The Decade in Politics
1996

Two courageous crusades against the modern world came roaring to the public's attention in 1996. Both were violent. Both were shocking. And both were arguably dead wrong on several philosophical and moral points.

After 18 years of evading law enforcement with crafty tricks and a hermetic lifestyle, the Unabomber finally succumbed to the energetic pursuit of the FBI. By championing radical environmentalism and leading a one-man jihad against the modern world, a former assistant math professor became a fleeting anti-hero — and a permanent icon for desperately bitter radicals across the United States.

Across the world, another force was tenderly keeping alive the old-fashioned meaning of jihad: an Islamic war against unbelievers. The Taliban, one of the strangest (and perhaps idealogically purest) armed forces on Earth, captured Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, and hung its former overlord, Gen. Mohammad Najibullah.

Ted Kaczynski was a one-man army. The Taliban is an army devoted to one God. But in 1996 both were idealogues in the purest sense — men willing to use lethal force to bring about a flawless incarnation of a perfect idea.

There's little doubt that the Unabomber got more press — while Kaczynski dominated frontpages for weeks, the Taliban popped up on the international pages, a specter of the newswires, a single hobgoblin among many haunting the American picture of the Middle East.

There are many who say that violence never solves anything, but few who deny that it gets things done. By the use of terror, both the Taliban and the Unabomber were able to take their visions of a perfect world, and stamp them into the minds of millions.

Have their ideas faded? No. The Taliban still rules Afghanistan, imposing an uncomprimising and brutal version of Sharia upon the population. And if it gets overthrown, their example will eventually be remembered — perhaps by millions, perhaps by a handful of true believers — as the right way to run a true Islamic state. Stateside, the Unabomber's famous, widely published manifesto is still out there, still appearing on people's home pages, because his cry against a cold, mechanical society met receptive ears.

Eco-arsonists in the American West already show signs of having learned the Unibomber's lesson. The jihad started in the age of Mohammad shows little sign of burning out — the Taliban added fuel to the fire. It may be decades before we can truly gauge the impact of either.

— James Norton (jim@flakmag.com)