Terrorism and National Security
Long day today. We had Panel Discussion on the above subject. Quite interesting though. The panel was made up of an ex-Interior Minister, an academician and a senior police officer. The professor started the lecture by laying down some basic facts about terrorism from academic perspective. Terrorism is actually and old phenomena, dating back to the middle ages, but gain prominence since the last century. 9/11 brought new dimension to terrorism when the concept of state security is threatened by non-state actors. He said that it is there is no consensus in the definition of terrorism because of various interpretations of historical and political events. However, he presented four features. Firstly, it must be deliberate or pre-planned, secondly, targeted at civilians and non-military targets (soft targets), thirdly, it is instrumental in character – designed to achieve some political agenda by use or threat of violence and lastly, fear is created to mould behavior – objective is to intimidate. At the end terrorism need an audience as its implications need to be noticed by others to have its profound impact. Can we make reference to the US attack against Iraq, Afghanistan and more recently into Pakistan's territory (with the resultant collatoral damage) and say that the US is the terrorist?
He further added that today’s international system becomes more “status quo” oriented and shun any revisionist power. Case in point is the situation in Kashmir itself whereby Pakistan is considered revisionist, whilst India is considered Status Quo (in reference to the LoC). Among the measures needed to address the problem, the lecturer pointed out that there is a need for law and order, a need to address the root causes and a requirement for an overall global cooperation.
The second lecturer touched on sectarianism and ethnicity. Some interesting facts are; (1) during Soviet invasion in Afghanistan, encouraged by the West, Pakistan used to be the conduit for weapons and manpower (mostly from Arab Peninsular – as many as 25,000) (2) the West left Afghanistan in shambles with leftover of western and Soviet weapons (3) the fighters are considered persona non grata in their homeland - of which they become the founders of Al-Qaeda. The problem of today could have been avoided to a certain degree if Afghanistan was not left high and dry, and rebuilt with a stable political structure. In jest, the lecturer mentioned that post Afghan, Pakistan received four “gifts”; left over weapons, refugees (4 million), narcotics and religious extremism. To avoid detailing certain sensitive matters, I will not dilate on the points of sectarianism and ethnicity. But what is needed are justice, equitable sharing of power, creating “new” provinces (nothing wrong – he added), independence judiciary, genuine democracy and meritocracy.
The last lecturer was a class. He is full of wits and brought up some interesting anecdotes. He is the man on the ground- so to speak. He brought up some interesting facts and gave us new perspective on the internal dynamics of Pakistan. He also talked about the uncontrolled proliferation of weapons and narcotics at the border area. The most hilarious statement he made was about his visit to the “tribal area” in the course of his duty. The tribal leader offered him a metal “stool” for him to sit. He refused, saying that he prefer to sit on the floor like the others. The leader insisted, pointing out that “its is an anti-thank mine and your weight will not make any difference”. Another quip he made was when talking about international system and American hegemony. He said in a Gallup Poll, the requirement was to solicit opinions about food programme. It did not work in Africa as Africans do not know anything about food. It did not work in Russia as the Russians do not know anything about opinion. It did not work in Europe as Europeans do not know anything about “the lack of” and lastly it did not work in America as the Americans do not know anything about the rest of the world.
Finally, one of the speakers quipped that “if there is no double standard in international politics, the world will be boring and many people will loose their jobs".
It was a indeed an enjoyable day. Hope we have more days like this.
(note: my comments are in italics)
Today there was a break in the weather. It was bright and sunny with the temparature at mid-teens. Took the opportunity to jog and test myself for my jogging test this saturday. Found out that I am not up to the mark (RK, if you are reading this - my timing sucks!). Maybe I will give an excuse this saturday before I make an ass out of myself.
Tonight I took Manah and Zul for some Chinese (Jabri has other commitment). We had the usual stuff. Have a good chat and close the night with some chinese tea. Manah passed a chance for some Gulap Jamun at the sweet shop.
He further added that today’s international system becomes more “status quo” oriented and shun any revisionist power. Case in point is the situation in Kashmir itself whereby Pakistan is considered revisionist, whilst India is considered Status Quo (in reference to the LoC). Among the measures needed to address the problem, the lecturer pointed out that there is a need for law and order, a need to address the root causes and a requirement for an overall global cooperation.
The second lecturer touched on sectarianism and ethnicity. Some interesting facts are; (1) during Soviet invasion in Afghanistan, encouraged by the West, Pakistan used to be the conduit for weapons and manpower (mostly from Arab Peninsular – as many as 25,000) (2) the West left Afghanistan in shambles with leftover of western and Soviet weapons (3) the fighters are considered persona non grata in their homeland - of which they become the founders of Al-Qaeda. The problem of today could have been avoided to a certain degree if Afghanistan was not left high and dry, and rebuilt with a stable political structure. In jest, the lecturer mentioned that post Afghan, Pakistan received four “gifts”; left over weapons, refugees (4 million), narcotics and religious extremism. To avoid detailing certain sensitive matters, I will not dilate on the points of sectarianism and ethnicity. But what is needed are justice, equitable sharing of power, creating “new” provinces (nothing wrong – he added), independence judiciary, genuine democracy and meritocracy.
The last lecturer was a class. He is full of wits and brought up some interesting anecdotes. He is the man on the ground- so to speak. He brought up some interesting facts and gave us new perspective on the internal dynamics of Pakistan. He also talked about the uncontrolled proliferation of weapons and narcotics at the border area. The most hilarious statement he made was about his visit to the “tribal area” in the course of his duty. The tribal leader offered him a metal “stool” for him to sit. He refused, saying that he prefer to sit on the floor like the others. The leader insisted, pointing out that “its is an anti-thank mine and your weight will not make any difference”. Another quip he made was when talking about international system and American hegemony. He said in a Gallup Poll, the requirement was to solicit opinions about food programme. It did not work in Africa as Africans do not know anything about food. It did not work in Russia as the Russians do not know anything about opinion. It did not work in Europe as Europeans do not know anything about “the lack of” and lastly it did not work in America as the Americans do not know anything about the rest of the world.
Finally, one of the speakers quipped that “if there is no double standard in international politics, the world will be boring and many people will loose their jobs".
It was a indeed an enjoyable day. Hope we have more days like this.
(note: my comments are in italics)
Today there was a break in the weather. It was bright and sunny with the temparature at mid-teens. Took the opportunity to jog and test myself for my jogging test this saturday. Found out that I am not up to the mark (RK, if you are reading this - my timing sucks!). Maybe I will give an excuse this saturday before I make an ass out of myself.
Tonight I took Manah and Zul for some Chinese (Jabri has other commitment). We had the usual stuff. Have a good chat and close the night with some chinese tea. Manah passed a chance for some Gulap Jamun at the sweet shop.
posted by besutian at 10:31 PM
2 Comments:
Taufan - i find ur life there rather interesting walaupun most of what ur writing is pretty heavy stuff heheh. guess its because i was what you'd call an army brat myself :)
and dont worry too much bout the timing laaaaa.... there are the good days and there are the bad ones, no worries. the main thing is to keep on running. just keep it up ok!!!
RK - Thank you for that encouraging words. Heavy stuff? Well, `cos the stuff are actually for my better half. She enjoys reading and requested to keep her updated with current events this part of the world and also what I am getting into. Also, its good to share what I have learned with all my other colleagues and friends. Hope you will also find it beneficial.
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