• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

London Blasts Show Need to Review Anti-Terrorism Campaign - Iranian Daily

Posted on: Sunday, 10 July 2005, 18:00 CDT

Text of report by Hasan Hanizadeh from the Tehran Times opinion column: "Roots of terrorism in the heart of Europe", published in English by the Iranian Mehr news agency

Tehran, 10 July: The recent terrorist attacks in London, which caused the death and injury of hundreds of people, once again underlined the necessity to seriously review the plan for the worldwide campaign against terrorism.

Thursday's [7 July] explosions in London were especially significant because the terrorists were trying to send a message to the Group of 8 industrialized countries that even Europe is vulnerable to terrorist actions and that Europeans are not safe anywhere in the world.

These evil deeds manifested the cruel and barbaric nature of the terrorists, but they also showed that both Europe and the United States have played a role in the chain of events that led to such terrorist acts.

The main reason behind the occurrence of such incidents is the fact that the United States and Europe supported certain groups with a particular religious ideology to prevent the expansion of communism during the Cold War era.

The decision to support these networks, which have a chain of connected cells all over the world, was clearly a serious mistake on the part of the US and other Western countries. Yet, these dangerous terrorist networks, which were established during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s to fight against the ideology of the Soviet Union, are in fact part of the West's plan to establish its hegemony in the Middle East. Western officials should have realized at the time that these groups would one day become serious enemies of the West. They commit every kind of crime to achieve their ominous objectives. They target London today and other European countries the next day to frighten the West.

But what are they seeking? Why do they kill innocent women and children? If the United States and other Western countries are sincere in their claims that they want to uproot terrorism, there are easier paths that can be pursued that do not require attacks on and occupations of other countries.

Nowadays, the whole world is wondering: If the US and other Western countries intend to combat terrorism, why do they allow the terrorist agents of Abu-Mus'ab al-Zarqawi and Al-Qa'idah to kill defenceless Iraqis at will? Are they really unable to capture Al- Qa'idah leader Usamah bin-Ladin and his assistant Ayman al- Zawahiri?

Of course, it is not difficult to capture the leaders of terrorist groups. However, it seems that Western leaders intend to keep their own people in constant fear about the ambiguous threat of terrorism. If Western leaders really want to uproot terrorism, they should begin sincere cooperation with those countries that are suffering from terrorism. In order to eradicate terrorism, a serious review of the basic issues in poor and underdeveloped countries is necessary. Obviously, the combination of poverty and reactionary ideologies in a country, which is the circumstance in some Arab states, can lead to terrorism.

The West should rethink its policies towards Middle Eastern countries in order to discover the main breeding ground of terrorism and to answer the question of why terrorists mostly arise only in undemocratic Arab countries. Undoubtedly, if the root causes of the ominous phenomenon of terrorism were studied from a sociological point of view without political overtones, it would not be difficult to find ways to eradicate terrorism.

On the other hand, if Europe fails to systematically deal with terrorism, which will definitely expand in the future if nothing is done, and does not separate itself from the United States in the campaign against this phenomenon, Westerners will enjoy no security in the near future. At the end of the day, the best move for the West would be to finally acknowledge the humanitarian attitudes of the Iraqi Shi'a leaders who condemn the massacre of innocent people under any circumstance and call it unjustifiable, while the Wahhabis fail to consider the moral and humanitarian dimensions of struggle and commit every kind of crime to achieve their objectives.

Clearly, in order to protect its own citizens, the West must make a distinction between those countries that have been the victims of terrorism and those countries that implant terrorist ideas through their reactionary ideologies.

Source: BBC Monitoring Middle East

More News in this Category