Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

FIGHT-OR-FLIGHT RESPONSE • 1935. The Fedayeen as Saddam. In 1995 Saddam Hussein establisheda paramilitary organization to protect his Ba’thist regime.Following the 1991 Gulf War, after the central government hadlost control of several Shi’ite-populated provinces, the Iraqi regimeinstituted the Fedayeen as a covert militia to be able to strike atdisloyal Iraqis in the event of any similar rebellions within Iraqiterritory or in the event of loss of control of territories due to invasionand occupation. During the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraqi,Fedayeen members did in fact murder Iraqis who were perceived asdisloyal or as collaborators. In July 2003, U.S. Army First ArmoredDivision troops found the Fedayeen archives containing personnelfiles near the Ar Rashid airfield, which led to the capture of keyFedayeen leaders.FEDERATION FOR NATIONAL EUROPEAN ACTION (FÉ-DÉRATION D’ACTION NATIONALE EUROPÉENNE). SeeEUROPEAN NATIONALIST FASCISTS; NATIONAL FRONT.FIGHT-OR-FLIGHT RESPONSE. This is the physiological responseof humans and animals to situations of danger involving anumber of bodily responses that prepare one either to flee or to confrontand fight the source of danger. These include increase in heartrate; increase in blood pressure; blood volume changes; increase inthe electroconductivity of the skin due in part to increased perspiration;increased muscular tension; and changes in brain-wave activityreflecting increased alertness. The cardiovascular and respiratorysystems operate with greater efficiency and more sugar is releasedinto the bloodstream in preparation for physical exertion. Duringfight-or-flight episodes, the affected individuals often exhibit featsof strength that they ordinarily could not do or they become unawareof pain from wounds or broken bones. After experiencing these lifethreateningsituations, people often report that they felt curiouslydisconnected from their actions, as if they were observing themselvesreacting but not controlling their actions in a conscious and deliberativemanner. In fact, in the critical moments one is acting almost byreflex and ordinarily deliberative processes appear to be suspended.The fight-or-flight response may help to explain how individualsare attracted toward political violence and may also explain some ofthe behavior of terrorist groups. According to the physiological modelof terrorist contagion, susceptible individuals experience a thrill from