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| Gen Zia, Carter and Zbigniew Brzezinski. |
The definition of the term “terrorism” has been deliberately
left undefined by the Western powers to use it as an umbrella-pretext to
justify their interventionist policy in the energy-rich Islamic countries for
their economic interests. Depending on context “terrorism” can mean two very
different things: religious extremism or militancy. If it means religious
extremism then that is a cultural mindset and you cannot possibly hope to
transform cultures through the agency of war and military intervention; if
anything, war will further radicalize the society.
However, by “terrorism” if they mean militancy then tamping
down on militancy and violence through the agency of war does makes sense
because a policy of disarmament and deweaponization can be subsequently pursued
in the occupied territories. That being understood that the Western powers aim
to eradicate militancy through wars, but then a question arises that who were
the Libyan and Syrian so-called “rebels” who were, and still are, being
supported by the Western powers in their purported wars of “liberation” of
those hapless countries? Are they not militants?
Notwithstanding, it can be argued that war and militancy are
just means to an end and it’s the objectives and goals that determine whether
such wars are just or unjust. No-one can dispute this assertion that the
notions of “just wars” and “good militants” do exist in the vocabulary;
empirically speaking, however, after witnessing the instability, violence and
utter chaos and anarchy in the war-ravaged countries like Afghanistan, Iraq,
Libya, Syria, South Sudan, Somalia and Yemen, the onus lies on any “liberal
interventionist” to prove beyond doubt that the wars and militants that he
justifies and upholds are indeed just and good.
In political science the devil always lies in the
definitions of the terms that we employ. For instance: how do you define a
terrorist or a militant? In order to understand this we need to identify the
core of a “militant,” that what essential feature distinguishes him from the
rest? A militant is basically an armed and violent individual who carries out acts
of sabotage against the state. That being understood, now we need to examine
the concept of “violence.” Is it violence per se that is wrong, or does some
kind of justifiable violence exists?
In the contemporary politics, I take the view, on empirical
grounds, that all kinds of violence is essentially wrong; because the ends
(goals) for which such violence is often employed are seldom right and elusive
at best. Though, democracy and liberal ideals are cherished goals but such
goals can only be accomplished through peaceful means; expecting from the armed
and violent militants to bring about democratic reform is preposterous.
The Western mainstream media and its neoliberal
constituents, however, take a different view. According to them, there are two
kinds of violence: justifiable and unjustifiable. When a militant resorts to
violence for the secular and nationalist goals, such as “bringing democracy” to
Libya and Syria, the misinformed neoliberals enthusiastically exhort such form
of violence; however, if such militants later turn out to be Islamic jihadists,
like the Libya Dawn or the Islamic State, al Nusra Front and Ahrar al-Sham in
Syria, the credulous neoliberals, who have been misinformed by the mainstream
narrative, promptly make a volte-face and label them as “terrorists.”
More to the point, there is a big difference between an
anarchist and a nihilist: an anarchist believes in something and wants to
change the status quo in favor of that belief, while a nihilist believes is
nothing and considers life to be meaningless. Similarly, there is also a not-so-subtle
difference between a terrorist and an insurgent: an Islamic insurgent believes
in something and wants to enforce that agenda in the insurgency-hit regions,
while a terrorist is just a bloodthirsty lunatic who is hell-bent on causing
death and destruction. The distinguishing feature between the two is that an
insurgent has well defined objectives and territorial ambitions, while a
terrorist is basically motivated by the spirit of revenge and the goal of
causing widespread fear.
The phenomena of terrorism is that which threatened the
Western countries between 2001 to 2005 when some of the most audacious
terrorist acts were carried out by al Qaeda against the Western targets like
the 9/11 tragedy, the Madrid bombing in 2004 and the London bombing in 2005; or
the terrorist acts committed by Islamic State in Paris and Brussels in the last
year; those acts were primarily the result of the intelligence failure on the
part of the Western intelligence agencies.
However, the phenomena which is currently threatening the
Islamic countries is not terrorism, as such, but Islamic insurgencies.
Excluding al Qaeda Central which is a known transnational terrorist
organization, all the regional militant groups like the Taliban in Afghanistan,
the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, al Shabab in Somalia and Boko Haram in Nigeria,
and even some of the ideological affiliates of al Qaeda and Islamic State, like
Al Qaeda in Arabian Peninsula, Al Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb, Islamic State
affiliates in Afghanistan, Sinai and Libya which have no organizational and
operational association with al Qaeda Central or the Islamic State of Iraq and
Syria, respectively, are not terror groups, as such, but Islamic insurgents who
are fighting for the goal of enforcing Sharia in their respective areas of
control; like their progenitor, the Salafist State of Saudi Arabia.
After invading and occupying Afghanistan and Iraq, and when
the American “nation-building” projects failed in those hapless countries, the
US’ policy-makers immediately realized that they were facing large-scale and
popularly-rooted insurgencies against the foreign occupation, consequently, the
occupying military altered its CT (counter-terrorism) approach in the favor of
a COIN (counter-insurgency) strategy. A COIN strategy is essentially different
from a CT approach and it also involves dialogue, negotiations and political
settlements, alongside the coercive tactics of law enforcement and military and
paramilitary operations on a limited scale.
The goals for which the Islamic insurgents have been fighting
in the insurgency-wracked regions are irrelevant for the debate at hand; it can
be argued, however, that if some of the closest Western allies in the Middle
East, like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait, have already enforced Sharia as part
of their conservative legal systems and when beheadings, amputations of limbs
and flogging of the criminals are a routine in Saudi Arabia, then what is the
basis for the US’ declaration of war against the Islamic insurgents in the
Middle East who are erroneously but deliberately labeled as “terrorists” by the
Western mainstream media to manufacture consent for the Western military
presence and interventions in the energy-rich region under the pretext of the
so-called “war on terror?”
Notwithstanding, the root factors that are primarily responsible
for spawning militancy and insurgency anywhere in the world is not religion but
socio-economics, ethnic differences, marginalization of disenfranchised
ethno-linguistic and ethno-religious groups and the ensuing conflicts;
socio-cultural backwardness of the affected regions, and the weak central
control of the impoverished developing states over their remote rural and
tribal areas.
Additionally, if we take a cursory look at some of the worst
insurgency-plagued regions in the Middle East, deliberate funding, training and
arming of certain militant groups by the regional and global powers for their
strategic interests has played the key role. Back in the ‘80s, during the
Soviet-Afghan war, the Afghan so-called “mujahideen” did not spring up
spontaneously out of nowhere; Western powers, with the help of Saudi money and
Pakistan’s ISI, trained and armed those “freedom fighters” against their
archrival, the Soviet Union. Those very same Afghan “mujahideen” later
transmuted into Taliban and al Qaeda.
Similarly, during the Libyan and Syrian uprisings, the
Western powers, with the help of their regional client states, once again
trained and armed Islamic jihadists and tribal militiamen against the “unfriendly”
regimes of Qaddafi and Bashar al Assad. And isn’t it ironical that those very
same “moderate rebels” later transformed into Ansar al Sharia, al Nusra Front
and Islamic State?
While formulating their security policies, military strategists
generally draw a distinction between the intentions and capability of the
adversary, and they always prepare for the latter. Similarly, the ideology of
the militants, whether it’s ethno-religious or ethno-nationalist, only has a
tangential importance; it’s their capability: that is, their funding, training
and arming that decides the strength and success of a militant organization.
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