heinz Kamp, ‘Nuclear Terrorism is not the Core Problem’, Survival, Vol. 40, No. 4, winter 1998-1999, pp. 160-170.
  • 6 Gavin Cameron, ‘Nuclear Terrorism Reconsidered’, Current History, April 2000, pp. 154-157.
  • 7 Richard A. Falkenrath, ‘Confronting Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Terrorism’, Survival, Vol. 40, No. 3, autumn 1998, p. 51.
  • 8 Ibid., p. 53.
  • 9 Jessica Stern, ‘Apocalypse Never but the Threat is Real’, Survival, Vol. 40, No. 4, winter 1998-1999, p. 178.
  • 10 Falkenrath, op. cit. (fn. 7), p. 53.
  • 11 Richard A. Falkenrath, Robert D. Newman and Bradley A Thayer, America’s Achilles Heel: Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Terrorism and Covert Attack, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1998, p. 24.
  • 12 US Department of State, Pattern of Global Terrorism-2000, Washington DC, Office of the Co-ordinator for Counter-terrorism, Department of State, April 2001.
  • 13 Brahma Chellaney, ‘Fighting Terrorism in South Asia: the Lessons of History’, International Security, 26, 3 (2002), p. 95.
  • 14 Samina Ahmed, ‘The United States and Terrorism in South West Asia: September 11 and Beyond’, International Security, 26, 3 (2002), p. 78.
  • 15 Eric S. Margolis, War at the Top of the World, Routledge, New York, 2001, p. 52.
  • 16 Oliver Roy, ‘Why War is Going On in Afghanistan: The Afghan Crisis in Perspective’, Journal of International Affairs, Vol. 5, No. 4, December 2000-February 2001, p. 11
  • 17 M. B. Naqvi, ‘Attack on Church: Who Did It?’, Daily Star, 23 March 2002.
  • 18 Andrew J. Bacevich, ‘Mr Clinton’s War on Terrorism’, Strategic Review, Vol. 27, No. 2, spring 1999, p. 21.
  • 19 Falkenrath, op. cit. (fn. 7), p. 186.
  • 20 Brian Jenkins, ‘Will Terrorists Go Nuclear?’, Orbis, Vol. 29, No. 3, fall 1985, p. 511.
  • 21 Dilara Chowdhury, ‘Toying with Weapons of Mass Destruction: What are India and Pakistan Up To?’, Daily Star, 14 March 2002.
  • 22 Paul Mann, ‘South Asian Nuclear War Deemed Unlikely, But . . .’, Aviation Week and Space Technology, 21 January 2002, pp. 60-61.
  • 23 Ibid., p. 61.
  • 24 Paul Mann, op. cit. (fn. 22), p. 62.
  • 25 George Fernandes quoted in Dilara Chowdhury, op. cit. (fn. 21).
  • 26 S. Padmanabhan, quoted in ibid.
  • 27 Farooq Abdullah, quoted in Dilara Chowdhury, op. cit. (fn. 21).
  • 28 Paul Mann, op. cit. (fn. 22), p.61.