01 September 2010
By Mohammed Adamu
There is no doubt that the
world is once again going through one of its most
difficult moments in history as regards the security
of nations, property and human lives. Recent events,
especially from September 11, 2001 to date is a clear
indication of man’s worst acts of inhumanity to his
fellow men. From the beginning of organized human
society, men had always found it difficult to co-exist
and inter-relate on this planet without conflicts,
sometimes very costly to humanity itself.
These conflicts have always
been the direct or indirect results of clashes of
interests which usually characterised both
international and human relationships as each tries
various means to achieve its set goals. In the case
of nations, for some particular goals to be achieved,
certain actions had to be carried out across national
boundaries. These desperations have been reflected in
the
foreign policies
of many nations both in the past and at present.
These include the
aspiration for territorial expansion, the desire to
spread a particular political ideology/belief,
economic ventures or even just prestige. In some
instances, wars, sometimes in conventional forms have
been resorted to as an instrument of foreign policies
by different nations at different times. However the
21st century is witnessing a new dimension
in warfare to achieve certain aims by individuals,
organisations and states in the international system.
A form of warfare without a defined front.
This form of warfare also,
has no distinctively established command posts or
fixed bases, respects no national boundaries and does
not recognise the
Geneva convention
on war. Its targets can be anybody and the battle
fronts can be any place on earth, from the barren
desert of the
middle east to
the jungles of South America,
from the developed and sophisticaed cities of
Europe and
North America to the
poverty stricken communities of Africa . Its major
tactis is surprise while its perpetrators remain very
ellusive.
This form of warfare is
‘TERRORISM’. Though terrorism is as old as humanity
itself and had been used ever since the dawn of
humanity, the word only gained prominence in
diplomatic parlance and popularity in the media most
recently after the September 11, 2001 bombings in the
United states of America . Perhaps this could be
attributed to the fact that, the act was carried out
in and against a country and its government that
dictates the pace and direction in the present world
system.
Terrorism had always taken
the form of a premeditated politcally or nationalistic
oriented violence, and is often perpetrated against
both combatant and non-combatant targets and could be
carried out by either an interest group or clandestine
states agents, usually with the motives of influencing
an audience. It is the ultimate
violation of human rights as it consumes
both ordinary and prominent individuals.
Human life is precious,
sacred and valuable; it should be protected at all
cost and must not be terminated for whatever reason
without due process of the law been followed. The
world should also come together to confront any act
that poses threat to humanity, irrespective of the
perpetrator’s standing in the global system
However, the world too
should not allow international politics and sentiments
to becloud its sense of fair judgement and reasoning.
This is because the greatest form of injustice done to
the issue of terrorism at the moment is that, no one
seems to be asking why the acts are been carried out,
but who carried them out? This has only succeeded in
polarizing the international community as well as
individuals. Hence the lack of a universally accepted
definition for the word terrorism or what acts
constitute it. The world is also too polarized on the
issue of terrorism that while some nations, government
and individuals consider some groups or individuals as
terrorists, others look-up to them as freedom
fighters, matyrs and heroes.
As Dr Jamiu Oluwatoki
rightly puts it ‘the post-cold war has been an
American dominated world, where it enjoys a monopoly
in world politics as it dictates the pace and
direction of world affairs’. America also clamours for
Democracy and sometimes imposes it on whom she wants,
but it is also selective in its dealings as it did not
have to touch “the friends of America”. It had on
several occasions supported and helped sustained
monarchies and totalitarSian regimes particularly in
the
third world countries.
The foreign policy of
western powers have led millions of people around the
world to live with desperation and frustration in the
existing international order where the strong does
what they want while the weak only takes whatever
comes their way. As such, all the heinous acts we are
witnessing today are echoes from the depths of
frustration with the theatre of terror been taken
abroad to the heartland of the west.
Furthermore, the present
world view and approaches to issues of terrorism are
so injudicious and grossly perverse as world memory
seem so short with many victims of earlier
terrorists attacks
ignored. One wonders why when
Adolf Hitler systematically exterminated
over six million jews he was not labelled a terrorist,
when presidents
Lyndon Johnson
and Richard Nixton (both of the USA),sent troops into
Vietnam and massacred thousands of
children, women and the elderly, no one called them
terrorists, even at the time
Saddam Hussein
gassed over eight thousand of his Kurds citizens
nobody called him a terrorist, at least at that time.
So also when the American
CIA and the Soviet KGB agents were busy going round
the world picking and killing their perceived enemies
such as Patrick Lumumba, Raphael Trojilo, Ngo Din Dien,
Manuel Noriega
as well as the numerous attempts on the life of
Fidel Castro and attacks on the Bay of
Pigs (1961) in
Cuba, the world
did not shout aah terrorism. Terrorism as the world is
witnessing today is a child of a system, which the
super powers created and compelled the world to live
in, and it only breeds in a system where injustice
reigns supreme.
In conclusion, for whatever
reason or purpose it is carried out, the acts of
terrorism is condemnable and should not be accepted,
but above all, a little accommodation and more
sensitivity to others’ plight, respect and tolerance
for each other’s culture and ideologies could go a
long way in checkmating the ever increasing trend of
terrorism. GOD SAVE HUMANITY.
Mohammed Adamu,
Kano , Nigeria
Mohammedadamu57@yahoo.com
©
EsinIslam.Com
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