Global Terrorism

The acts of terrorism became frequent in the 1960s. As these actions increased in frequency, attention was paid to the terrorists’ motives and existence, which was the main intention of the perpetrators of these acts. Since 1960s, international terrorism has increased in frequency and has become a topic of discussion and debate internationally (Das and Peter 38). What is much worrying is that terrorism unlike in the past has become localized. Small terrorist groups have risen in different nations with similar ideals mainly acquired from international terrorist groups such as Al-Qaida. Terrorist groups such as the ISIL and Al-Shabaab have adopted the ideals of Al-Qaida.  With the rise of these local and regional groups, terrorism has become a global problem that needs solving.

Different methods can be used to fight the global terrorism.  One way is to reconstruct the societies (McCormick). There have been instances of the young people travelling all the way from regions such as Africa to join terrorist groups such as the ISIL with the promise of good pay. It is notable that these terrorist groups target educated youth for their expertise in different fields. The question left in the minds of the people is why an educated young person joins terrorist groups. The answer lies in the societies. The gap between the rich and poor is increasing year by year.  In the developing countries, it is common for the rich to corrupt the systems to make themselves richer. The rich remain rich, and the poor remain poor.

Those lucky enough to access to education at higher levels are disoriented for lack of jobs.  Even in developed countries such as America, unemployment still exists. The most affected people are the youth. In search of greener pastures, they are recruited to terrorism. Our societies need to concentrate on building the economy to accommodate all people. As Brad McCormick mentions in his article, Osama Bin Laden wanted to destroy the American economy to keep the Americans busy reconstructing the Economy. Terrorist groups are using this ideal. While nations are busy reconstructing what was destroyed, terrorists are busy recruiting more people (McCormick). Nations should concentrate on securing the economic systems and structures to keep the economy strong even in times of terrorism acts.

Another way to fight the global terrorism is to stop discriminating acts of terrorism.  Acts of terrorism are not given equal weight in the global platform. When big terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda and ISIL attacks, many sympathies and concerns flow into the troubled nation. However, when other local groups attack mainly for political reasons, this is considered by some nations as functional.  Consider the Kurdistan Freedom Falcons (TAK), which is an affiliate of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The PKK has been fighting against the Turkish state for political and cultural rights (Aktay).  However, the group uses crude methods such as the detonation of bombs in crowded places. This is terrorism. They kill innocent people who have no support for any side.  Some nations view the fighting for political and cultural rights as functional disregarding the methods used.

When ISIL bombs and kills innocent people, it is viewed as terrorism. However, when TAK does the same, it is viewed as functional. The two terrorist groups yield the same results. They kill innocent civilians. There is a biased approach unto the fighting against these terrorist groups.  America, for example, insists on supporting the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which is an extension of PKK.  This will be like supporting the acts of terror the PKK is perpetrating in Turkey (Aktay). Globally, there is need to view and treat all terrorist groups equally. Discriminating will just motivate the smaller political instigated groups to be greater and more lethal.

Another way of fighting global terrorism is by not distinguishing between terrorists and terrorism. There tends to be a distinction between the acts and the perpetrators. After the 9/11 attack in America, America declared war against Al-Qaeda. However, in my view, they put a distinction between Al-Qaeda and Osama. America put a lot of resources both in intelligence and infrastructure in the search for Osama Bin Laden.  In the meantime, Al-Qaeda was busy spreading its ideologies worldwide. Even after killing Osama, Al-Qaeda still exists. It is always world news when a leader of a terrorist group is killed but killing the leader just destabilizes the group for some time and a new leader rises (McCormick). The war against terrorism should concentrate on destroying the terrorist groups and their ideologies rather than destabilizing them.

Another way would be to seize the rhetorical high ground.  As nations, there has never been an endeavor to negotiate with some of the terrorist groups to understand their grievances. Take for example the American policy of not negotiating with terrorists. However, any problem can be solved by negotiation. The terrorists have grievances for they would not just kill innocent citizens for fun (McCormick). The problem is that for decades, terrorists have been hunted down, and there has never been an attempt to negotiate with them. Nobody has ever thought to listen to what the terrorists had to say rather nations focus on fighting the terrorists.  In most cases, these terrorist groups are always fighting for a similar thing ranging from oppression and invasion. There needs to be a global convention to generate new ways of negotiating with these terrorist groups.

Another way to fight the new global terrorism is to concentrate on guarding the nations instead of going after the terrorists. Terrorists always exploit a weak point in either the system or infrastructure. Nations should concentrate on managing the week points instead of going after the terrorists. After the Al-Shabaab had attacked and killed people in Kenya, the Government decided to pursue the terrorists inside Somalia. The Kenyan government is using many resources to manage the war in Somalia. Many soldiers have also lost their lives, and the terrorists are still within the Kenyan country ready to attack as has been observed lately. The major weakness in Kenya is the borders. The Al-Shabaab has easy access to the country through the borders. If the Kenyan government had concentrated on using the state of the art technology in managing the border security, they would have prevented more Al-Shabaab operatives from entering Kenya or the Kenyan youth from going to Somalia for recruitment.  America went to Iraq after the terrorist but left the nation more unstable than it was. Many soldiers lost their lives in the war. America should have concentrated on guarding their nation thus saving the lives of all those soldiers and the resources (Das and Peter 42). In addition, going after the terrorist groups gives them a reason and motivation to continue fighting citing invasion.

As technology advances, the fight against terrorism should also advance. Intelligence gathering should be easy today than it was in the 1960s when terrorism acts become frequent.  First, sympathizers fund terrorist groups. Identifying and eliminating such funders would cripple the terrorist groups. They would have no money to finance their operations. Consider the local terrorist groups that are mainly funded by political rivals. Whether the groups are fighting for civil liberty or political rights, killing innocent people does not justify their fight. Politicians funding such groups should be arrested and charged for collaborating with terrorists (Das and Peter 40). With the current financial systems, it would not be hard to identify the financiers of these groups.

Since the 1960s, terrorism has been evolving, and the modern terrorism is very lethal. Attacks are carried out everywhere.  The formation of local terror groups has aggravated the problem further. The ideals of the major terrorist groups have been spread all over the world. This has mostly affected the hopeless youths in our nations. If the war against terrorism is not won, it could turn to be another world war. The war against this new threat should start in the grassroots. The societies should revalue where they are going wrong in taking care of the youth who end up joining terrorist groups. Again, the source of finances for these local groups should be identified and cut short. Going after the terrorists gives them a reason to continue fighting. Nations should concentrate on guarding their territories and managing any loopholes. All the terrorism acts yield the same results. They kill innocent civilians and wound much more. Thus, they should all be treated equally. Supporting some groups because they seem functional just aggravates the terrorism problem. There should be no discrimination between the terrorist groups. They are all terrorists out to kill innocent people

 

Work cited

Aktay, Yasin. “The Wrong Mindset to Fight Terrorism.” – Al Jazeera English. 25 Mar. 2016. Web. 30 Mar. 2016. <http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/03/wrong-mindset-fight-terrorism-160325094343215.html>.

Das, Dilip K., and Peter C. Kratcoski. Meeting the Challenges of Global Terrorism: Prevention, Control, and Recovery. Lanham, MD: Lexington, 2003. Print.

McCormick, Brad. “How to Fight the New Global Terrorism.” How to Fight the New Global Terrorism. 7 Oct. 2007. Web. 30 Mar. 2016. <http://www.users.cloud9.net/~bradmcc/WarOnTerror.html>

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