Terrorizing the Terrorists

Columnist Dr S M RAHMAN says that the answer for terror is terror.

The world is not monolithic in its understanding of the dynamics of terrorism, nor in dealing with it. Very often, the reality gets blurred in the game of semantics. Easy labelling, name-calling, attributing wickedness to adversary, and maintenance of purity of motives towards one’s own act, no matter how irrational it could be, exemplifies how ‘perception’ is notoriously selective. What ‘I’ say is ‘truth’ and what ‘you’ say is propaganda, is the kind of logic, usually adhered to. In delineating, who is a ‘terrorist’ — ‘savage’ and ‘brutish’ and in the Hobbesian imagery ‘red in tooth and claw’ the approach is a pernicious legacy.
In waging war against ‘terror’ one usually rationalizes brutality of a worst kind and presents it as if it is for preserving the quintessential values of civilization. Indeed, humans are endowed with limitless capability to rationalize any irrational act and tranquillize conscience to absolve it from resultant ‘guilt’. Attributional error mars objectivity and makes it hopelessly difficult to lend a precise definition of ‘terrorism’. It is indeed an elusive task as the ‘perceiver’ determines ‘perception’ and it depends which side of the fence one happens to be. It is aptly said beauty lies in the eyes of a beholder. Likewise, ‘a terrorist’ could be immensely eulogized or ruthlessly condemned. The Indian war of liberation was termed mutiny by the British colonialists and for the natives it was a means to achieve the cherished goal of freedom. Only history retrospectively gives the verdict that the British would not have decently heeded to a peaceful negotiation or Mahatma Gandhi’s so-called non-violent ‘satyagrah’ could determine success.
One could discern the dynamics of terrorism if one draws an analogy from the animal world as the human situation is terribly enmeshed in biases and prejudices. A lion, with all its ferocity and lust for fleshy food used to bounce upon a lamb for his favourite meal. The lamb community fell terribly upset but could do nothing about it, till one of them hit upon the idea of sacrifice through a ‘suicide mission’. It gulped sufficient poison, so that the lion who makes it a morsel, in the process loses his life too. It worked. The lion clan was immensely enraged and called it ‘terrorism’ and under a planned coalition act of revenge, the lambs were targeted to be reduced to an extinct specie. All the living ones and those in the process of birth were brutally annihilated. This operation was termed ‘counter-terrorism’. War on terror also took into account that all those who helped in providing poison to the lamb should also be targeted. A strategy was conceived, how to eliminate poison, from the jungle.
The post-11th September scenario is, in essence no different. This brings into focus the naivete of the propellers of war on ‘terror’ as it is a self-defeating game. It would engulf the world into a vicious circle of barbarism and murder of the values that sustain civilization. A terrorist, who is determined to give his life can never be deterred from doing what he does. The question to consider is why the so-called ‘terrorist’ is pushed to that desperation that sacrificing life remains his only option. The cumulative frustrations and state of hopelessness that breeds in his mind, induce him towards that desperate act, irrespective of the consequences that would flow in its wake. Terrorism essentially is a politics of despair. Even a cat pushed to the wall and seeing no option to escape, finally becomes a ‘terrorist’ and jumps upon the throat of the trapper.
The question to ponder is, why did fifteen citizens of Saudi Arabia, two from UAE, one each from Egypt and Lebanon, unitedly resolved to sacrifice their lives which no mortal would easily reconcile to do so voluntarily. Life is too precious to be dispensed with and yet they let their bodies to be transformed into fatal bombs to dismantle the gigantic twin towers of World Trade Centre to render the site into “Ground Zero”. Indeed it was an act of terror, and as spectacular as it was gruesome, bringing in its wake cataclysmic changes in the world.
Nothing has shaken the world as drastically as the 11th September 2002 tragedy did. The superpowers complacent pride of being invincible was shattered. The accruing anger was incalculable and USA reacting with Super rage demonstrated its extraordinary killing propensity in a ruthless act of state terrorism, semantically rationalized as a war against ‘terror’ on the hapless citizens of Afghanistan who otherwise also were debilitated, torn and devastated due to the ravages of war spread over two decades, first at the hands of erstwhile Soviet Union and later by the internal Civil War, feuds and conflicts due to the tragic betrayal by USA after the fulfilment of the passion to humiliate its archrival and burying the bipolarity and gaining unilateral command over the world.
No reward of peace was given to the Afghan valiant fighters for defeating the Soviet Union. The chaos loomed large, finally culminating into the Taliban syndrome — much maligned and despised by the very power, which contributed to its emergence. The revenge on Afghanistan was as ironic as it was inhuman. Neither the main accused of 9/11 tragedy — Osama bin Laden nor Mullah Omar were targeted nor are they anywhere in sight, despite most sophisticated surveillance system of USA and its allies operating in the world. The so-called war on terror has only broadened the terrorist operational base, as nothing can deter those who are determined to die for the mission, as Homer-Dixon rightly contends:
“We’ve realized belatedly that our society is wide open targets for terrorists, we’re easy prey because of two key trends. First, the growing technological capacity of a small group and individuals to destroy things and people and second, the increasing vulnerability of our economic and technological systems to carefully aimed attacks”. He further maintains: “Our fevered Hollywood conditioned imaginations encourage us to focus on the sensational possibility of nuclear and biological attacks — attacks that might kill tens of thousands of people in a single strike. These threats certainly deserve attention but not to the neglect of the likelier and ultimately deadlier disruptions that could result from the clever exploitation by terrorists of our societies new and growing complexities”.
It is becoming impossible to protect oneself against terror, as the innovative skill of a terrorist encompasses a frightening range of weapons, equipment and instruments of destruction from box cutter to mass annihilation devices. As David Duke — National President of European — American Unity and Rights Organization, points out: Because of increased scientific knowledge around the world the next terror could be far more deadly than what happened on September 11th ... The bad news is that no matter how many billions of dollars the government spends and how many bombs it drops, it is impossible to completely protect ourselves from these great dangers. In fact, the more bomb dropping and devastation we do, the more likely a future terrorist responds.
President Bush would be wise to listen to David Duke. Some excerpts from him:

* “It is essential that we understand the true motivations behind these men. Why are millions around the world growing the hate America so much? Why are growing numbers of men willing to sacrifice their lives to get at us? Even if we hunt down and kill all those remotely responsible for the terror of September, unless we find ways to lessen the growing world-wide hatred against us, more kamikazes will rise to take their place. America will sink into an increasing cycle of violence and fear”.

* “We Americans have every right to be bitterly angry against the terrorists. But we also must go one step beyond our anger, for when something goes terribly wrong in an individual’s life or even in the life of a nation; it is time for introspection. We must courageously ask ourselves what we might have done that has made us vulnerable to such ferocious attacks. That kind of thinking sometimes takes courage”.
While the Jewish controlled media has immensely played on the diversionary theme of Bin Laden and Al-Qaida to brainwash the misinformed American citizens, no mention is made anywhere why the attack on World Trade Centre occurred on September 11, “That is the anniversary of the League of Nations proclaiming in Palestine the British mandate in 1922. The date represents the first physical step toward the implementation of the Balfour Declaration and the establishment of Israel”.
Ariel Sharon, made no secret of the fact while reacting to advice given to him to mind the American sensitivity: “Every time we do something you tell me America will do this and will do that ... I want to tell you something very clear: Don’t worry about American pressure on Israel. We, the Jewish people, control America, and the Americans know it”.
The root cause of terrorism, i.e. injustices, brutalities and denial of rights to the struggling people of Chechnya, Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan and Kashmir must be eliminated, before a strategic global counter-terrorism plan is brought into operation, to yield fruitful results. American citizens have to dispassionately discern the cause of terrorism, where it belongs and also introspect on what Bin Laden had to say to John Miller of ABC: “For over half a century, Muslims in Palestine have been slaughtered and assaulted and robbed of their honour and of their property. Their houses have been blasted, their crops destroyed ...”. “This is my message to the American people: to look for a serious government that looks out for their interests and does not attack other people’s lands, or other people’s honour. And my word to American journalists is not to ask why we did that but ask what their government has done that forced us to defend”.
Terrorizing the terrorists is fraught with horrendous consequences that would lead to Anarchic World Order. The law of the jungle cannot be imposed and the jungle king cannot nibble and devour weaker ones at will. That power of the weak is what is termed terrorism.