« Thy Daily Plank - 9/19/06 | Main | Big balls or stupid stupid stupid? …a little from column A, a little from column B »
Terrorist: Modern-Day Pirates
As we continue today’s Pirate theme — for the more hard core lawyers out there, Legal Affairs has a pretty interesting feature from last year on a new application of the otherwise anarchic pirate law: Terrorism. Douglas R. Burgess argues that terrorists, like pirates, hold an unusual position in relation to the law, since they are not “state actors” or “ordinary criminals,” and thus there are no international or domestic laws that apply. Burgess argues that what is needed is a new framework for crimes of terrorism and asserts that we have to look no further than pirate law, which is the only other legal field that covers state vs. nonstate conflicts, allowing anyone to capture a pirate wherever they are found.
Burgess further argues that “viewed in its proper historical context, piracy emerges as a clear and powerful precedent” for dealing with terrorism, especially perhaps the link between state-sponsored piracy of the 19th century and state-sponsored terrorism now. He continues:
The corollaries between the pirates’ “war against the world” and modern terrorism are profound and disturbing. With their vengeful practices, pirates were the first and perhaps only historical precedent for the terrorist cell: a group of men who bound themselves in extraterritorial enclaves, removed themselves from the protection and jurisdiction of the nation-state, and declared war against civilization. Both pirates and terrorists deliberately employ this extranationality as a means of pursuing their activities. The pirates hid in the myriad shoals and islands of the Atlantic. The terrorists hide in cells throughout the world. Both seek through their acts to bring notice to themselves and their causes. They share means as well—destruction of property, frustration of commerce, and homicide. Most important, both are properly considered enemies of the rest of the human race.
Indeed, it’s probably not too far a stretch to say that Bin Laden is the modern-day Edward Teach, a.k.a., Blackbeard.
Comments
very interesting story. :) :) :) :) :)
Posted by Jaimee | April 26, 2007 3:36 PM