Caught on Tape: Video as a Terrorist's Weapon

ByABC News
February 3, 2005, 9:26 PM

Feb. 4, 2005 — -- The war on terror has been described as an unprecedented type of conflict -- a battle against groups unaffiliated with nations, groups armed with radical ideologies. And the video camera may be one of the most powerful weapons in the terrorists' arsenal.

In a recent Harris poll, six out of 10 people said they favored more surveillance cameras on streets and public places. People are feeling vulnerable, and it's no wonder. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Americans are painfully aware of what terrorists can do. And terrorists have never been more aware of the power of the moving image.

We've seen suicide bombers videotaping farewell messages as they set themselves up for martyrdom. In Iraq and Europe, attacks on U.S. targets are videotaped. Terrorists who held parents and children hostage at a school in Beslan, Russia, took time to videotape themselves in the midst of their murder and mayhem.

"A picture is worth a thousand words and the video is worth 10,000," says Evan Kohlman, an expert who tracks terrorist videos. Kohlman says the terrorists make videos with two goals in mind: to empower their supporters and to frighten their enemies.

And it has a tremendous effect, according to Kohlman. "It shows these men as some kind of holy warriors that are willing to give up their lives that have taken these men and women hostages that are so cruel," he said.

"Terrorism is about fear. It is about amplifying that fear and there's nothing more useful than the media," said Magnus Ranstorp, a professor at Scotland's St. Andrew's University, who studies the effects of terrorism.

Ranstorp says terrorists make their tapes to frighten people and to threaten them. The tapes convey a powerful message. "We can humiliate you. We can take your citizens. We can slaughter you. It is the kidnappers lurking in the shadows, picking off foreigners, individuals at their select moments and they are the ones that are in control of this entire process," he said.