Kalin didn’t have to wait long. His KGB handler and mentor came to him and told him to get ready, as he would be leaving the school for further preparation for his upcoming assignment. Making friends with other students was not encouraged, but Kalin had a few people he liked to drink beer with and talk about the world outside the school. One of his friends was a young KGB officer who taught the course on terrorism. Over a beer in the canteen, Yuri Kolenko lectured him to pay more attention to the theory of terrorism.

“You will soon be getting your assignment somewhere in America, and you need to impress your handlers with your knowledge of terrorist tactics and theory. Now I’m going to give you something to impress them. Memorize as much as you can.”

He then passed Kalin a paper he had written. Yuri added, “I’m going to tell you something this school never passes on. The use of aliases over a long period of time can have an effect on your thinking and behavior. All identity changes require a change in behavior. To be effective you must act out and live each role. To cope with that you must devise an anchor for who you are. I always chose an alias starting with the English letter ‘H.’ My favorite is Harris. I’ve done my best work under that name. As long as there isn’t any clear security problem, I’ll use the name Harris. That simple thing is my anchor to maintain who I really am behind the façade of an alias and cover story. I trust you not to ever mention what I’ve just told you.”

Back in his cubicle room, Kalin propped his feet up and read Yuri’s notes.

“The goal of terrorism is to create in the Target State an atmosphere of chaos that will cause the State’s reaction to result in an even higher level of chaos. The Target State will lose its internal cohesiveness and will gradually move toward vulnerability to either external military action or political attacks from within. Carefully managed terrorism could successfully destroy an enemy, an enemy that was previously thought to be invincible. It is not as most terrorists and their supporters think that the individual terrorist acts have to be sensational in order to be successful. In fact, many sensational terrorist operations end up making the target state’s resolve stronger and its internal security procedures more effective. Average citizens expect that important people and large landmark structures are the targets of terrorists from time to time. What is far more effective is to have people from all classes lose confidence in the ability of the government to protect their lives and property. The western media will act as the carrier of this political disease and focus on the failure of the security services to protect people from terrorists.

“In the past, terrorism has been limited to attacks against targets with high political impacts. After a time the terrorist incident will disappear from the front page only to reappear if someone is caught and put on trial. It is too hard for terrorists to continually hit high-profile targets. The detailed planning and logistical effort required to hit high-impact targets cannot be sustained. If, however, the new terrorists concentrate on soft or unprotected targets, they can continue a drum beat of assassinations and sabotage. Then local governments are unable to cope and begin to break down. The media demands action. Citizens lose confidence and no longer trust the authorities to protect them. Proving once again that the greatest freedom is freedom from fear.

“It is in the actions taken by States to protect themselves from terrorism that the real payoff for terrorism occurs. As States put into effect more and more protective measures, the very nature of democracies like the United States begin to change from a government that emphasized individual freedom and initiative to one that seeks to control and track its citizens with a growing security apparatus. A security apparatus that can easily, if unchecked, form the core of an emerging police state that will eventually enrage the populace.

“Small forces should not attack high-impact targets that by their very nature will be protected. The terrorist leader of today must count upon the media to frighten the nation much in the way media focus on a serial killer can paralyze a local area. Timing and selection of targets must be carefully managed to develop and maintain momentum.”

All of Barry Kelly’s novels are available in print and digital formats from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or your local bookstore. Visit www.factsandfictions.com for more by the author.