A Problem We All Share.... Terrorism
In June 2004, the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States issued a report that quickly became a best-seller. On Dec. 5, 2005, the Commission issued a follow-up assessment of the US government’s response to the series of recommendations made in its earlier report and the overall preparedness of the US in facing possible future terrorist attacks. The grade was dismal with failure highlighted in most areas. In Emergency Preparedness, Transportation Security, Civil Liberties, Intelligence, Congressional Reform, Foreign Policy, Nonproliferation, and Public Diplomacy, the US response leaves much to be desired.
In my view, the greatest single weakness both in the 9/11 report and in the US’s general approach, is that it views terrorism primarily as a US problem. Not only is it not a US problem, but even if it were, it will not be defeated with US action alone; this is not a matter for chest-thumping nationalist bravado, it is one for sober nationalist realism. Terrorism exists everywhere and throughout history. The particular international reach of the recent Extremist Terrorist Moslem groups has the Western world sitting up and taking notice. This is both a cause for immediate action and an opportunity; acting as an international community, terrorism needs to be perceived both in the short term and the medium to long term through an array of international instruments of which military action is only one, and perhaps not even the most effective instrument against it. Furthermore, until “it” is defined, “it” can not be defeated even with concerted international cooperation. The Geneva Conventions put to rest all unnecessary nuances concerning the freedom-fighter versus terrorist debate. Civilian noncombatants should never be a target of hostilities, whether by state or non-state actors. Nor is it valid to argue that a definition is not necessary since “we know it when we see” and by defining “it” we are limiting our options. Even the International Bar Association’s Task Force on International Terrorism felt that a definition was in order.
Accordingly, and despite the international community’s failure to define “it”, I, despite the element of individual hubris involved in such an endeavor, suggest the following immediate international actions:
1. A convention is entered into defining terrorism as a crime against humanity and relegating any and all who engage in it to the International Criminal Court for criminal proceedings that are based on respect for due process. This, in turn, means that the US must become a signatory to (again) and ratify the ICC.
2. The definition of terrorism to be adopted by this international convention (and further adopted by the UN Security Council) is: Terrorism is any threat or act of violence against civilian noncombatants, as defined by the Geneva Conventions, by a non-state actor for the furthering of political objectives.
3. In the short term, vigilance is the best mode of prevention. This means that more concerted international cooperation is needed in the area of travel, goods transportation, intelligence gathering and sharing and, finally, mobility of financial resources.
4. For the medium to long term, the international community, through the United Nations and special initiatives, should address the root causes of terrorism, namely, government corruption and lack of accountability, economic stagnation, unemplyment and poverty, cultural imperialism, and, last but not least, political and self-determination injustices.
While this may look like wishful thinking, it is actually the only way to seriously and honestly address terrorism. Terrorism will not be defeated through military conquest and occupation. If anything, that only creates a whole new generation of terrorist soldiers.
In my view, the greatest single weakness both in the 9/11 report and in the US’s general approach, is that it views terrorism primarily as a US problem. Not only is it not a US problem, but even if it were, it will not be defeated with US action alone; this is not a matter for chest-thumping nationalist bravado, it is one for sober nationalist realism. Terrorism exists everywhere and throughout history. The particular international reach of the recent Extremist Terrorist Moslem groups has the Western world sitting up and taking notice. This is both a cause for immediate action and an opportunity; acting as an international community, terrorism needs to be perceived both in the short term and the medium to long term through an array of international instruments of which military action is only one, and perhaps not even the most effective instrument against it. Furthermore, until “it” is defined, “it” can not be defeated even with concerted international cooperation. The Geneva Conventions put to rest all unnecessary nuances concerning the freedom-fighter versus terrorist debate. Civilian noncombatants should never be a target of hostilities, whether by state or non-state actors. Nor is it valid to argue that a definition is not necessary since “we know it when we see” and by defining “it” we are limiting our options. Even the International Bar Association’s Task Force on International Terrorism felt that a definition was in order.
Accordingly, and despite the international community’s failure to define “it”, I, despite the element of individual hubris involved in such an endeavor, suggest the following immediate international actions:
1. A convention is entered into defining terrorism as a crime against humanity and relegating any and all who engage in it to the International Criminal Court for criminal proceedings that are based on respect for due process. This, in turn, means that the US must become a signatory to (again) and ratify the ICC.
2. The definition of terrorism to be adopted by this international convention (and further adopted by the UN Security Council) is: Terrorism is any threat or act of violence against civilian noncombatants, as defined by the Geneva Conventions, by a non-state actor for the furthering of political objectives.
3. In the short term, vigilance is the best mode of prevention. This means that more concerted international cooperation is needed in the area of travel, goods transportation, intelligence gathering and sharing and, finally, mobility of financial resources.
4. For the medium to long term, the international community, through the United Nations and special initiatives, should address the root causes of terrorism, namely, government corruption and lack of accountability, economic stagnation, unemplyment and poverty, cultural imperialism, and, last but not least, political and self-determination injustices.
While this may look like wishful thinking, it is actually the only way to seriously and honestly address terrorism. Terrorism will not be defeated through military conquest and occupation. If anything, that only creates a whole new generation of terrorist soldiers.
Labels: Terrorism
posted by Dahlia at 5:29 PM
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