Global terrorism and its remedies
For the sake of easy discussion, one must acknowledge the difficulty of defining terrorism in a manner or in a language acceptable to all. I will not insist on arriving at a definition right now, instead, I will randomly quote a few dates / events from a Historical Dictionary of Terrorism to demonstrate the difficulty in defining 'terrorism'.
a) A.D. 66-70. Jewish nationalist zealot (Sicarii) movement creates mass insurrection in Roman province of Judea, leading to Roman destruction of Jerusalem and Second Temple and mass suicide of zealots besieged at Masada fortress.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. b) A.D. 1090-1256. The Isma'ili Fedayeen cult of Âassassins conducts a terror campaign against the religious and political establishment of the Abbasid Islamic Empire until the Mongol invaders exterminated the cult.
c) A.D. 1793 (May). French revolutionary Committee of Public Safety undertakes purge of real and suspected enemies of the revolution, leading to 300,000 arbitrary arrests and 17,000 executions.
d) A.D. 1886 (May 4). In Hay market Square, Chicago, while 180 police confronted 1,300 workers protesting for an eight-hour work-day, a bomb exploded, killing eight and wounding many others. Police opened fire on the protestors triggering a riot in which at least seven were killed and about a hundred others injured.
e) A.D. 1901 (September-1902 March). An American, Ellen M. Stone, is kidnapped by the Inner Macedonian Revolutionary Organization and held for ransom of $. 66,000. After the U.S government refused to pay this ransom, Stone's sponsoring organization raised and paid the required sum.
f) A.D. 1910 (October 1). During labor strike the office building of the anti-Union Los Angeles Times was dynamited and erupted into flames due to severed gas mains. At least 20 were disabled due to the explosion and resulting fire.
g) A.D. 1939 (January-1940 February). Irish Republican Army carries out first major bombing campaign within England proper with over 50 bombings of public places within a 13-month period.
h) A.D. 1954 (March 1). Four Puerto Rican nationalists open fire on House of Representatives from visitor's gallery, wounding five representatives. All four captured by security guards.
i) A.D. 1968 (August 28). Guatemalan Rebel Armed Forces gunmen assassinate U.S. Ambassador John Gordon Main in Guatemala City, the first assassination of a U.S. ambassador in the line of duty.
j) A.D. 1970 (September 6-9). PFLP terrorists hijack five commercial airliners to Dawson's Field, outside Amman, Jordan, and hold 400 hostages. Three-week crisis provokes Jordanian government to expel Palestinian guerrilla groups in an armed confrontation, an event recalled by Palestinians as ÂBlack SeptemberÂ.
k) A.D. 1970 (October 5). Quebec Liberation Front (FLQ) terrorists kidnap James Cross, British trade commissioner to Quebec.
l) A.D. 1976 (September 10). Six Croatian nationalists hijack a TWA 727 New York-to-Chicago flight, ultimately to Paris. The hijackers demand publication of a manifesto for the release of the passengers.
m) A.D. 1978 (May 25). ÂUnabomber Theodore J. Kaczynski begins a 17-year mail bombing campaign directed at academics and businessmen resulting in 3 deaths and 23 maiming until his arrest on 3 April 1996 following his final bombing on 24 April 1995.
n) A.D. 1996 (December 17). Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement terrorists seize Japanese ambassador's residence in Lima, Peru, during diplomatic reception taking 500 hostages. By New Year's Day only 81 hostages remained, the others having been released. Peruvian police stormed the compound on 22 April 1997 freeing hostages and killing all of the terrorists.
o) A.D. 2000 (January 21). Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) made two car bombings in Madrid, killing an army officer and wounding bystanders, so ending a cease-fire ETA had declared on 16 September 1998.
p) A.D. 2001 (September 11). Suicide bombers hijacked four American domestic flights, crashing one into World Trade Center north tower and another into the south tower, and another into the east side of the Pentagon. The fourth flight crashed following apparent struggle between hijackers and passengers. At least 4,304 were killed at the World Trade Center and 125 killed at the Pentagon. Altogether all 19 hijackers along with 238 passengers also perished in this attack.
What Winston Churchill once said about Communism in the erstwhile Soviet Union could also be applied to terrorism today. Despite the fact that terrorism is the most written about subject in the world in recent days, it is still an 'enigma' wrapped in a mystery'. Whereas Communism could be examined on the basis of clearly spelled out dogmas, the nature of terrorism varies from issue to issue and from country to country. The only common ingredients of terrorism are the organized use of violence for political ends that is primarily directed at non-combatants. The prescriptions for dealing with terrorism also differ according to ones own outlook, where the gap in our understanding of terrorism between what we don't know far outweighs what we actually do know to be sound and workable methods.
Terrorism is conducted by individuals as well as by groups. It is alleged that certain states also sponsor or patronize terrorism to be conducted against other states. Whatever may be the cause, terrorism is unwelcome and unacceptable, but it is a part of the global scenario now. Some scholars remind us not to confuse motivation of terrorism with methods, or the present tendency to ascribe all forms of anti-state violence as terrorism. They see the current war on international terrorism as part of a US policy that seeks to reaffirm not a 'new world order', as was the practice in the late 1980s and 1990s, but to create a 'different world order' that the US would like to see in the future.
Some argue that there is now a parochial vision of terrorism due to the absence of a clear-cut definition. According to these scholars terrorism is not an ideology, but a strategy that is used either when normal means no longer produce results, or when it provides a short cut for the attainment of stated goals. The best way to assess its impact is to Âmeasure the intensity of influence on targets or the absorption of influence by the targetsÂ, while the most dangerous manifestation of this is when states use terrorism to Âpromote hidden agendasÂ. They say that, interstate terrorism shows multiple effects. They tend to lead to rapid deterioration in relations among states in which the whole region can be affected.
Contrary to the above two groups, others view terrorism as part of the subaltern structure in which South Asian countries are connected to each other across national borders by Âshadowy activities ranging from smuggling of goods and people, illicit production and trading of small arms, money laundering, narcotics-production and trading to terrorism. These activities are sustained by informal financial networks, known as hawala or hundi in the region, which are difficult to weed out since the bulk of the money laundering is done on the basis of trust and / or through family connections. Even the flow of small arms in the region could not be possible without the extensive subaltern network. These scholars suggest that contemporary terrorist groups are, therefore, no longer Ânational or ÂstatistÂ, but have become transnational in character. The current tendency of states in South Asia to vilify all forms of terrorism as state-sponsored or state-supported, misses the point altogether.
Many South Asian scholars recommend the development of a cooperative framework for dealing with terrorism, among the countries of South Asia. In this context, there is more than one pattern of suggestions or methods. One group of scholars rely on the conflict transformation model, and recommend that new threats to global security require a global cooperative framework which will monitor, manage, and establish new standards governing interstate relations.
Another group of intellectuals believe that the war against international terrorism must be tackled at two different levels: first, through a holistic approach to counter it by Âaddressing the allied threats to international securityÂ, and second, by devising means to secure cooperation among states at all levels---international, regional, and national. The underlying assumption in their deliberations is that the new type of threat posed by terrorism is beyond the capacity of states to deal with on their own, which makes it imperative to have the UN as the preferred instrument for waging the war against terrorism. They maintain that this is also why the US policy Âis unlikely to succeed in countering the hydra-headed menace of terrorismÂ, since combating terrorism requires not only a military approach, but also a concerted, cooperative, international effort for its eradication.
The third group takes an organizational approach in their deliberations and call for the creation of a new organization, which they suggest can be named ÂSecurity Organization for South Asia (SOSA)Â, for building trust and confidence that is essential for accelerating regional integration and stability. They suggest that South Asia needs to learn lessons from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which provides for cooperation on broad areas with a long-term vision for the future.
In so far as the rise religious terrorists in Bangladesh are concerned JMB or JMJB were able to grow out of various factors and developments in South Asia as well as in its close neighbourhood, like in Afghanistan and the Indian Northeast. In part these groups were an anti-thesis of Maoist splinter groups operating all over western Bangladesh, in part these groups were independently seeking a change in the style of governance and administration of the country without at all knowing the limits of their knowledge or ability. Their direct links with any major terrorist groups outside Bangladesh is yet to be established.
It was a challenge, which needed to be faced by the government and the people together in unison. The government, though belated, took a number of important steps; one of them was to use the well-known Islamic leadership of the country to spell out the provisions of Islamic teachings against violence, militancy and killings (particularly suicide bombings). It was a deliberate step to de-motivate the activists of the militant organizations and it was very successfully done. The print and electronic media of the country played the vital role of building up awareness among the people of the country. On their part, the people of the country rose to the occasion and vehemently opposed militant activities. Within six months the top leaders of the militant organizations were apprehended. Three old lessons were re-learnt. First lesson is that timely political commitment of the government is a must; the second lesson is that honest information by credible persons help to correct motivation. The last but not the least is that awareness of the people is a must to achieve any operational success.
Before concluding, a few words on countering global terrorism from a US perspective will be in order. Since the USA has been circumstantially forced to take the leadership of the war on terror, our thoughts will center on thoughts of the US people. In America, the National Commission on Terrorism was established by section 591 of the Foreign Operations, Export Financing, and Related Programs Appropriation Act 1999. The Congress gave the Commission six months to review the laws, regulations, directives, policies and practices for preventing and punishing international terrorism directed against the USA, assess their effectiveness, and recommend changes. Very few individuals who are of non-American origin have been interviewed. The Commission met with officials of the governments of Canada, France, Israel, Jordan, Poland and the UK; a few more African and Asian countries should have been included. The USA is concerned about terrorism directed against it. A clarification is required as to why too many people in Asia and Africa, particularly among Muslims, are agitated against the Americans? Before concentrating on the remedy of global terrorism every nation should evaluate the part they have played in creating and causing this phenomenon. Only after we have addressed these issues and have bridged the communication and awareness gaps, will our efforts in countering global terrorism have a better chance.