[Reader-list] 'War on terror' was wrong --- UK Foreign Secretary

[Wali Arifi]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/jan/15/david-miliband-war-terror

'War on terror' was wrong
The phrase gives a false idea of a unified global enemy, and encourages a
primarily military reply
Comments (152)
    * David Miliband
   * The Guardian, Thursday 15 January 2009

 The terrorist attacks in Mumbai seven weeks ago sent shock waves around the
world. Now all eyes are fixed on the Middle East, where Israel's response to
Hamas's rockets, a ferocious military campaign, has already left a thousand
Gazans dead.
 Seven years on from 9/11 it is clear that we need to take a fundamental
look at our efforts to prevent extremism and its terrible offspring,
terrorist violence. Since 9/11, the notion of a "war on terror" has defined
the terrain. The phrase had some merit: it captured the gravity of the
threats, the need for solidarity, and the need to respond urgently - where
necessary, with force. But ultimately, the notion is misleading and
mistaken. The issue is not whether we need to attack the use of terror at
its roots, with all the tools available. We must. The question is how.
 The idea of a "war on terror" gave the impression of a unified,
transnational enemy, embodied in the figure of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida.
The reality is that the motivations and identities of terrorist groups are
disparate. Lashkar-e-Taiba has roots in Pakistan and says its cause is
Kashmir. Hezbollah says it stands for resistance to occupation of the Golan
Heights. The Shia and Sunni insurgent groups in Iraq have myriad demands.
They are as diverse as the 1970s European movements of the IRA,
Baader-Meinhof, and Eta. All used terrorism and sometimes they supported
each other, but their causes were not unified and their cooperation was
opportunistic. So it is today.
 The more we lump terrorist groups together and draw the battle lines as a
simple binary struggle between moderates and extremists, or good and evil,
the more we play into the hands of those seeking to unify groups with little
in common. Terrorist groups need to be tackled at root, interdicting flows
of weapons and finance, exposing the shallowness of their claims,
channelling their followers into democratic politics.
 The "war on terror" also implied that the correct response was primarily
military. But as General Petraeus said to me and others in Iraq, the
coalition there could not kill its way out of the problems of insurgency and
civil strife.
 This is what divides supporters and opponents of the military action in
Gaza. Similar issues are raised by the debate about the response to the
Mumbai attacks. Those who were responsible must be brought to justice and
the government of Pakistan must take urgent and effective action to break up
terror networks on its soil. But on my visit to south Asia this week, I am
arguing that the best antidote to the terrorist threat in the long term is
cooperation. Although I understand the current difficulties, resolution of
the dispute over Kashmir would help deny extremists in the region one of
their main calls to arms, and allow Pakistani authorities to focus more
effectively on tackling the threat on their western borders.
 We must respond to terrorism by championing the rule of law, not
subordinating it, for it is the cornerstone of the democratic society. We
must uphold our commitments to human rights and civil liberties at home and
abroad. That is surely the lesson of Guantánamo and it is why we welcome
President-elect Obama's commitment to close it.
 The call for a "war on terror" was a call to arms, an attempt to build
solidarity for a fight against a single shared enemy. But the foundation for
solidarity between peoples and nations should be based not on who we are
against, but on the idea of who we are and the values we share. Terrorists
succeed when they render countries fearful and vindictive; when they sow
division and animosity; when they force countries to respond with violence
and repression. The best response is to refuse to be cowed.
 • David Miliband is the foreign secretary