On this day in 1984, the Irish Republican Army (IRA) bombed the Grand Hotel in Brighton (England), where then UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s ruling Conservative Party was holding its annual conference. Five people died and many more were injured.
When you are a terrorist you aim for the top. If you want to have the greatest impact possible, either to effect the changes you are trying to impose on everyone else or just to instill fear as widely as possible, it is a good idea to do one of two things:
- Kill as many people as possible (e.g. 9/11)
- Kill a VIP
We have seen quite a few of the latter already in these blogs on terrorism that took place on particular days in history. In fact, the first ‘wave’ of terrorism in the modern era was remarkably good at identifying and taking out leaders: presidents, kings, tsars and so on. In many ways these acts were the embodiment of the anarchists’ ‘propaganda of the deed’.
It is not necessary, however, to go back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries to discover that the focus on leaders is still a priority for violent extremists. On this day in 1984 the Irish Republican Army (IRA) claimed responsibility for a bomb which exploded inside the Grand Hotel in Brighton (England), where then UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher’s ruling Conservative Party was holding its annual conference. Five people died and many more were injured.
Lucky, unlucky
Ms. Thatcher obviously survived but the attack was clearly upsetting: her husband, Denis, bought her a new watch afterwards and told her “every minute counts” And, despite the fact that the assassination attempt occurred 35 years ago it still fascinates many. A UK TV production company plans to create a series on the attack which will “offer a timely exploration of the allure of extremism and present a tense, nuanced, and gripping portrait of an assassination attempt that changed the face of global politics forever.”
The IRA operation also gave us on of the most memorable lines on the reality of terrorism. In a chilling statement released hours after the attack, the IRA reiterated its threat to the UK saying: “Today we were unlucky but we only have to be lucky once, you will have to be lucky always, give Ireland peace and there will be no more war.” An odd thing to state given that five people did die (although I suppose the fact that Ms. Thatcher explains her ‘luck’).
Failure is not an option
This, in a nutshell, is the world of counter terrorism. Security intelligence and law enforcement agencies have to foil every plot since failure is not an option: the bad guys will nevertheless be successful on occasion. They will ‘get lucky’ every now and then and people, including prime ministers who are closely guarded unlike the rest of us, will die.
I wish it were otherwise.
