Renew approach on international terrorism

By Siswo Pramono

CANBERRA (JP): Scholars disagree on the scope and definition of terrorism but they tend to agree on the main features of terrorist acts. In the words of Brian Jenkins, for instance, all terrorist acts are crimes. Terrorism is an organized crime perpetrated by an organized group. All terrorists use violence or the threat of violence.

While the motives are political, the targets are mostly civilians and attacks are designed to achieve maximum publicity. Unlike other criminals, the perpetrators often claim credit for their acts. A terrorist attack is intended to produce psychological effects far beyond the immediate physical damage.

The recent horrific attacks in the United States have made terrorism loom high in the international agenda.

Yet with mounting domestic pressure to retaliate, President George W. Bush will not have enough time to undertake a thoroughgoing investigation to identify the wrongdoers. While the U.S. government is seeking to bring the perpetrators to justice on the basis of solid evidence, without making malicious allegations about particular races or religions, there is still bias about the Islamic world in Western media coverage.

Under this misleading pressure the U.S. could unwittingly punish innocent people. The result would be a longer list of anti-U.S. groups and intensified hatred of the U.S. -- undoubtedly one of the terrorists' objectives.

There are better ways to combat international terrorism.

It is time for the U.S. and its allies to reengage with their "rogue" states and bring them back into the international fold. For instance, the "deviant" behavior of the Iraqi or Taliban regimes might represent their desperate efforts to draw international attention to themselves.

The influx of refugees from, and the rocketing infant mortality in, the two countries, indicate the damage done by international sanctions to the citizens of Iraq and Afghanistan. Bringing them back into the international fold means exerting greater control over the countries through such international systems as the international trade regime, diplomatic networking, international aid schemes, etc.

The West's policy towards Yugoslavia is a good example. Reengagement of Yugoslavia with the international community has resulted in the cessation of Serbian terrorist acts against Muslims in Bosnia and Kosovo. The recently elected democratic government of Yugoslavia has supported the United Nations indictment process against Slobodan Milosovic, accused of committing international crimes. This is the kind of engagement the West needs to pursue with its "rogue" states.

Isolation of states like Iraq, Iran, Libya, Sudan and Afghanistan will be counter-productive for the international community and U.S. long-term interests. The international community and the U.S. must instead help democratization in these countries.

International efforts to combat terrorism must be focused on joint law enforcement, supported by intensified diplomatic and intelligence cooperation. Antiterrorism is by its very nature a police act, not a military offensive. It took almost 10 years of diplomatic maneuver, sanctions and intensive negotiations to bring the suspects in the bombing of the Pan Am airplane over Lockerbie in 1988 to a court of law. The Lockerbie case is an example of law enforcement against terrorism without resorting to military means.

The world must unite to fight terrorism on a more sustainable basis. The international community must help the U.S. to apprehend those responsible for the barbaric attacks upon the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

The fight against international terrorism must be based on the rule of law and humanitarian principles. This will mark the difference between combating terrorism or promoting it.

The writer is a postgraduate student of political science at the Australian National University in Canberra and an official at the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The views above are personal.