"One Man's Terrorist Is Another Man's Freedom Fighter." Discuss With
Reference to The Events of 9/11.
Ever since the 9/11 terrorist attack against the US, the efforts to
rid the world off terrorism has been increased. The US and its allies
tightened their homeland securities and revisited their foreign
policies to try and adjust with the rapid changing world of
terrorism. Military spending has swollen and war on terror was
declared by the world super powers. Al-Qaida terrorist group was said
to be behind the 9/11 attacks and its leader become the most sought
after people in the whole world. These people are known to their
supporters and sympathisers as freedom fighters, fighting against the
oppression of their brothers and sisters in Muslim lands by the US
and its allies. For years the US and its allies have been pursuing
their geo-political interest around the globe in a very aggressive
and militarised manner, and many people are opposed to their
expansion and interference in internal affairs of nations in order to
serve their interest condemning local people in the process to a
lifelong suppression and misery. The US in its self has been known to
support suppressive regimes around the world and the resentment
against the US policies and their unreserved support for dictatorial
regimes ignoring their human rights record and governance lead to the
resentment towards the western nations amongst people especially in
the Muslim world.
Defining terrorism is an important element of dealing with the issue
of terrorism. Most of the times groups fighting for national
liberation are wrongly labelled as terrorist groups by some interest
groups for reasons that are unjustified. The Events of 9/11, however
tragic were greatly exploited by the US government and its allies to
justify their unjustified invasion or occupations of sovereign
nations. The invasion of Iraq after the 9/11 attacks was unjustified
and illegal. It was done under the pretence of fighting terrorism but
many political analysts argue that it was done to secure the vast
Iraqi Oil reserves. And every Iraqi who feels anger toward the US and
its allies for destroying their country for Oil would be forgiven for
wanting to retaliate against the US and its allies in any way they
see fit. This isn't to say terrorism should be condoned in any shape
or form but violence sometimes becomes necessary in order for your
case to be heard. Therefore, it is important to define terrorism and
what constitutes a terrorist before accusing any one of being a
terrorist. This brings us to the important questions of what is
terrorism. And who could be called a terrorist?
Academics, politicians and journalists, all use a variety of
definitions of terrorism. Some definitions focus on the terrorist
organizations' mode of operation. Others emphasize the motivations
and characteristics of terrorism. However, a more universally agreed
definition of terrorism is the murder or massacre of innocent men,
women and children for political ends. In that sense, 9-11 qualifies,
as do the bombing of the innocent women and children killed by the
allied forces in Iraq.
The Atrocities of 9/11 did not just occur; there was a build up of
events running up to the tragic event. The misguided US foreign
policies in the Middle East that led to the Israeli occupation of
Arab land in Palestine in recent years has become the source of
frustration amongst the Arab world. Israel is the US main ally in the
Middle East and ever since the creation of the Jewish homeland in
1967, a number of groups have been fighting against what they believe
is an illegal occupation of their land by the Israelis. Although some
people might condemn their mode of operation as extremely violent and
bloody, these groups could respond against that rhetoric by arguing
they are forced to resort to a violent means of fighting against a
stronger neighbour backed by the US and its allies for a just cause
of freeing their occupied land, and they wouldn't be wrong for saying
that. These people are freedom fighters in front of their country
men's eyes or terrorists to their enemies.
The reason for mentioning the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is that
the issue has been occupying conflict the minds of the entire Muslim
world and has them united against what they believe is an attack
against their religion Islam. Looking at the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict through the Palestinians perspective would allow us to
understand their position better and why they refer to Hamas and
Fatah groups as freedom fighters rather than Terrorist groups. And
this conflict I believe has everything to do with what happened on
9/11 attacks. A lot of Muslims feel anger and frustration towards the
US and its allies for their unfair policies in their region, but that
doesn't justify the killing of innocent American lives, but then
again there is the question of innocence. Some people argue that the
Women and children caught up in the middle of the ongoing conflicts
around the world are as innocent, the only difference is no one is
making their case and may be their lives are not as valuable compared
to the lives of the victims of 9/11. This in itself sets the stage
for another ideological indifference between the west and other parts
of the world.
The Eritrean struggle for independence for thirty years against the
oppressive Ethiopian regime is another example of how one man's
terrorist could be another man's freedom fighter. The Eritrean
situation was mostly ignored by the whole world, the Eritrean people
never had their voice heard and n the 1950 the fate of their nation
was decided without their consultation. And when the US ambassador to
the UN decided to federate Eritrea under the US ally Ethiopia the
then US Ambassador to the UN, John Foster Dulles, said this, "From
the point of view of justice, the opinions of the Eritrean people
must receive consideration. Nevertheless the strategic interest of
the United States in the Red Sea basin and the considerations of
security and world peace make it necessary that the country has to be
linked with our ally Ethiopia. [1]
This led to the long and bloody struggle for independence, and for
most of the time the Eritrean liberation movement was labelled as a
terrorist movement even though it had the support of the majority of
the Eritrean people. From the perspective of the Eritrean people
these rebels were freedom fighters fighting to liberate their country
from Ethiopian colonisers but for the UN, US, Britain and most of the
western world they were just some terrorist group achieving nothing
but destruction and bloodshed. 9/11 attack was not the first
terrorist attack on the US but it was the first attack on US soil and
it helped to put things into perspective so that the American public
are aware and become involved in the decisions made by their
government on their behalf. There is a direct link between the
growing anger and frustration of people towards the US foreign
policies in many parts of the world and the witnessed terrorist
attacks against US embassies, military bases and so on. It is
believed that 9/11 was the product of that growing anger and
frustration. Change of policy is well overdue if atrocities like 9/11
are to be avoided. We could argue all day labelling one group
terrorists over others and praising others for the wrong reasons just
because they serve our geo-political interests is solving nothing but
create confusion. It's becoming a trend for powers such as the US and
its allies to keep interfering in other nation's internal affair and
supporting one group against the other and all done to serve the
interests of the few and powerful. This approach has bred a new
generation of young people who are filled with anger and hatred
toward the US and its ally's policies affecting their day to day
life. Unfortunately they are finding the solution to their problem of
injustice by the powerful nations in joining extremist groups who
offer them a way of fighting their cause through violence. And if by
definition a terrorist is someone who murders or massacre innocent
men, women and children for political ends, then the US
administration is as much a terrorist organisation as those it
accuses of being one. So are the allies of the US. So in the end it
all comes down to who is doing the labelling and their reason for
doing it? The answer to that question differs depending on which side
of the argument one is. Therefore, one man's terrorist could well be
another man's freedom fighter.
Received on Tue Oct 30 2012 - 21:07:55 EDT
