VIEW: A strategy shift needed —Ali K Chishti

Instead of merely battling the extremists, the radicals and the terrorists with military force, why not take away their ability to recruit new members?

It has been about nine years since the gruesome terrorist attacks in New York and Washington DC and longer since the attacks on the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. Some experts claim al Qaeda is now stronger than ever, others say it has been weakened by the Afghanistan and Iraq campaign. However, they all agree that al Qaeda exists and poses a serious threat not just to the West, but also to their allies in the East. Taking into consideration that this organisation has been able to withstand a war from a super power and its allies, including their fighting capabilities ranging from military might, economic coercion and considerable diplomatic weight, perhaps it is time to consider a shift in strategy.

The public’s demand for the use of brute force against the terrorists behind 9/11 are easy to comprehend. The immediate feeling of shock, infamy, anger and sorrow were soon released by a blossoming wave of patriotism and international solidarity and perhaps, most importantly, the quest for retribution. Americans wanted to hit them as hard as they had been hit, in a full-scale open war. However, I do firmly believe it is possible to combine the fight against terrorism using military might with a different kind of campaign — a social war against terrorism. And here is the fine point of it.

In order to win the war against terrorism, one must understand its motives, foundations and organisations. There are over one billion Muslims in the world, in which a fraction of one percent takes up arms to attack the West in the name of religion. Most of them are not willing to fight and, in fact, condemn it. It is extremely vital to make the distinction between a radical terrorist and a moderate, average Muslim. One is the enemy, trained, deadly and a legitimate target of war. The other is a friend and an ally.

Al Qaeda is highly dependent on the Muslim world to be able to operate. It receives its funding from private donations and businesses in the Middle East, new terrorist trainees are recruited from the masses and al Qaeda operatives hide among the civilian population. So what drives young Muslims to take the step from being moderate Muslims to be al Qaeda and Taliban operatives? What motivates them? Like any other national and ethnic group, Arabs or even non-Arab Muslims feel a certain unity and shared feeling of identity, despite being spread across several countries and facing severe challenges in cooperation. When an Arab or a Muslim country is invaded, some might feel that as an attack by the West upon the Arabs and Muslims in general, regardless of the West’s particular motives.

Immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbour in 1941, and the attacks on New York and Washington in 2001, the US military experienced a wave of eager, patriotic volunteers. If patriotism had been a motivation before, it certainly did not become any less of a motivating force now. The same effect can be seen in the Middle East. For as much as Franklin D Roosevelt wanted to join World War II, he needed support from his population, the average man in the street, like Bin Laden and the Taliban need the support of moderate Muslims to wage their war on the West and their allies. The invasion of Iraq and the campaign in Afghanistan has infuriated young Muslims to fight against what they see as aggression by the West. The war in Iraq, which turned out to be the biggest foreign policy blunder by the US, made recruitment easier for al Qaeda and Taliban groups and hence, the 7/7 London and Madrid bombings. Al Qaeda and the Taliban know very well how to take advantage of these waves of new volunteers. Much of their recruiting takes place in Pakistan and not Afghanistan and Iraq where the war is actually on. Religious schools in Pakistan — madrassas — teach the youth Quran by heart from an early age, but they also teach intolerance and hatred towards the West. It is taught that the US is the great Satan. The most visible example is the TTP, which got most of their cadre from the same madrassas, which were sponsored and manufactured during the Cold War against the godless Soviets.

When the US business in Iraq and Afghanistan almost exclusively included the use of brute military force, it underlined and gave credit to what the madrassas teach, that the US is a brutal and ruthless enemy, which targets all Muslims. And here is the heart of the theory. Instead of merely battling the extremists, the radicals and the terrorists with military force, why not take away their ability to recruit new members? Why not go into Pakistan and show the good side of the US, the personal freedom, tolerance and liberty that the US is originally about. Why not build schools there, waive off debts, help the citizens get access to clean water, and spread goodwill? That will send signals that Americans are not quite different from them, and that they are certainly not Satans, as taught by the madrassas.

The author is a political analyst who can be reached at akchishti@hotmail.com