Global Terrorism and Conservative Insurgency - Essay Example

CONSERVATIVE INSURGENCY Six years have passed since humanity ushered in the new millennium and yet it appears that the dreams and aspirations for global peace, global security and freedom for all of humanity have remained to be elusive. We have gone beyond the merriments and festivities that went with the worldwide celebration of the new millennium but the quagmire with which humanity has sunk in is still pit deep, is still with us. Though the tone maybe that of pessimism, one however cannot deny, that the gargantuan difficulties that lies in the path of humanity continuous to multiply unceasingly. One can turn one’s eyes away and be apathetic about the problems that humanity is facing in our time but the moment that one opts to do that one is not in sync with reality. As such is not the path that we intend to take. But rather, we have consciously put it upon ourselves the burden of understanding one of the more serious problems that confronts humanity at the moment – global terrorism. We will be doing this search for meaning and understanding of global terrorism not merely for it to be not merely a part of the reservoir of our knowledge. But we do this with the hope and dream that our knowledge may enable us to contribute to the solution of one of the most deadly hurdles that humanity has yet to overcome. But before anything else, what really is terrorism and what makes it global? Several decades have already been spent in debates regarding how or what is the appropriate definition for terrorism. Terrorism has been initially defined as “all criminal acts against a State and intended or calculated to create a state of terror in the minds of particular persons or group of persons or the general public.”1 If one will go over this definition, one will notice that it does not present a distinct characteristic or property of terrorism that differentiates it from other high crimes like treason or rebellion. As such, scholars have come up with a clearer and more definitive definition of the term that is neither vague nor ambiguous. To date terrorism is considered and defined as “an anxiety-inspiring method of repeated violent action, employed by semi-clandestine individual, group or state actors, for idiosyncratic, criminal or political reasons, whereby- in contrast top assassination- the direct targets of violence are not the main targets. The immediate human victims of violence are generally chosen randomly (targets of opportunity) or selectively (representative or symbolic targets) from a target population, and serve as message generators. Threat and violence based communication processes between terrorist (organizations), (imperiled) victims, and main targets are used to manipulate the main target (audiences), turning it into a target of terror, a target of demands or a target of attention, depending on whether intimidation, coercion or propaganda is primarily sought.”2 This more comprehensive definition of terrorism presents to the reader the notion that terrorism is not to be appreciated as a simple criminal act that is directed against the State. But rather, terrorism is a systematic, deliberate and well-planned act, which may be performed, by an individual or a group in order to sow fear, anxiety and terror to the possible victims and audience of the felonious act. At the same time, what makes terrorism more horrible is that it has cut across racial, geographical, cultural, religious and faith differences in such a way that nobody is really safe or exempted from it. And our period, the contemporary period, is a living witness to the horrendous effects of terrorism. No nation or country has been untainted by terrorism. As such, terrorism has moved beyond the level of national security problem but has in fact been considered as global security concern. Take the case of the September 11, 2001 bombing of the World Trade Center (WTC) in New York and the Pentagon in Arlington County, Virginia. The whole world was shocked when that historical event happened. Not only because it happened in the very soil of United States of America but more because it had become an eye opener to the world that terrorism really does not discriminate in its victim. And that the perpetrators of terror are willing to do anything to anybody as long as they will be able to achieve their aim. It has been claimed that the actual number of “fatalities of that event has reached a high of 2976 persons.”3 But the effects of the September 11 bombing or 9/11 as it is now referred to does not only pertain to the actual lives that were lost and billions of properties that were destroyed. But it had a worldwide impact in the economy as well. Trillions of billions around the world were lost in the market trading after that particular event. This consequence of 9/11 is far reaching because it was not only the economy of USA that suffered a slump but greatly affected were the economies of the Third World countries like Indonesia, Philippines4 and the likes whose majority of people are living below poverty. Then, after the 9/11, what we have seen is the US-Iraq War 2003 to the present, which is basically the invasion, and occupation of Iraq by US led coalition. This war is technically seen as part of Pres. George W. Bush’s platform or policy known as “War on Terrorism” or also known as the “Global War on Terrorism or GWOT.” Basically GWOT is “a campaign by the United States, supported by several NATO members and other allies, with the stated goal of ending international terrorism by stopping those groups said to be terrorists groups and ending alleged state sponsorship of terrorism.”5 And as of the moment the casualties of this (senseless) war has climbed to the high of “100,000 Iraqi civilians killed, an estimated 40,000 American soldiers wounded and 600 American soldiers killed.”6 And now a new war is happening between Israel and Lebanon. Israel has attacked Lebanon on the premises that the Israeli government is demanding the Lebanese government to free the captured Israeli soldiers and to protect Israeli citizens from terrorists’ attacks. To the date, 28 Lebanese civilians were killed and civilian airports and communities have been attacked in Lebanon. One can go on and on itemizing the many acts of terrorism happening around the globe. One may continue justifying the war on terrorism as the way we can protect future generations from crimes committed against humanity. One may also ponder and weight the pros and cons of the global war on terrorism. But one thing still remains; a faceless enemy who has taken the name of terrorism is attacking humanity. This enemy intends to destroy and sow fear not on those people that holds the power that be, the power that shapes government of the world but rather it creates fear and anxiety to the civilian populace whose only desire is to be secure in their lives and properties. In terrorists’ effort of getting their message across, they have used the civilians/ordinary people who are not their enemies. People are getting hurt and killed regardless of what side one takes in for the people are in the center of the war. This sad plight of the ordinary civilian is something that should be taken to heart as we try to address global terrorism. Nobody wants to be afraid. Nobody wants to be at the helm of some idiosyncratic individual or group. Nobody wants to live in terror. Let our cry for peace demand not the blood of other people but let our shout for peace demand a re-creation of the human world with the recognition and respect for the equal rights of all human beings regardless of race, color, nationality and patrimony. In the end, let humanity unite and “move beyond national borders and prejudices”7 for the establishment of a real global world, for an authentic global village. BIBLIOGRAPHY: A. BOOK Duckhut, Will. Crises and Class Struggle. Germany: Neuer weg Verlag und Druck Gmbh, 1985. B. Computer Websites http://www.unodc.org/unodc/terrorism.html. accessed on July 24,2006. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11,_2001_attacks accessed on July 25,2006. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_Terrorism accessed on July 25,2006 http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/lists accessed on July 27,2006 Read More