The Continuum of Tremors of Terror
FIVE YEARS
ON
Dr. Mohsen
Zahran
Professor of
Planning
University of
Alexandria
September 11th, 2001 is invariablly observed
with grief, anguish and sadness in the U.S., as well as in various capitals
around the world. Almost one year after the Madrid train bombings, the horrific,
orchestrated multiple explosions in London on 07/07/2005, with scores killed and
several hundreds wounded, are a jolting reminder of the continuum of terrorism,
shockingly omnipresent! During the following months two bloody explosions in
Taba and Sharm El-Shiekh in Egypt as well as in Aman, Jordan killed and injured
hundreds of innocent residents and destroyed major touristic facilities, in addition to its sereious impact on
tourism as well as national economies!
This year’s fifth anniversary of 9/11 is a somber time to remember, to
reflect, to review, to resolve and to plan ahead in order to avoid recurrence
and eradicate the causes at the roots. The international community is now
decisively committed to fight terrorism and eliminate its terrible
manifestations of violence on civilians coupled with the massive loss of life
and property in various regions without exceptions, as the joint statement of
the world leaders attending the G8 Summit in Scottland has emphatically
declared!.
The horrific acts of violence and terror have spread all over to become a
global deadly epidemic, far reaching, of grave consequences and of tragic
repercussions, regardless of location, culture religion or political system.
Increasingly, the tremors of September 11th have been reverberating
all over for the past five years, and there is no let down, and will not be for
sometime, a tangible decline or an end in sight. The latest shocking
state-performed terroristic and devastating 32-day war on innocent Lebanon has
painfully shaken the people of the world.The aftershocks, setbacks and tremors
are multitudinal. Some are terribly tangible and terminal, many are intangible,
but powerful and immeasurable! The United Nations system as well as
International and regional institutions and organizations, especially the Arab
League, have been questioned and undermined to the point of uselessness and
impotency. National governments strategies, policies, priorities and plans have
been investigated as being inefficient, lame and impotent. Thus They have been
accused, blamed and restructured (FBI, CIA, DOD, DOS,…etc. in the U.S.).
Security, safety, stability, and global strategy issues have been given uppermost
precedence and prevalence, at the international, regional and national levels,
as well as at the pubic, quasi-public and private arenas.
The culture of fear, omnipresent threats, terror,
insecurity, immediate response and overkill have infiltrated and overtaken both
the public and private minds, attitudes and actions, thus becoming dominant,
dictating and overpowering. The waging of the global War on Terrorism (WOT) by
President G. W. Bush, was supported with huge financial allocations, in hundreds
of billions of dollars( an amount far exceeds the foreign debt of the poor
nations!), as well as material resources, with substantial participation by the
UN, the European Union and other allies. The target at first was the axis of
evil linking North Korea, Iran and Iraq, while the Afghanistan military
operation was underway to eliminate El-Qa'ida, the Talibans and Bin Laden. Then
Scenario II was launched to eliminate the Sadam regime and the threat of Weapons
of Mass Destruction (WMD), proven afterwards to be non-existent. Consequently,
appropriate Security Council resolutions were adopted to condemn and give moral
universal justifications to the theatre of military operations in Iraq. The UN
Secretary General announced that
the war in Iraq was illegitimate?! Scenario III, production is now underway with
engineered Security Council resolutions to deal with Syria and the Sudan, and
Iran now is in the pipeline. Thus, the Middle East external and internal
interventions are working in concert to achieve strategic goals, while the
theater in Central Africa is past the conception stage. The political economic,
social and cultural tremors and regional ramifications are monumental and
far-reaching.
Even Russia, after the terrible massacre of the nearly
400 Beslan school children and adults by Chechen terrorists, was shaken and
hastened to vow revenge and also wage its own war on terrorism! Now the U.S.,
Israel and Russia are united in the goal and violent, deadly reactions. Although
the world condemned with utter indignation, the Beslan murders by Fanatic
Islamic groups, as it had had after the Sept. 11 tragic events, yet few
governments mentioned that Russia had committed equal atrocities against the
innocent population of Chechnya, as it had done before during the Afghanistan
occupation 20 years ago. Many other countries have also suffered from various
horrible acts of violence and terrorism in varying degrees and intensity with
tragic loss of life and property.Tha War on Lebanon is a landmark with far
reaching repercussions on the middle east , Isreal and the USA
However, we
should remind ourselves, neverthless, that the current waves of terrorism and
violence were germinated and triggered in the sixties after a period of relative
security and stability since the end of WWII. Was not the military confrontation
in northern Ireland a flagrant example of terrorism victimizing innocent lives?
Were not the terrible operations of
civilian planes hijacking, destruction, killing of innocent passengers, an
equally deplorable and terrible acts of terrorism? Equally repulsive and
inexcusable is Israeli state indused violence and major terroristic acts aimed
at the killing of thousands of Palestinian civilians and demolishing their homes
in several Palestinian camps and towns, topping them all with its flagrant
aggression in Lebanon. The terrible atrocities committed by the big powers and
their cronies in the middle east as well as by the new colonialists have
conditioned, prepared and taught the hopeless, powerless, desperate youth of the
region and elsewhere to resort to the same tactics methods and tools. Before
September 11th, the seeds of terrorism were imported and were not
home made! On the other hand, Egypt and other Arab countries have suffered from
terrorism since the eighties, and warned the world that it will become a global
phenomenon, and that the international community should work in concert to
define it, encapsulate it and combat it. The call was left unheeded, until
September 11, when the fear, shock and terror hit home, hitherto was virtually
safe , secure and impenetrable!?
Nonetheless, national legitimate uprisings and
resistance to occupation, which are sanctioned by the UN, have also suffered the
tremors of September. In Palestine, like in other similar cases, Israel has
labelled the freedom fighters terrorists, and is exercising the same oppressive
and killing acts as the super power, sharing information and experience, as well
as using the same techniques,
tactics and methods coupled with utilizing well the media coverage to their
advantage in order to rally world support! The same strategy and tactics were
adopted against Hizb-Allah in Lebanon last July 2006, with grave human and
material losses. Alas, how can the oppressor become innocent and the victims
become guilty and be condemned?
Under the banner of the War on Terrorism, with the moral
justification given by the UN, many flagrant abuses and denial of human rights
and violations of the Geneva conventions are committed by the US, Isreal and
other countries followed suit. The recent violations in Lebanon are being
investigated, but one knows with no consequences! However,Thanks to the
information technology revolution and instant satellite coverage of events, the
atrocities committed are broadcast live for all to watch and abhor, as well as
to mobilize public condemnation and call for corrective action. Meanwhile, the
indignant human rights violations in Abou Gharieb prison in Iraq and Guantanamo
base in Cuba have rallied public
opinion, everywhere. With public
pressure, apologies were expressed, investigations were launched and trials of
the wrongdoers publicly held!. However, there are many terrible acts against
human beings that are committed daily in many countries and are forgotten. Such
horrendous terrorist acts of genocides have taken place in massacres in Bosnia,
Kosovo, Uganda, Congo, Liberia, Somalia, the Sudan and elsewhere in Europe,
Africa and Asia. They are so too many, too bloody, too cruel, too repulsive, to
condone world apathy, silence or neglect!
Wanton Defamation of Islam: One would wonder why
President Bush recent statement labelling freedom fighters in the region as
“Islamic Fascists, and referring to the crusades after 9/11? What are his real
goals and motivations? It is unfair, untrue and unethical to link Islam and the
horrific actions of fanatic Moslems to the teachings of Islam. This would be
confusing religion with fanatic extremist acts of specific groups of Islamic
Fundamentalists (as if there is no Jewish or Christian fundamentalism doing
similar atrocities?).The intention here is not innocent, it certainly is tinted
with character assasination and is a wicked indictment of one of the great
religions of more than 20% of the world population. Meanwhile, while it is
convenient to some Western writers and politicians to link Islam to terrorism
and focus on the ugly, unhuman character after any beheading, massacre or
repulsive atrocities of hostages in Iraq or elsewhere. While they abhor and
condemn fanatic Islamic terrorism, they have not labelled the bloody conflict in
Northern Ireland "Catholic Terrorism", or the Serbian horrible massacres of
civilians in Bosnia "Orthodox Terrorism", though it was sanctioned by the
Orthodox Church, or even call the Israeli killing of Palestinian or Lebanese
civilians, including women and children, as "Jewish Terrorism". Certain massive
killings by Islamic extremists are quickly linked to Islam, while similar
actions by Jews or Catholics or Orthodox Western factions bloody terrorists are
brushed aside, and are hardly connected to their religious beliefs. It is
ironic, wicked and premeditated.
Reflections:
Prominent writers and columnists in the U.S. and Europe,
pointing to the fact that almost all terrorists are fanatic Moslems who claim
that they follow Jihad as a religious obligation to fight the infidels, have
wrongly accused Islam as being anti- civilization, and that the clash of
civilizations is inevitable echoeing the dangerous views of Samuel Huntigton.
Meanwhile, a prominent Arab columnist wrote last year in Al-Sharq Al-Awasat
Daily ,after the Beslan massacre, that:
"Why is it that almost all terrorists
are Moslems?," "Why is it that nearly all terrorist acts are committed in the
name of Islam?" Blaming the West alone for being the cause of terrorism due to
its policies, which perpetuated occupation despair, poverty, oppression and
distress should not eclipse the fact that regional and national causes are also
equally guilty!! Many Islamic leaders, thinkers and writers have questioned the
status quo and the current situation in Arab countries and the common practices
of violations of human rights for being responsible and must also be held
accountable! They have called for fundamental reform and change politically,
culturally, economically and socially. They demand thatother national community
grievances and misunderstandings of Islam must be addressed intelligently and
that the message of peace, tolerance, understanding, cooperation and equality of
all human beings before God is in the core teachings of Islam, which also
condemns violence and unlawful killings.It is abundantly clear that five years
since the start of the global war on terrorism was waged, the violence and
crimes committed by terrorists have not receded. Car bombs cause daily killing
of scores of innocent civillians in Baghdad! We have even seen in Iraq how
fanatics kidnapped innocent civilians, foreign and Arab hostages alike(the
Egyptian ambassador was kidnapped, and killed on the same day of the London
explosion ), proudly slit their throats in the name of Islam in front of cameras
to be televised world wide. The tide of terrorism is rising; the atrocities are
spreading and are spiraling in intensity and tenacity. Even the elimination of
the persons of Bin Ladens, of the Talibans or Saddams cannot and will not stop
international terrorism. Regular army operations will not be able to eradicate
guerrilla style terrorism. Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq and Chechnya are too
glaring examples. Cells of well-trained and equipped terrorists are sprouting
everywhere and mushrooming anywhere. The terrible punishment of over-killing
used by the U.S., Israel and Russia further inflames the feelings of revenge and
over-killing of civilians by terrorists everywhere.They have managed to adopt
the latest knowhow and to use well
the multi-media resources in order to maximize the impact on peoples’ feelings
of insecurity, fear and terror at both industrialized and developing worlds
alike! Note the well timing of the London orchestrated explosions in the subway
trains and in the bus during the morning rush hour with the G8 Summit! It has
become a terrible horrific vicious circle.
The
solution and salvation lie in addressing the roots of the problem through the
elimination of injustice, oppression, occupation, neo-colonization, deprivation
and under-development. This must be done immediately!. There are no alternatives
to radical national reforms and instituting needed changes politically,
socially, economically and culturally, as well as a total, solid commitment to
safegurding and securing human
rights for all communities and individuals of different creeds, origins, sex,
color , income or views. The misinterpreted message and teachings of Islam need
to be addressed nationally and internationally. Education, cultural and
religious enlightment and reform must be emphasized with open mind and heart.
Equally important and vitally effective in combating deprivation and fanaticism
is cultural uplifting, provision of food
dignified shelter, jobs and hope for a better tomorrow, with due respect
and guarantee of human rights to all citizens, groups and minorities
regardless.The choice is for the world community to wake up, stand up and make
up. For each member must do his/her share, and shoulder his/her responsibility
at the public and private sectors, as well as at the communal and the individual
levels. For terrorists will recognize no borders, no doors, and no culture, no
one anywhere. All humanity will suffer in the War On Terrorism. There will be no
winners and all will be losers.
Dr. Mohsen Zahran
September,2006