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| Fighting terror the 'Tunisia way' |
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| Halima |
| 08/07/03 at 13:26:58 |
| Fighting terror the 'Tunisia way' By KINGORI CHOTO America may be justified in taking its war on terrorism right to those countries suspected of harbouring terrorists. But even after toppling the Saddam Hussein and Taliban regimes in Iraq and Afghanistan respectively, America’s next target now seems uncertain. The war on terrorism now needs a new strategic orientation. It cannot be hoped that an easy target will be found soon to sustain yet another military show of might or even that terrorism will abate and cease to be the global threat. How can America and the rest of the world achieve lasting solutions to the problem? And is it possible to eradicate terrorism? Tunisia is one country that offers what is arguably the best lesson on how to fight and win over terrorists. In the 1980s, this North African country was on the brink of total disintegration following a wave of terrorism that severely threatened its own survival as nation. But Tunisia did not degenerate into what is commonly described as "a failed State". Instead it looked within itself and discovered that the problem was not the terrorist as such but the socio-economic conditions that allowed the terrorist to thrive in his disruptive activities. In 1987 when Zine El Abidine Ben Ali succeeded the aging Habib Bourguiba, fundamentalists were having a field day. They carried out an intensive campaign of armed subversion aimed at destroying the economy and instilling fear in the Tunisian people. First, they had exploited the misery suffered by many as a result of economic hardship and converted that misery into a semi-religious ideology. They then transformed the ideology into a political agenda and the armed subversion campaign was the chief means by which to achieve it. They attacked institutions and installations. The fundamentalists’ ultimate aim was to impose their rule on the country in much the same manner as the Taliban did in Afghanistan in the nineties. But Ben Ali, a man of great courage and vision, did not succumb to the overwhelming ruthlessness of the fundamentalists. He sought to first understand and then isolate the enemy. He realised how the fundamentalist had exploited religious institutions to create a political dogma whose own irrational and bizarre aspirations was totally opposite to the virtues taught by Islam. Next, Ben Ali set about rebuilding the economy. The roots of extremism lay in poverty and despondency. Ben Ali’s war on terrorism in Tunisia became a "war on poverty and need, a war on ignorance, a war on despondency and marginalisation, a war on disease, a war on inequality and a war on oppression". Tunisia succeeded in arresting the anarchy that threatened to tear it apart. One of the reasons often given for Tunisia’s successful war on terrorism is the "extraordinary rise in the living standards of ordinary Tunisians following The Change in 1987". This is a useful lesson for the world and especially America. The global war on terrorism will achieve little if the conditions that egg on extremists are not eradicated. Extremists exploit widespread feeling of social injustice as they did in Tunisia. Indeed one of the oft-cited causes of the recent surge in terrorism is the injustice that Palestinians continue to be subjected to by Israel. Whether this is the real cause or not, it is a clear case of extremists like Al Qaeda and militant groups exploiting feelings of social injustice. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not the only case of perceived social injustice. Around the world many people are increasingly feeling marginalised primarily due to the adverse effects of rapid globalisation. Entire economies have been prised open by the forces of capitalism especially global multinationals. The gap between the rich North and the poor South is widening and the feeling that the former is exploiting the latter grows by the day. Though the Cold War ended more than a decade ago, the world is today more polarised than ever before. There is not one but many Berlin Walls built using selfish import restrictions protective of Western interests, exploitative concessions to greedy multinationals, harsh lending conditions by institutions such as the Bretton Woods bodies, and the profiteering of the giant pharmaceutical companies that put profits before the suffering of the millions of afflicted with HIV/Aids. The Tunisian strategy is very relevant to the ongoing global war on terrorism. Until social and economic conditions that underpin widespread marginalisation are addressed by the international community, terrorism will continue to be the faceless and intractable enemy that it is today. Thus, there is every reason for the world to look at its war on terrorism from a different perspective. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mr Choto is Projects Editor Rights Features Service |
| Re: Fighting terror the 'Tunisia way' |
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| humble_muslim |
| 08/11/03 at 14:44:07 |
| AA The muslims in Tunisia are VERY repressed, ask any parcticing Tunisian you know. This article seems not to metion any of that stuff. |
| NS |
| Re: Fighting terror the 'Tunisia way' |
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| timbuktu |
| 08/12/03 at 20:34:42 |
| [slm] brother Humayoun, i do not know of any third world (especially muslim) country where the citizens are not repressed. & i guess after 9/11, all countries (including the champions of human rights) have curtailed the freedom of their muslim citizens. |
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