Terrorism, be it an action of the state or that of a non-state actors, must be subdued if humanity desires an orderly collective life across the continents. Humanity already has plenty of problems, which that are going to keep it busy for decades to come, assuming we do not destroy life before that. The unsustainable economic regime is one. Climate change or the broader environmental destruction that continues unabated is another. As if these are not enough challenges, we now face increased chaos associated with what is called ‘terrorism’. To be sure, this word is coined by the states. The presumption being; their violent activities do not constitute ‘terrorism’!
We beg to differ! Modern states are actively engaged, directly or indirectly in terrorist acts, even though these acts are not called ‘terrorism’. The only difference between the two; the state has a lot of resources to hide its terroristic activities, while those labeled ‘terrorists’ do not. The states conduct wars. Non-state actors engage in ‘terrorism’. We need to clarify our position from the outset. We do not condone any form of violence, organized or not. However, unless we emphasize the role of the state in furthering ‘terrorism’ situations are not going to change for the better. For example, take the case of Yemen. In Yemen it is the innocents that are dying left and right. State actors are bombarding children, women, the old, etc., indiscriminately. The ‘deep state’ of the powerful states tries to hide this reality in Yemen, by making sure MSM (main stream media) looks the other way. But the world has started to notice, despite the cover up efforts of the powerful. Only few days ago, the president of the United States vetoed a congressional bill that was intended to stop sales of offensive weapons to those states that were/are actively engaged in the killing of innocents. This says a lot about states and their interests. It doesn’t really matter what name this atrocious activity is called, so long as it is intended to kill neutral civilians, it is terrorism!
On the other side of the stupid game, there are the so-called non-state actors. Last week on the Christian Holy Day of Easter, over 350 people were killed in Sri Lanka. They were the devout, local hotel employees as well as visitors from abroad. Those who claimed responsibility (see the article on pages 66, 76 and 78) to this heinous act gave a statement to the effect that this particular terrorist act was retaliation to what happened in New Zealand last month. It would be recalled that fifty Moslems were killed in Christchurch last month! It is time the better part of humanity takes serious look at what is happening in our world. From the look of things, states and non-state actors are going to continue this stupid tit-for-tat game until the whole world becomes a very disagreeable place to live in. Take note, we have active non-state actors playing a very disgusting role in places like Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Libya or for that matter, in the whole of the Sahel countries (Mali, Niger, Nigeria, et al). Despite all the rationalizing noises from both sides, what we are witnessing is a continuous escalation of violence!
Level headed humanity must come together and address the situation, however difficult it is. The so-called international organizations have lost and continue to lose their credibility. The UN has become a talk shop with hardly any convincing clout of its own. It is only the very few powerful countries that dictate its policies. See the articles next column on page 50 and 51. Christians and Moslems must come together to deliberate on various issues with a view to calm/temper these two destructive entities, namely the state and non-state actors!
Here are few interestingly reflective quotations on ‘terrorism’ that might help us understand the logic behind our current sad situation. ‘Everyone’s worried about stopping terrorism. Well, there’s really an easy way: Stop participating in it.’ Noam Chomsky. ‘How can you have a war on terrorism when war itself is terrorism?’ Howard Zinn. ‘The object of terrorism is terrorism. The object of oppression is oppression. The object of torture is torture. The object of murder is murder. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?’ George Orwell (1984). ‘There is no moral difference between a Stealth bomber and a suicide bomber. They both kill innocent people for political reasons.’ Tony Benn. Finally, here is the former president of the US. “One of the hardest parts of my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror.” George W. Bush. Good Day!