Military Means to Defeat Terrorism - Literature review Example

Running Head: APPROACHES TO PEACE Approaches to peace: Are military means the best way to defeat terrorism? Name Institution Date Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Approaches to peace: Are military means the best way to defeat terrorism? 3 Introduction 3 The structure of terror 4 The evolving nature of terrorism 6 Approaches to peace 8 World Order: Peace through the Power of Law 8 Conflict Resolution: Peace through the Power of Communication 9 Nonviolence: Peace through Willpower 10 Transformation: Peace through the Power of Love 10 Are military means the best way to defeat terrorism? 10 Conclusion 13 References 13 Approaches to peace: Are military means the best way to defeat terrorism? Introduction Undoubtedly peace is the most significant and universal of human ideals. Major systems of belief and faith, whether secular or religious in character, have in some way or another promised peace as the aftermath on implementing of its precepts. According to Graham (2002), the ways through which human beings contemplate peace are content-dependent and diffuse. In abstract affirmations and precepts in the context of religious framework people claim to revere peace while on the other hand constituting or building their thoughts about politics and life on mundane ends and objectives. These culminate into peace being co-opted by rivaling value priorities or just remain unachievable in our daily experiences and activities. The ‘ideal’ is barricaded from the ‘real’, rendering peace to be a pious invocation or terminology that is meaningless or referring to rhetoric self-justification. The urge to remove the gap between the ‘real’ and the ‘ideal’ has attracted many mediators to pursue Conflict Resolution and International Peace. Harmon & Pratt (2010) argue that the war against terrorism cannot be won by military means alone as the best way. Terrorism is not as simple as it may be perceived in a naïve mind. Terrorism involves complex concepts that rule out military intervention as being the only means through which it can be defeated. More complexity is drawn in the fact that terrorism is being perpetuated by some selfish human beings through religious ideologies that make other people to misconceive terrorism fight as being a battle to defeat other religions for instance, Islam. The war against terrorism cannot be won if left to one nation since it can be seen that terrorists have left a mark in almost the whole world and it calls for coordination and cooperation to be able to fight this vice that is claiming innocent lives. The memories of September 11 of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon in the United States of America are still fresh in many minds and others will be permanently be affected because they lost their loved ones in that heinous act against humanity. Nationals from over ten countries lost their precious lives. This demonstrates that the terrorism perpetrators are not discriminatory in their quest to shed innocent blood. So long as you are in their way although you may be innocent your life is equally in danger to the same degree as for those they consider as their enemies. Even if success is experienced on the war on terrorism, news enemies come up from different fronts. The structure of terror Overlooking the diversity or dynamism in sophistication, strength, and motive, terrorist organizations have a common basic structure that is divided into five parts that consist of leadership, organization, states, international environment, and underlying conditions. These are arranged from top to bottom in a hierarchical manner. At the bottom of the hierarchy the underlying conditions consists of religious conflict, ethnic strife, poverty and corruptions build an ample ground for terrorist to exploit. Some these conditions do exist while others are just fabricated. Terrorists utilize these conditions in their justification for their terror actions and forge for rapport and seek support. The misconception that terrorism is the only legitimate way to effect political change and resolve such conditions is the basic challenge that is responsible for the growth and spreading of terrorism (Graham, 2002). Rourke (2003) notes that the international environment looks at the framework, or boundaries or scope into which terrorists’ strategies is shaped. Aided by more open and freer borders this environment unknowingly enables accessibility to capabilities, havens, and other kind of support accorded to the terrorists. Accessibility alone is inadequate. Terrorist also need a physical base or ground from where they launch their operations. Whether through inability, ignorance, or intent, many states in the current world offers havens both virtual demonstrated through financial networks and reliable communication, and physical, for instance, according those training grounds and safe houses. The two aids enable the terrorists to train, organize, plan, and accomplish their operations. Once embedded in safe environment of operation, the organizations then solidifies and subsequently expand. The terrorist membership, organization structure, security, and resources determine greatly its reach and capabilities. Found at the top of the structure, leadership of the terrorists provides direction on the overall and come up with strategies that creates a correlation among the different factors in the structure giving life to unforeseen terror campaign. The leadership takes the role of a catalyst encouraging terrorist actions to take place. If the leadership is lost it may result into numerous organizations collapsing. Nevertheless, some groups are very resilient and can cause new leadership regardless of the collapse. Many have opted to go for overly decentralized organizations accompanied with majorly autonomous cells rendering the challenge of combating terrorism to be more greatly challenging (Rourke, 2003). The evolving nature of terrorism Despite the fact that it has retained its structure, the challenge posed by terrorists has changed remarkably over the last number of years and seemingly its evolution will continue to be witnessed. The terrorist are propelled by jealousy sparked by the successes that have been done by other countries. Many terrorist groups thrive on active state sponsorship. While the challenge of sponsorship of the state continue to rage, years of persistent efforts of countering terrorist activities that included economic isolation and diplomacy, have compelled some governments to reduce or even completely stop or withdraw the support that they were hitherto offering the terrorist groups and enabling them to perpetuate their terror activities around the world. The disintegration of the Soviet Union that accorded crucial support to some state sponsors and terrorist groups was a major boost to the war on terrorism since there was a subsequent decline in state sponsorship. Numerous terrorist groupings were neutralized or destroyed completely which included Direct Action, Communist combatant cells, and the Red Army Faction that were thriving in Europe. In Asia the Japanese Red Army was also destroyed and incapacitated. This should have served as a good example to the rest of terror groups all over the world. After the cold war we witnessed the dramatic advancement commerce, travel, and transnational communication (Harmon& Pratt, 2010). On the negative side the terrorist adapted and utilized these advancements in the international environment as a means of propagating their terrorist activities. Al-Qaida demonstrates how terrorist net workings have twisted the conveniences and benefits of remarkably integrated, open, and modernized global world to perpetuate their terrorists’ activities. The Al-Qaida is a multinational network operating in over sixty countries all over the world. The camps in Afghanistan aided in providing sanctuary and the bank accounts owned by it served the purpose of trust fund sponsoring terrorism. Its activities globally are organized through the use of communication technologies and personal couriers. The advanced technology utilized comprises of satellite and cellular phones, internet chat rooms, CD-ROMs, encrypted e-mail, and videotape. Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaida have on the retrospective exploited global media to project his message and image worldwide. Al-Qaida members have traversed continent to continent with a disguise of being business travelers or vacationers. In an age characterized with unprecedented migration and mobility the members readily blend and disappear with little chance of being traced in communities that they go to. They buy their way with money raised through drug trafficking, front businesses, credit card fraud, extortion, and money from covert supporters. They utilize non-governmental organizations and other charitable organizations for recruitment and funding (Rourke, 2003). Proceeds accruing from their operations are transferred through money exchanges, alternative remittance system and numerous banks. The September 11 attacks massacred citizens from France, El Salvador, Brazil, Australia, Egypt, China, South Africa, the United Kingdom’ Israel, India, Germany and scores of citizens from other countries. As demonstrated by the Al-Qaida network the terrorism challenge currently is muting into a complex thing as compared to what had existed before. Terrorists use the advancement in technology to disseminate training, logistics, and leadership globally and regionally. Terrorists groups are becoming increasingly self efficient and sufficient by utilizing the global environment to perpetuate their environment. Approaches to peace Having looked at the structure and nature of terrorism it is appropriate to assertively conclude that the war against terrorism cannot be solely be won through military intervention. According to Ankersen & O'Leary (2007), terrorist misconceived ideologies have been propagated in religious realms confusing innocent faithful to shed innocent blood. Some are trained and used as suicide bombers being propelled with the motivation that they are waging a holy war that even if they die, they will go to heaven for their accomplishment. Some of the approaches to peace include: World Order: Peace through the Power of Law This approach postulates that cooperation that is sustained among the states and other parties that include intergovernmental organizations, non-governmental organizations represented by activist is necessary and possible. Cooperation is enabled by the fact that human nature comprises of the potential for altruism and selfishness. Cooperation is viable since the unmitigated competition brought about by the paradigm power politics cannot be supported. The paradigm of world order put emphasis on intentionality and human choice while stating that nation-states lack a monopoly on power to determine global politics. In this era of globalization, politics comprises of complex interplay of national and global including local loyalties, interest, and values. Modern transportation and communications have enabled citizens to forge transnational networks for putting forward their concerns relating to peace, ecology, development, and human rights. The respective concerns of network of citizens have assisted in defining agendas for institutions of national governance for example the United Nation and the national governments. Conflict Resolution: Peace through the Power of Communication This offers pragmatic approach through refinement and development of skills for responding and analyzing conflicts with effective strategies of negotiation and communication. Conflict resolution focuses mostly on the processes of interacting among groups and individuals and relationships that define them. According to the protagonist of this approach conflicts occur naturally at all levels of human organization and interaction, to the international from the interethnic and interpersonal. Despite it resulting into great human suffering and estrangement, conflict does not necessarily mean or translate to violence and may only require some changes in social systems and relationships. Peace is interpreted to be an ongoing process of skillfully managing and, if possible transforming or preventing conflict. Habitual conflict management styles and attitudes must be understood for successful management and resolution of conflicts. Third party mediators are incorporated in the application of this approach (Greenberg & Weber, 2008). Nonviolence: Peace through Willpower As misconceived that by many that this approach enjoins passivity. The non-violence approach advocates that power possessed with the government comes basically from the consent of the subjects and later on from coercion. The subjects empower order by giving their consent to the prevailing state of affair and working within the boundaries of the norms offered by it. According to this approach genuine power comes from human solidarity and will power as opposed to violence, which exploits the community and causes its own peril. It has countered forms of political oppression and social discrimination and it has also been used to repulse occupation or imperialism. For peace to occur, it is worked for justly (Graham, 2002). Transformation: Peace through the Power of Love This approach narrows on cultural change, spiritually and centrality of education in sincere efforts to make peace an achievable thing in the daily life. Peace making is an internally ongoing process in which change of individuals is equated to an instrument of and a metaphor for other changes in a broader perspective. The change involves nurturing a character and a beautiful consciousness accompanied with skills and affirmative belief system through which the results of personal integration and ‘internal disarmament’ may be exhibited. Are military means the best way to defeat terrorism? Terrorism is a tactic utilized by a small population of extremists to launch attacks against an immensely powerful opponent while being surrounded by a huge population that majorly needs nothing rather than quietness and peace. Following the terrorist attacks on the World TradeCenter and the Pentagon, the United States and its allies retaliated by invading Iraq and Afghanistan. They instigated a war that is not about to end. The nature of terrorism clearly shows us that military intervention is not the best way to combat terrorism. As the Americans withdraw troops from Iraq, the war and political instability that they started is ongoing. Terrorist attacks through suicide bombing are still going on in Baghdad and its environs. It should have stopped with the launch of military means after September 11 attacks. How can you for instance, launch a military attack or use military means against a suicide bomber who blows himself in a bus, café or a wedding party. The society should be encouraged to trust the authority so that so that the terrorists can be turned in before they even strike. Prior to the terrorist attacks some members of the society may know what is going to happen. These terrorists have family who may know what they (terrorist) are engaged in. The terrorist leave within the community and can be easily be identified by the members of the community (Greenberg & Weber, 2008). Terrorism cannot be brought to an end if only the ideologies that give will power to the terrorist are destroyed. Some encourage acts of terrorism in the name of protecting Islam when Islam itself is against war and encourages peace. The terrorists make sure that the citizens are not in good terms with the authorities and therefore they cannot be pointed out to the authorities. Without state sponsorship terrorism will weaken and eventually die. Some unstable states like Somalia offers a training ground to terrorist groups and it serves also as one of their base. Since Somalia has been neglected by the international community it offers a breeding ground to terrorist groups such as Al shaabab. In case there was a strong government in Somalia it could have helped to combat terrorism. If we look at for instance, Iraq and Afghanistan, how many innocent civilians have been killed owing to the use of military intervention? When a bomb is dropped to a place perceived to be terrorists’ base many innocent civilians are killed. The terrorist will want to intermingle with the members of the society and in most cases use them as a shield. As people walk down a busy street it is not easy to tell apart, who is a terrorist and who is not. Faizul Abdul, a man believed to be behind the Kikambala Hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, lived peaceful with the people in Malindi and even taught Islamic religion classes in one of the mosque. He was described as a humble and cool man by the local resident and they just came to know of him when his photo appeared in a local daily as a wanted man, and by then he had already disappeared. Use of force through military means cannot be the best way to combat terrorism. The families of victims of September 11 attacks needed justice but the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq has not yielded any good fruits. As compared to the days of Saddam Hussein administration, Iraq is unsafe and more unstable in the current circumstance. Saddam was hanged and this did not solve anything and instead worsened the situation creating more enemies between those who were opposed to the killing and those who supported it. The many conflicts that are being witnessed in the world are being used by the terrorists to propagate the agendas (Ankersen & O'Leary, 2007). Conclusion As we celebrate for combating and destroying one terrorist group others spring up from unprecedented locations. We cannot tell when and where next group will emerge from. The September 11 attacks showed clearly that no one is safe if at all a military superpower like the United States could be attacked. Today you are not the target but you cannot tell about tomorrow. The fight against terrorism should be fought inclusive of everyone particularly the civil community. The preceding September 11 attacks have shown that military intervention is not the best way to fight terrorism. Terrorist do not spare even one of their own. They will kill any one to cause fear and instability in order to bring the government down and promote anarchy. The main cause of terrorism should be identified and dealt with if we think of eliminating terrorism, otherwise terrorists will always get one unawares and that is their best strategy that they use. Terrorism rides on surprise. References Graham, J. W. (2002). What the U. S. Military Can Do to Defeat Terrorism, Ney York: Universe Publishers. Harmon, C. C. & Pratt A. N. (2010). Toward a Grand Strategy against Terrorism. Sydney: McGraw Hill Professional. Greenberg, E. H. & Weber K. (2008). Generation We: How Millennial Youth Are Taking Over America and Changing Our World Forever. Quinta Cabana: Pachatusan. Ankersen, C. & O'Leary M. (2007). Understanding global terror. Ney York: Wiley-Blackwell, Rourke, J. T. (2003). Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in World Politics. McGraw-Sydney: Hill/Dushkin. Read More