The ‘War on Terrorism’ as it is commonly referred to is a phrase coined by United States government officials and is primarily used to justify the military or political initiative de jour. It is generally defined as the current conflict between the U.S. and radical Islamic factions. The ‘War on Terrorism cannot be won much the same as the ‘War on Poverty’ and ‘War on Drugs’ will never be won in the traditional sense. The world will always suffer the effects of drugs, poverty, and terrorism.
Al-Qaeda’s attempt to cause massive destruction would serve all the traditional purposes of terrorism: symbolism, propaganda and psychological impact, irrespective of the failure or success of the mission. There’s a faulty premise in the current strategy on the war on terrorism, that suicide terrorism and Al Qaeda suicide terrorism in particular is mainly driven by an evil ideology, Islamic fundamentalism, independent of other circumstances. However, the facts are that since 1980, of the suicide terrorist attacks around the world, over half have been secular. What over 95 percent of suicide attacks around the world are about is not religion, but a specific strategic purpose – to compel modern democracies to withdraw military forces from the territory that the terrorists view as their homeland or prize greatly. This is in fact a centerpiece of Al Qaeda’s strategic logic, which is to compel the United States and Western countries to abandon military commitments on the Arabian Peninsula. Suicide terrorists are not mainly depressed, lonely individuals on the margins of society. (O’Brien, 2005).
Terrorist groups, specifically Muslim fundamentalists, are concerned that their ancient culture is being replaced by a Western culture they despise. Globalization has allowed deviant Western traditions such as the exploitation of workers, sexual permissiveness and capitalistic icons such as Coca-Cola and McDonalds to seep into and change their cherished way of life.
Allowing unfamiliar ideologies and customs into their lifestyles is difficult for religious fundamentalists of any description. Add the fact that the U.S. imposed an embargo on Iraq since the early 1990’s which according to the U.N. led to more than a million child deaths, has built military installations on Muslim Holy lands and, along with the ‘coalition of the coerced,’ recently invaded two Muslim countries killing many innocent civilians.
Western nations are invading the culture, governments and sovereignty in a region of the world where religious fanaticism exceeds the fervor of what is commonly known in the U.S. as the ‘Bible Belt.’ It is little wonder that these people are fearful of the West and possess sufficient motive for terrorist acts. With the ready access of other regions of the world aided by globalization, they have the opportunity for retribution.
Although many Americans had hoped that Al Qaeda had been badly weakened by American counterterrorism efforts since September 11, 2001, the facts indicate otherwise. Since 2002, Al Qaeda has carried out over 15 suicide and other terrorist attacks killing nearly 700 people, more than all of the years before 9/11 combined. Although many have hoped that American counter-terrorism efforts would have weakened Al Qaeda by the measure that counts the ability of the group to kill Westerners, Al Qaeda is stronger today than before 9/11. Terrorists have not been fundamentally weakened but have changed course and achieved significant success (Pape, 2005).
In President Bush’s handling of the war on terror, two facts stand out: Before September 11, he failed to take military action against an enemy that had attacked us, and later, he took military action against an enemy that had not attacked first. The invasion of Iraq, which never had anything to do with fighting terrorism, has provided fresh examples of U.S. brutality for al-Qaeda recruiters. The previously high level of hatred that the vast majority of Middle East citizens had for Western nations has expanded exponentially since 2003, which has led to an increased number of terrorist attacks. Counting only the number of what is labeled as ‘significant terrorist attacks’ the number swelled from about 208 in 2003 to 651 in 2004, more than 11,000 in 2005 and at least 14,300 in 2006 (“Terror Attacks Worldwide”, 2007). The couple of hundred attacks that took place worldwide the first year of the war have now ballooned to several thousand. If the Bush convoluted policies designed to fight terror are allowed to continue, this number is likely to continue its climb.
Governments stop terrorism first of all by stopping their own forms of terrorism. Nations cannot fight terrorism by becoming terrorists. They cannot end terrorism by using the methods of terrorism to bomb and kill Iraqis, to occupy Iraq, to support the terrorist occupation of the Palestinians, and to hold the world hostage with nuclear weapons. The allies must first bring the troops home from Iraq, fund nonviolent democratic peacemakers in Iraq, send food and medicine to Iraq, support United Nations’ nonviolent peacemaking solutions, end world hunger immediately, cut all U.S. military aid everywhere, dismantle every one of our nuclear weapons, fund jobs, education and healthcare at home and abroad, clean up the environment and teach nonviolence to everyone around the world, beginning at home in every U.S. and British classroom. Violence cannot stop violence. Nations must break the cycle of violence, renounce violence, start practicing creative active nonviolence on a level that the world has never seen, and reach out and embrace the world’s poor by meeting their every need. Then, “we will win over the world, and no one will ever want to hurt a Westerner again” (Dear, 2005).
Significant policy changes that the United States should pursue on both moral and pragmatic grounds – withdrawing all military forces from the Middle East and ending reflexive support for the brutal Israeli occupation of Palestine – would lessen the threat of worldwide terrorism immediately. If the current policies continue, the terrorist attacks will continue as well, causing not only bodily damage but political damage as well, which could last for hundreds or thousands of years.
Works Cited
Dear, John. “How to Stop Terrorism.” CommonDreams.org. (2005). Web.
O’Brien, Kerry. “US ‘Misread Motivation’ of Suicide Bombers.” The 7:30 Report. (2005). Web.
Pape, Robert A “Al Qaeda’s Strategy.” The New York Times. (2005). Web.
“Terror Attacks Worldwide Rose 25 Percent in ’06.” MSNBC. (2007). Web.