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Terrorism and democracy: Do
they go
together?’
By Raff
Ellis, Special to Arab News
Most dictionaries define "terrorism" as an
act of frightening or intimidating individuals, populations or governments.
Depending on who’s viewing it, terrorism may be condemned or condoned.
In the negative, the word defines
heartless, evil-minded individuals or organizations with no perceived moral
compass. In a more positive light, it conjures up daring, self-sacrificing
freedom fighters, willing to give life or limb for a noble cause.
Terrorism is the word used most frequently
in news reports from the Middle East. The label itself has become a weapon,
used most often by the United States and Israel, as justification for any
lethal action they choose to undertake.
In Israel and the Occupied Territories,
suspected terrorists or "militants" are targeted and executed nearly every
day.
We are told that government intelligence is
omniscient, to the point of knowing when and where a terrorist is sleeping.
Drop a bomb and poof, there goes another terrorist.
Of course we have to take the governments’
word for it, because no proof is ever given. It’s a secret, don’t you know?
Of course, "collateral damage" is regrettable, but it’s a small price to pay
for a ridding the world of another "suspected terrorist."
One has to wonder, however: if the
intelligence that spotted the suspect is so good, why couldn’t it also spot
the women and children who were sleeping alongside him? Did the intelligence
fail, or is it simply that they did not care?
In fact, in today’s Middle East, there are
plenty of terrorists on both sides. Although many try to draw a fine line
between acts of terrorism committed by nation-states and those by aspiring
states, I believe that terrorism is just that — terrorism. No matter who
aims the weapon or detonates the bomb, violence undertaken to frighten and
intimidate a population is a terrorist act.
Our State Department has a long list of
nations identified as terrorist states, none of which is a "democratic"
regime. Iraq, China, Cambodia, North Korea and more than a few African
nations have all been identified as engaging in, or sponsoring, terrorism.
In a startling coincidence, all of Israel’s
perceived enemies have made the State Department’s list of terrorist states.
Syria, Iraq, Libya, Iran and the Hezbollah organization are on it.
And now, Israel and its supporters in the
American media and elsewhere are clamoring to add long-time US friends Saudi
Arabia and Egypt to the roll call. They claim that "intelligence reports"
show these states to be "evil" and aiding terrorists — hardly an impartial
assessment.
We are not surprised, of course, because
such countries are not democratic and fear freedom and democratic
principles.
Unfortunately, however, the list
conveniently omits a major "democratic" nation that commits similar acts for
similar aims. Pogo said it long ago: "[The enemy] is us."
The United States, in fact, is so good at
conducting terrorism that we have a school to teach others how to do it. And
after we train terrorist regimes, we arm them to abet the crimes they engage
in. Many nations on our current terrorist list were once client states of
the School of the Americas and bonanza markets for US arms merchants.
Mass punishment, indiscriminate strafing
from helicopter gunships, shelling villages with tanks, rocket attacks and
assassinations are but some of the examples of terrorist acts committed by
those trained and armed by the US When this is done by regimes we no longer
favor, it’s called despotic terrorism. When our friends do it, especially
Israel, we rationalize it as self-defense.
But is entering homes in the dead of night,
smashing, pillaging, arresting and beating people self-defense? No. It is
state-sponsored terrorism.
Of course, suicide bombings are also
terrorist acts and, try as some will, there can be no justification for
them. I have great revulsion for those resistance leaders who send their
youths to kill innocent civilians in the process of their martyrdom.
But I have a similar revulsion for those
Israeli leaders who — while claiming the higher moral ground — send their
own youths into the Palestinian territories to murder, pillage and destroy.
In fact, my revulsion is greater because the Israeli soldiers committing
these acts are not the occupied and oppressed peoples. They are not the
injured party.
They have not been denied their civil
rights and marginalized for 35 years, to the point of believing that life is
not worth living. And they have the most sophisticated weaponry ever
invented — built and supplied by the United States — to use against a
relatively defenseless people. But more to the point, Israel calls itself a
democracy.
But does a democracy destroy not only
suspected militants, but also their families and the homes of all their
relatives?
Does a democracy exact punishment without
judicial proceedings? When a state violates its own, heralded democratic
principles and summarily convicts and executes a suspect on the spot, is
that a legitimate action? The short answer is: No, it’s terrorism.
Albert Camus said it best: "Yesterday’s
oppressed are tomorrow’s oppressors."
Perhaps nothing illustrates this maxim more
clearly than the way some unscrupulous, power hungry politicians rushed to
take advantage of America’s horror after Sept. 11. Fanning the flames of
jingoism and draping themselves in the flag, they reminded a stunned people
"they have to be careful what they say," encouraged them to spy on their
neighbors, and to brand as unpatriotic anyone who dares question the
government’s actions. The Bush Administration has imprisoned more than 1,000
persons without charge, most often without legal counsel, while government
watchdogs who point out these excesses are told "you’re either with us, or
with the terrorists."
Sadly, polls show that Americans are
willing to give up some of their cherished democratic civil rights to insure
greater security. It was painful to watch the muted debate over the passage
of the clearly undemocratic Patriot Act. Although the Act is billed as
anti-terrorism legislation, its purpose is clear: To frighten and intimidate
innocent citizens into toeing the government line without question, no
matter how undemocratic its actions may be.
Hmm — intimidating the innocent for
political gain. Isn’t that also called terrorism?
(Raff Ellis is a retired former strategic
planner and computer industry executive, based in the US. For comments:
guestbox102@YellowTimes.org)
(YellowTimes.org) |
