OPINION
Managing terror: stop, look and listen
by Seymour Touns
May 2004
I've had enough of the rhetoric, the spin, the lies, faux concern and ignorance. Its time for the truth and harsh realities about the so called ëwar on terror'. So what is terrorism? As the word suggests it is about terrorising victims, making them feel terrified and fearful. It's not about being deliberately murdered; it is about feeling you could be, which can have a far greater psychological and emotional impact.
The next question is, where does terrorism come from and why? When all else fails, when all attempts to be heard fall on deaf ears, when bigger powers won't listen, don't want to listen and even attempt to silence you, then desperation leads to desperate measures to be heard. The screams of the dying innocent are less easy to ignore. It is the last resort factor, never to be condoned, but in an objective rational way understood. Understanding the terrorist and their need to terrorise is paramount to ending their grip.
Why than has the current anti-Western terrorism arisen? By Western, we really mean the United States, and the Britain, which is guilty by association, and parts of Europe. Like it or not, the terrorist speak for the concerns of whole populations, not just radical fanatics. Their fellow countrymen may largely agree that the terrorists' actions are radical and fanatical, but not their reasoning. The terrorists are sick of the Americanisation and Westernisation of the world. The Arab world in particular feels dominated and invaded by Western - and again this is most noticeably American - values, products, lifestyles, religions, film, sport and food and they know that their own lifestyles are being eroded.
And this is by no means limited to the Arab world with more and more cultures and countries seeing anti-US demonstrations, and not just about its leaders or wars, but about the infusion of American life into theirs. It is no coincidence that the last decade has seen a rise in anti-globalisation movements and demonstrations all over the world, which given that globalisation is a bi-word for Americanisation, is further evidence of anger towards the US in all but name. The world is tired of hearing coalition leaders justifying war on terrorists because they (the terrorist groups) are ějealous of our freedoms; that they wish to bring down our democracies and lifestylesî. This is simply not true. What they want is to be able to preserve their own cultures and values and still play a part in the world order, rather than paying the price of cultural subordination, in return for prosperity and development.
So how long will the war last? The ëwar on terror' will last 30-50 years at least, until the US stops its unilateral cultural, economic and political imperialisation of the rest of us. When it finally realises what the real problem is, and that you cannot fight terrorism with bigger guns, that you have to compromise, listen and meet the aggrieved halfway, then peace and a ělive and let liveî mentality may return. Many people will die before then.
The US might listen to its British allies, who suffered at the hands of the IRA in Northern Ireland and on the British mainland for 30 years. Terrorism is not overpowered by battle acumen. It becomes unnecessary and negated by satisfying the needs of the disillusioned. It doesn't matter how long it takes to realise this; it is still at the root of peace.
None of this can happen until the US faces up to the truth about their own unpopularity and fuelling of further terrorism. With every step, it makes the situation worse and bloodier. Many times we hear ordinary Americans ask, ěWhy don't other nations like us? We are nice people. We have prosperity and freedom, what's not to like about that?î The truth is that Americans are no better or worse than anyone else on the planet. They are however consistently lied to about what is happening beyond their country's borders and why the tide of hate towards their country is growing.
Before the American people can admit the truth, their government needs to do a lot of soul searching. Afghanistan was an act of revenge for 9/11, which was fruitless and naïve. Gulf War 2 was simply revenge for Bush senior, which was fruitless, naïve and pointless. Neither would have even been considered if it were not for the world's second largest oil reserves beneath their soldiers' feet. Neither had any impact on combating terrorism, because neither dealt with the root of the problems or the root of the terrorists cause, simply justified the action of the terrorists and fanned the flames of counter resolve.
We can continue blindly to believe we can make the world a safer place by swatting like flies anybody that speaks up against injustices or straps dynamite to themselves, but this will never succeed. To borrow from the world of management: if your department has a consistently high number of complaints, disciplinary procedures and staff turnover, do you blame human resources for hiring unreliable and erratic staff with a bad attitude, or, do you take a long hard look at other factors that might be creating the problem, including working conditions, resources and your own management style? If you don't stop, look and listen, you may find yourself without a department altogether. If your government doesn't do likewise, you may find yourself without anyone left to hire.
Seymour Touns is a travel writer currently researching material for a Black Sea guide.
