Terrorism

With every new terrorist atrocity you get the same knee jerk reactions, calling for vendetta like retribution, that ‘something’ must be done. It is always the same and invariably the same people that bang the same tired old drum with the same tunes, calling for action to be taken but with absolutely no idea how this action could be delivered, why it should be delivered and who will deliver it.

Let’s look at terrorism as a whole, before we focus on the events that have taken place in the last decade. There is an old adage that we must accept as a truth, or any chance of understanding is gone, any chance for clear, rational thought will be impossible.  “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter”. This is an absolute truism.

It only matters which side of the fence you sit on as to whether you see a heroic partisan or a hate filled killer. Perspective is drawn from attachment to one set of ideals or another, not from a realistic appraisal of the facts that do present themselves.

You throw the conspiracy theorists into the mix with their insistence that everything is down to aliens, Zionists, the lluminati or the Lizardmen and the picture is just so cloudy that any chance of debating in cold, hard facts is lost. Therefore I am going to try and point out why these events take place, how they could possibly be prevented and how we need to wise up, and fast, to the real issues out there.

The latest terrorist outrage involved the massacre of 37 civilians in the Tunisian beach resort of Sousse, an area popular with British tourists. It is expected that British nationals will eventually comprise over three quarters of those killed. Now, I am going to be frank here, this is an outrageous loss of life. It obviously upsets me when you see the media pictures and hear or read the eye witness accounts of this murderous assault. It is a crime against humanity as those killed were not in uniform, they were not championing a way of life or a religious doctrine, and they were merely taking a holiday with loved ones. Had I had the money this month, which I didn’t thankfully, I was considering Sousse as a possible destination for a midyear breather.

Now this is not a dramatic ‘It could’ve been me’ outburst. I wasn’t at the airport before fortuitously missing the plane through being stuck in a toilet, or retiring back to my hotel room early avoiding the most final of fates by seconds. I was merely considering this resort as a nice place to go and get away from it all. I’m not struck with a sense of ‘Final Destination’ angst, that I miraculously cheated death and fate will catch up with me.

The most terrifying thing about terrorism is the apparent randomness of the location and the victims. That is why it strikes abject fear into the everyday person, because it could just be you that becomes the next victim. Realistically though, you have more chance of scaling Everest, winning the lottery or dying on the porcelain throne as you expel last night’s Yorkshire pudding than falling prey to an act of terrorism as a UK citizen abroad, on a beach, on any given day.

So let’s look at why this has been such a devastating wake up call to so many and why we are all now preparing for a holocaustic explosion of terrorism on UK soil. We watch the news, we read the newspapers and we inadvertently swallow the soundbites without tasting the context. This was an isolated attack, in the sense that this involved British nationals, the death toll in neighbouring Libya since the ousting of Colonel Gadaffi and the rise of Islamic State fundamentalists would suggest that this was not a one off outrage, rather one that occurred on the wrong side of the Libyan and Tunisian border. With Islamic State fundamentalists very much in the ascendancy in Libya, these attacks are almost every day occurrences, but the West doesn’t care so much when the victim wears a Burkha as opposed to a Hollister baseball cap.

Yes, the diplomatic bowler hat is doffed and the right words of condolence expressed but little to nothing in terms of actual support is offered to the collapsing states once the West has taken its fill of rebuilding contracts and oil exploitation rights. Herein lays the root of the problem, we, as in the West, interfere only when we choose, and when we do, do so completely. We assume that the world should live as we do, follow our capitalist way of life as the true way to live and that all nations will be better off under a democratically elected government.

Of course, this is utter rubbish. When we involve ourselves totally in foreign policy involving warring states we are seen as siding with one party or the other. When we pull out of a country the side that feels they were not supported look to extract revenge, either politically or more commonly by acts of violence. Again, this is nothing new. You cannot run with the hare and the hounds. Look at the acts of retribution sought on members of the population that were actively seen to support Nazi occupation in France, Belgium, Holland and Greece as absolute proof of this.

You know I like my analogies so here is another. Your neighbour and you are not seeing eye to eye. There has been a lot of rhetoric and posturing and minor liberties have been taken, the lopping off a prize rose, ordering a pizza and then laughing through a gap in the curtains. Will this lead to all out conflict? Not in most instances, in most cases common sense will prevail. However, let’s spin this out a little……. In retaliation to letting your neighbour’s tyre down he calls in someone living several streets away who has no understanding of the actual reason why you are at dispute. This mercenary decides to offer your rival all manner of equipment and tools that you have no access to.

The balance has been removed completely now, such is the one sided scenario that has been established. On principle alone though you won’t give up so the neighbours new friends decide to put up a tent in your garden and blow your house systematically to pieces, removing both your sense of freedom and security. Once you have ceded defeat, not on a matter of principle but purely to survive, the neighbours new friends disappears off the scene. Now you are angry. You were stripped of your ability to compete equally, your garden was invaded, your house ransacked, your family forced to flee. Revenge is not only prevalent in your mind; it is something you now feel you have to act on as a means to salvage any pride you once had.

If you cannot see this analogy for what it is, it is really this simple. If a foreign government provides arms, financial and military support and numerous other benefits to one side in a conflict, a civil conflict that ultimately is none of their concern, then you cannot be surprised when the time comes that Western governments stops aiding, there will be a vacuum caused that is filled not with thoughts of diplomatic harmony and repatriation. Nothing that led to the initial conflict has been solved, only exacerbated by the perceived unfairness, so that what was an impasse has now become a chasm so deep it may never be bridged, and the fighting is a foregone inevitability. This is happening consistently with Western interference in affairs, which put into very simple language, are absolutely nothing to do with us. Or are they?

Directly no, they aren’t, but indirectly very much so. We thrive on oil and fossil fuels that have long since become more than just a luxury. They are now an absolute necessity for any country that places higher value on the bright lights and fast cars than moral fibre and equality within its own populace. We need them to sustain the cossetted existence we have become used to. Gone are the days when a blanket could keep you warm. We live in a society that wants to wear shorts in the home and hundred pound coats outside in mid winter. We preach about how we should care for the Earth by using public transport instead of cars. How about just bloody walking!?!

Millionaire politicians assume we all want the lifestyle they have, and will do anything to attain that. Utter rubbish. Most people can handle a bit of austerity, a bit of hardship, because the majority of people are just trying to get by. They don’t care what is going on in the stock markets or what OPEC are recommending for the next fiscal year’s profit margins. They merely want a simple life.

Wherever we are in the world, whoever we are, and whatever God we choose or refuse to worship, we want the simplest of existences. This is the mistake the policy makers and financial market leaders continue to make. They manipulate the masses to believe there are enemies when there are no enemies to the people, only to the state, whether it follows an economic driven or theologically driven agenda. A mother in Afghanistan, Bhutan, Botswana or Basingstoke possesses the same love for her child, the rest is just location, location, location.

Location matters only because of the geological composition underneath it or the strategic value it holds on the global map. It really shouldn’t. We were content to let the Khmer Rouge murder at least 1.3 million people as Cambodia could provide nothing the larger states wanted, in terms of harvest or strategic location. Rwanda? Let them die. Sudan? Die quietly please!

Iraq? Hold up just a minute. We will overlook the fact that the regime was seen fit to be propped up when Iran went Ayatollah crazy and the Shah did a runner. We needed an ally then as Israel was seen as too risky due to the escalation of hostilities with its neighbours. Saudi Arabia was still too maverick and Kuwait just too small. The atrocities committed by Saddam Hussein were not fictional events, they were real enough but we were very selective about when we took action there, and simply let other human rights violations pass by. When a country like Russia invades Ukraine we talk the talk but soon back down because the sums don’t add up, the death toll will not be worth the gain.

So by interfering, meddling and generally being the self-appointed keeper of world peace, when it suits our purposes, we are actually stirring up a load of trouble that should be avoided at all costs. We are a puppet to the USA, and they are a fading global force about to be usurped by the Chinese, whilst also trying to retain a grip on the fast rising Russian threat to world harmony. We should remember the only thing worse than a bully is the snivelling little sidekick that stands by him. That is how we are viewed on the global stage and that is why we are a target for terrorist attacks. We have been complicit in the invasion and occupation of countries that we should have left in peace.

The 9/11 bombings were a tragedy, of course they were. There was no government conspiracy, there was no government cover up, it did happen and it shouldn’t have. The reaction of the West however, rather than following the commonly stated teachings of their predominant religion and, no matter the provocation, turning the other cheek, immediately sought to take not only an eye for an eye but the teeth, legs and arms as well. Where blood was spilled indiscriminately and without thought, we thought we could wash away the stains with yet more blood. To fight fire with fire may be an option but there is a very real chance you will just create a firestorm, and boy did we.

The problem of course, is two totally conflicting ideals. One that genuinely believes in their God as all powerful, and another that sees its army as soldiers with which to do Gods will. When two such diametrically opposed forces come into contact they should repel each other but neither side are prepared to yield. For every terrorist that dies, there are ten more created. For every terrorist atrocity that occurs, so the demand for retribution rises. A wise old teacher once stated that “an eye for an eye will see the whole world blind”. He was right. It is time for us to think here not of inflammatory reactions borne out of grief and hatred, for there is far too much at stake.

We criticise suicide bombers, whilst we sit on an array of weaponry that could obliterate the world a thousand times over. I am certainly not defending the suicide bomber or claiming him a force for good, but then neither am I saying remotely controlled aircraft dropping death from 20’000 feet are either. However we choose to fight our enemy, to weaken their resolve to the point they lose the stomach for the fight, is not something we should look at in terms of moral superiority. Death is death, no matter how it is delivered. We fight with whatever means we have at our disposal. I am sure the guerrilla/terrorist fighter would much rather a squadron of Eurofighters over a DTMF activated roadside bomb but they don’t have that option, so they seek to cause terror.

Now, we criticise and lambast atrocities committed overseas, we see it as an affront to civility and the way in which war should be conducted. It is no such thing. War in its entirety is actually that affront to humanity and to castigate one side over the other is akin to deciding which road to hell you choose to take. Yes, the beheading of a human being is vile, it sickens me to the stomach. So does the collateral damage inflicted by an errant 500 lb bomb when it falls on a school thousands of miles from home. You see, there is no good in war, this is not a war of chivalry, it is very much an ideological struggle between religious fanatics who have corrupted their own beliefs to suit a hideous agenda, and a hideous agenda corrupted by a corpulent society.

The root of so much is ignorance on both sides of the divide. Islam is not a religion to be feared, it is not a violent religion or one that seeks to destroy all others. This is juvenile propaganda spread by ignorant people. The West, as a whole does not wish to castigate all followers of Islam as barbarians. Where the real danger lays is in the deepening arroyo between fact and fiction. You see, even when the parents of Lee Rigby publicly state they do not wish to see their sons awful death treated as a rallying call for hatred, they are ignored. This is because xenophobia is on the rise. All ills within our country are now blamed on events that happen incredibly rarely. Beating of innocent Muslims at the hands of vigilante groups are not going to stop the threat of fanaticism on our shores, they are going to increase it an exponential rate.

When you overhear discussions about ‘them’ and ‘us’ it is all too easy to forget that on both sides of this needless conflict, the ones who ultimately suffer are the innocent. This truly is a seismic shift in common thinking. There will only be war on these shores if we choose to allow there to be one. The stories of people going off to Syria and other IS strongholds to fight are not reason to be afraid. In fact, the opposite way of thinking should be prevalent. If a person is radicalised I would much rather them leave these shores and fight their infidel enemy in North Africa and the Levant. They can become a martyr on a stretch of desert rather than instigate trouble here. After all, this is their choice, their calling, it really is nothing for me to be worried about.

Living in Cardiff for a lot of my life has been a true blessing. It truly is the most cosmopolitan of cities, along with so many other port cities where the sight of someone wearing strange clothes or having a different colour tone to their skin is something we grew up with. Culturally diverse, we mixed with these cultures from an early age, we grew to understand different holidays and religious festivals. Perhaps that is one of the reasons that we give such short thrift to splinter groups that incite violence or hatred. We tend, on the whole to accept people at face value. This is not true throughout Wales and other parts of Britain where an insular upbringing has naturally brought a mistrust of things that appear different to the norm. This is where the measured demonising of certain religions by trashy newspapers with sensationalist headlines only bring more terror. There is no reassurance, no stating of facts and no call for reason. It is generalisation of the harshest elements and the deliberate deviation away from the truth.

At this moment there is a call for the banning of certain items of clothing, restriction on the movement of people based on religion and ethnicity. All laudable if they would actually, just for one second, reduce the threat of terrorism. They actually have the opposite effect unfortunately. The labelling of one set of people as terrorists because a tiny minority of people associate themselves with a shared religion or ethnicity does nothing to quell unrest, it incites it. We all know how we feel when we get tarred with the same brush, imagine if that brush was stroked so wildly that you were singled out for abuse, mostly verbal but often physical, though you yourself were as disgusted as everyone else at what was going on and that you yourself had no direct part in?

I do understand the fear, I genuinely do, but it is illogical. In the 7/7 bombings 52 people died, fourteen times that were injured. Then there was Lee Rigby, a serviceman singled out by two lunatics. Tragic, needless, terrorist attacks, guilty on all three counts. Let us apply some simple logic however, two words, Northern Ireland. Death, torture and suffering on a far larger scale. Over a thousand servicemen killed. Nearly two thousand civilians killed. Fifty thousand injured. Many more who simply disappeared, the forgotten victims. This was something that happened on our doorstep on an almost daily basis. There were walls built higher than the Berlin Wall, there were curfews, there were daily beatings, there were atrocities both in Ireland and at home on the UK mainland.

There were many bombings that were totally indiscriminate in their targeting, save that they were designed for civilians. Religion could be blamed, the foreign policy could be blamed, loyalists and republicans can be blamed but whatever the reason, whatever the cause, those figures are terrifying. So why were the Irish not hated, reviled and castigated to the same extent that followers of Islam are? Was it because they looked the same as us, spoke the same language as us, believed in the same God as us, ate the same food as us and enjoyed the same sense of humour as us? Was it all about the craic? I don’t know the answers but at first glance it is clear to see the huge difference in public perception and understanding of the terrorist act depending more on the perpetrators appearance than the act itself. This is undeniable isn’t it? An act of terrorism, a moment of barbarism, whatever we choose to call it should not be lessened or increased in value by who commits the crime.

Muslims throughout the world are horrified at the acts being carried out at present, and rightly so. They are living in just as much fear as we are, if not more because the indiscriminate nature of these attacks mean they are not only at risk of the act of terrorism itself but a natural scapegoat in the aftermath. Look at the Sousse incident here. This was a premediated attack and was clearly aimed to strike terror in the Western mind, or was it? Tunisia is thriving right now, a North African success story. Money flows in through tourism and it is a haven for many. Not so anymore. With the immediate effect of the attacks seeing hundreds of thousands not only cancelling their summer holiday, there are also millions who will now not think of holidaying there anytime soon. It weakens Tunisia, not the West. It allows for the potential and natural westernisation of an Islamic country to cease, and in this void there will be a chance for IS to gain another foothold. The UK citizens were simply unwilling pawns on a chessboard that most can’t see.

There is often talk of Security Services and what they could and should do, and Human Rights Acts. Let’s settle a few myths here and now. The Intelligence Community is not infallible. It is not Big Brother and contrary to popular belief has neither the technology nor the manpower to monitor every FB conversation, every phone call or every e-mail that is sent. Talk of buzz words such as ‘bomb’ setting off super computers that will automatically record your call for later analysis is the stuff of conspiracy theorists. It doesn’t happen like that. It never will happen like that. Terrorists are evil, they are far from stupid. The cover terms, the language and the modus operandi of a covert organisation is not so easy to crack as people would like to believe.

Should a rogue cell of UK terrorists decide to attack China for example, do you honestly think they would have a counter intelligence cell in Beijing that would decipher coded and encrypted North Walians speaking a mixture of Welsh and Gaelic? Of course not. There are always avenues that can be exploited, always short cuts to murder and that will remain so. The other issue here is the UK population itself. It cries out for protection but then baulks at the means necessary to deliver the most effective, not failsafe, methods at hand. If you genuinely want Big Brother protection then you need a Big Brother organisation. You can’t want all terrorists stopped at the border unless you allow for a certain infringement on your own civil liberties.

I have seen calls for ‘boots on the ground’. This isn’t an episode of Sharpe and it isn’t an episode of Spooks. This is real life and if recent history can teach us just one thing, it is simply that we should stop interfering in things that are not our concern. Whatever your feelings towards terrorist atrocities, whatever your sympathies or animosities, if you genuinely feel that strongly, then you strap on those boots and you go and fight the war you think is there to be won. You try and wash blood off sandy shores with your own blood and see the outcome. Don’t commit the youth of today towards a needless conflict because you feel scared watching the news on your 48 inch TV, in the safety of your own home.

See through the bullshit, see through the hype and grasp the reality. Muslims were trying to save lives at the risk of their own life whilst three despicable human beings decided to act upon their own warped beliefs. When the riots were taking place in Cairo, Muslim shielded Christian and vice versa to allow the right to pray to their own God. Radicalism is borne out of a sense of injustice, and anything we do to add to that will lead to more deaths and more acts of terrorism.

Is there a solution? In the short term, no. Nothing will prevent what is coming in the next few months. Alea Iacta Est. The long term though, yes, we can change the face of the world. It begins with the ability to rise above the instinctive need to hate, to seek revenge and to trust in education. Educate your child about other cultures and let them embrace them as they choose, not how you would like them to choose. There is no right or wrong way to worship, there are no infidels and no heathen scum, just human beings who need to embrace life and not seek to destroy it. This world is a beautiful place, a magical place and the sooner we stop fighting over it, and appreciating the true nature of what we see all around us the happier and more peaceful a life we can lead.

Let go of the hate, let go of the fear, for when you can do this the terrorist loses all power. ALL power. Only you can give them that the power by allowing yourself to fall into the trap they are laying. We all die one day, do it with a smile, not with regret or fear and most importantly of all, not with an ounce of hate.