Combating terrorism in cooperation with Muslims

Following the attack on September 11th 2001 that caused the deaths of thousands of innocent people and the injury of many more, the United States of America initiated a wide ranging fight against terror. A large part of its resources were, and still are, occupied with monitoring organizations that resort to terror and taking precautions against their activities. But has this struggle really been effective? Or has enmity toward America spread over a wider base? How much longer will the campaign go on? Can talk and measures that turn Americans into a fearful society really provide a solution to terror? And can problems really be resolved in direct proportion to the amount of force used? These are just a few of the questions the U.S. government needs to ask itself. It is of course obvious that all those who perpetrate and support acts of terror must be punished within the bounds of international law and justice. However the USA has far largely relied on military and security measures, and it has reached a point where it is clear that this campaign cannot produce a definitive solution. One of the main reasons for this is that the requisite supplementary measures to support that campaign in the educational and cultural spheres have not been undertaken. Consequently this both leads to the loss of innocent lives and further nourishes radicalism, and by extension, terrorism. Of course the Western world, and in particular the USA, must take deterrent precautions against terrorism, and is justified in doing so. However, it must make it clear that in the same way that these are not aimed at any faith and its members, that they are not aimed against Islam and Muslims. Some ideologues and strategists who make the mistake of regarding Islam as a faith and civilization that is completely "hostile", and who literally encourage a bloody war between the Western and Islamic worlds are in fact simply creating more enemies of the U.S. government. The U.S. government needs to issue rational statements rejecting these scenarios of war between the "West and Islam" in such a way that these are made clear to world public opinion, particularly against those circles who insist on portraying the war on terror as a fight against Islam. In addition, it is utterly essential that the fight against terrorism be waged within the rules and norms of international law and using as peaceable means as possible. It must not be forgotten that all actions that ignore the law and basic human rights and lead to the loss of civilian lives cast a shadow over this campaign that was initiated on legitimate grounds. On the other hand, making sure that the moral values of Islam are properly understood and that those who misunderstand Islam and implement it wrongly are forbidden from doing so is actually something that can and must be done by Muslims. The policy that the USA needs to adopt on that issue is to support and facilitate a solution that emerges from inside the Islamic world. The origin of terror to a large extent lies in ignorance and fanaticism, and the solution to it is education. Thus in addition to judicial and police measures to be adopted in the fight against terror, a major educational mobilization needs to be commenced across the world as a whole. Sinem Tezyapar is a political analyst. https://twitter.com/SinemTezyapar The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of Arabstoday.