Random Thoughts
Terrorism – Origins,
Objectives,
Outcomes and Antidotes
Terrorism is the use of
violence to intimidate and to obtain submission by the victims thereof.
The perpetrators tend to be committed to their cause and devoid of
peaceful means to attain them. In most cases their grievances are somewhat
legitimate and the means to achieve them invariably devoid of compassion,
deliberative thought and legitimacy. It is important to understand the
circumstances that alter the usual benignly selfish psyche of all human
beings to this violently monomaniacal state.
First, they must passionately feel the injustice and oppression of those
with whom they identify. Secondly they must feel totally alienated from
the so-called oppressors. They must feel completely powerless to use
legitimate means to correct or redress the inequities and come to believe
that the indiscriminate violent means are proper for and proportional to
the goal they wish to achieve. Depending on their fanaticism, they may or
may not be willing to die and even more importantly kill for their cause
and beliefs. This is why the world is unlikely to see Jain terrorists. The
former type seek refuge within the community and follows Mao’s definition
of a guerrilla being like a fish in the sea camouflaged in a shoal. The
evolutionary basis of fish moving in shoals is the anonymity of being in a
group and the statistical protection that it offers from predators. The
latter, called suicide bombers are the most difficult to restrain, combat
or control. They almost always have a deep religious faith and belief in
afterlife.
In the past Christianity in the Crusades and The Thirty Years War has
indulged in gratuitous indiscriminate violence, but with the advancement
of the enlightenment and science education and modern nation states,
Christians think of themselves as British, Russians, French or Americans
first. Islam and its concept of Ummah still makes Muslims think of
themselves as Muslims first and British, French, Americans or Indians
second, if at all. The orthodox nature of their religion, that there
cannot be any newer or greater prophet or modification of behavior
contrary to the Koran, which is the word of God, stagnates them in a rut.
The example of Indian Muslim agitation in India after WW1 against the
abolishment of defeated Turkish Khilafat while sheepishly acquiescing to
their own British rule, shows their allegiance to Islam is greater than to
the nation. Similarly in India and the West, a large majority of
immigrants from diverse Muslim areas ranging from Asia to North Africa
have failed to acquire marketable skills and education and even in the
second generation are concentrated in the lower socioeconomic strata.
European racism and xenophobia are not without blame and such prejudices
are overtly manifested and police and other discrimination is easy to
practice due to differential pigmentation. What is somewhat
psychologically understandable but ultimately self-defeating is, the
resentment that is bred prompts many not to greater efforts and education,
but withdrawing deeper into the cocoon of religion, nostalgia for the
glorious past of Islam and a closed minded community of alienated fanatics
rationalizing their failures by transference of hate.
The current large minorities of Muslims in Western Europe stem from the
secular orientation prevalent there as proven by marginal church
attendance and the newer humanism with atonement for past colonization by
liberal immigration and asylum policies, together with the drastic need
for low paid workers for menial jobs rejected by the more educated
natives. The last was based on the assumption that economic betterment and
education will bring enlightened thought and would wean the new immigrants
from their constricted and fundamental beliefs. This premise has proved
false, leaving the EU with a large population of disenchanted Muslims that
serve as a refuge for their smaller radical fifth columnists. There is an
unmentioned strategy of Jihadi terrorists, like the century old violent
anarchists and the present Afghan and Iraqi insurgents, that the unfocused
indiscriminate violent retaliation by the establishment will further
disillusion the minorities and increase recruitment in the terrorist
factions. This fear of Muslims with the economic fears of globalized
Polish plumbers spelled the outcomes of the recent EU referenda and more
importantly sounded the death knell of Turkey’s entry to the EU. The
ostracization of Iran and Syria will add further fuel to the Muslim fire,
kindled by the oppression of Palestinians.
The best domestic strategy to combat the growth of terrorism is for
countries with large Muslim minorities to emphasize scientific education,
which will throw a spanner into afterlife, religion and Jihad. It is
equally important to monitor the Islamic religious schools and shut off
their hate propaganda. This is easier for advanced countries with good
compulsory schools and prevalent secular humanism, but more difficult for
India with strong religious beliefs and paltry funding for free schools.
It is equally important to improve and facilitate economic integration and
use active measures to prevent alienation by state policy or enforcement
action.
It is also paramount to refrain from short-sighted mis-adventurism like
funding fanatic Mujahedeen against the former Soviet Union that has led to
the current blowback and the foolhardy invasion of Iraq that has increased
terrorism. This would require restraints on cowboy chicken hawks and a
leash on their lapdog.
Boloji.com is owned and managed by
Boloji Media Inc Privacy Policy |
Disclaimer No part of this Internet site may
be reproduced without prior written permission of the copyright holder.
Terrorism is the use of
violence to intimidate and to obtain submission by the victims thereof.
The perpetrators tend to be committed to their cause and devoid of
peaceful means to attain them. In most cases their grievances are somewhat
legitimate and the means to achieve them invariably devoid of compassion,
deliberative thought and legitimacy. It is important to understand the
circumstances that alter the usual benignly selfish psyche of all human
beings to this violently monomaniacal state.