As we grieve for the lost lives in Paris, we must accept that the West has failed miserably to respond to the threat posed by Islamic radicalism, of which Boko Haram, the Islamic State and all other aspiring terror groups are a fearsome manifestation. Terrorists, do not distinguish when ready to carry out their murderous plans. Whoever does not buy into their hideous beliefs including Muslims, is a Kafir. To them there are no good kafirs and bad kafirs. Anybody who stands opposed to them is fair game.
The war on terror cannot be selective. The West tarried as The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the Islamic State of Iraq and ash-Sham, or simply the Islamic State went about recreating the Caliphate by destroying historical sites that are thousands of years old and painting the crescent with the blood of beheaded journalists, civilians, soldiers and aid workers. The Western world projected a different story when Israel killed 2100 Palestinians in exchange for three Israeli lives. The world looked away as Boko Haram, an equally dangerous group, slaughtered thousands and destroyed many towns in Nigeria’s North-East, under the curtain of Islamic terror. As is the case with anything concerning Africa, nothing was done to help Nigeria face the evil of Boko Haram which sees itself as an offshoot of the Islamic State, with which the terror group share many similarities, like the flag, the barbaric beheadings and similar clothing.
The world looked away when the Islamic State was fighting forces loyal to Bashar al-Assad of Syria and Syrian rebel groups. When they slaughtered Arabs and occupied vast territories in Sunni dominated western Iraq and parts of Syria, no one cared, except a few lone voices among security officials, who discussed on television the failure of the American strategy in Iraq. While the United States was busy propping up a weak Iraqi government, disgruntled former Ba’ath party officials under Saddam Hussein and dismissed Iraqi soldiers morphed into the Islamic State and annihilated the amorphous Iraqi army. Despite these threats, there were no calls to arms, no worldwide mobilisation nor leadership from the United States to combat the threat. Without fear nor hindrance, the Islamic State killed thousands of Shiites, Kurds, Yazidis and other minorities as it conquered more territories.
Certainly, all lives are precious, but is the lives of three Israelis worth the lives of 2,100 Palestinians? If all lives are equal, why is killing three terror, and killing 2,100 justified?
On June 29, 2014, the group proclaimed itself to be a worldwide caliphate. They adopted the social media as a tool for airing the execution of Westerners and only then did they get the worldwide attention they desired. This is the same IS, foreign powers were arming in the midst of the Syrian civil war. It wasn’t long ago when the Gulf States, under the leadership of Saudi Arabia, provided radical Sunni fighters who eventually became the Islamic State with hundreds of millions as a way of curbing Shia Islam and reducing the influence of Iran. Driven by their common hatred for Shiites, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, under the leadership of Prince Bandar ibn Sultan (Saudi’s former Intelligence Chief and National Security Adviser), encouraged charity organisations and monied Saudis to fund and support armed insurrection against Shiites by al-Qaida or any of its offshoots.
Last year, Israel sent 10,000 soldiers to find the Palestinian militants who kidnapped and murdered three Israeli teenagers in an operation that resulted in the deaths of 7 Palestinians. In a counter attack, Israeli youths from one of the settlements kidnapped a 16 year-old East Jerusalem Palestinian, they poured gasoline on his body and down his throat, and set him on fire after beating him to a pulp. The West Bank skirmish created the never ending attack and counter-attack measures for which the Middle East is well known. Hamas launched rockets into Israel thus provoking a 50-day war that took 2,100 Palestinian lives, including 500 children and 70 Israelis troops. Certainly, all lives are precious, but is the lives of three Israelis worth the lives of 2,100 Palestinians? If all lives are equal, why is killing three terror, and killing 2,100 justified? Hamas is much hated by Israel today but the same Hamas was used against Yasir Arafat and his Fatah movement the same way the CIA aided the Mujahideen against the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Every now and then, no enduring lessons are learned. The West in an attempt to promote its own interests, creates and nurtures new monsters that ends up biting them.
There is no doubt that the US misadventure in Iraq and the unsettling of Bashar al-Assad in Syria gave birth to the Islamic State. The war in Syria has become an ugly proxy battle between several competing interests, and none of them care about the plight of the Syrian people.
Outside the West, people see this double standard. Every life matters, it is not only Western lives that are worth outrage. In the Paris attack, 130 innocent men and women were killed by suicide bombers who blew themselves up and by terrorists who roamed the streets, spraying soccer fans with bullets at a stadium, concert goers at a concert hall and others in cafes. Almost immediately, the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the coordinated multiple attacks in at least six different places against France. President Francois Hollande was understandably angry and horrified by the enormity of the crime and promised retribution. While declaring a state of emergency, he said; “We will lead the fight. We will be merciless”. While addressing a shocked nation, he declared Friday’s carnage was “an act of war”. The attacks on a stadium, concert hall and Paris cafe diners, he said, were “committed by a terrorist army, the Islamic State group, a jihadist army, against France, against the values that we defend everywhere in the world, against what we are: A free country that means something to the whole planet. France will be merciless toward the barbarians of Islamic State group. France will act by all means anywhere, inside or outside the country.”
These are strong words but strong words means nothing to the barbarians of the Islamic State. They act predictably, it is only their target that is a mystery. They struck because they needed to show their might after being chased out of Sinjar by a determined Peshmerga force, and they have. They did, by executing twin suicide bombings in Beirut that killed 37 Lebanese and the multiple attacks in Paris. There is no doubt that the US misadventure in Iraq and the unsettling of Bashar al-Assad in Syria gave birth to the Islamic State. The war in Syria has become an ugly proxy battle between several competing interests, and none of them care about the plight of the Syrian people.
The West and its media must condemn and fight terrorism based on universal human values and principles. Selective condemnations of terror based on the religion, nationality or race of the perpetrators or their victims is not a rejection of terrorism as a moral imperative. It raises questions of consistent hypocrisy and selective moral outrage.
As we grieve for the lost lives in Paris, we must accept that the West has failed miserably to respond to the threat posed by Islamic radicalism, of which Boko Haram, the Islamic State and all other aspiring terror groups are a fearsome manifestation. Terrorists, do not distinguish when ready to carry out their murderous plans. Whoever does not buy into their hideous beliefs including Muslims, is a Kafir. To them there are no good kafirs and bad kafirs. Anybody who stands opposed to them is fair game. It is time for America and its European allies to stop making distinctions like good terrorists and bad terrorists, based on who serves their current interests. It can only lead to dangerous consequences like we saw in Paris. The West and its media must condemn and fight terrorism based on universal human values and principles. Selective condemnations of terror based on the religion, nationality or race of the perpetrators or their victims is not a rejection of terrorism as a moral imperative. It raises questions of consistent hypocrisy and selective moral outrage. The world must wake up, jointly embrace and adopt a Comprehensive Charter on Terrorism.
Bámidélé Adémólá-Olátéjú maintains a weekly column on Politics and Socioeconomic issues every Tuesday. She is a member of Premium Times‘ Editorial Board. Twitter @olufunmilayo
