Christopher J. Muniz
Jose Marti Scholarship • Casa Cuba • 04/17/02

What measures must be taken by society, mankind, to combat terrorism which attempts to destroy western civilization?

There has been a great deal of research into who terrorists are and why they choose to pursue such malignant means of expressing their intense desire for change. The terrorist has been described to be many things: a crazy, a crusader and, above all else, a criminal, but the target of terrorists, however, has persistently proven to be the innocent and the uninvolved members of society. It is the reasoning of a terrorist, to target the predominantly vulnerable bulk of society, which leads one to understand that, in addition to aid provided by government, the primary means of dealing with terrorism should originate from the society.

Before knowing how to combat an enemy who intends to destroy western civilization, we must first be able to understand why they wish to do so, and then, be able to distinguish them from other innocents who are also being terrorized by these violent acts. In order to pursue each of these attempts to understand and label terrorists, it is necessary to expand society's common knowledge and education of the societal and cultural group that the terrorists emerge from.

The analysis of the motives of terrorists are extremely difficult to asses; the majority, however, include a desire to return to a pre modern way of life that had been changed by the influence of capitalism and the United States. It may very well be impossible for society to fully understand these motives but the key aspect that must be acknowledged is that the society is able to distinguish between the motives of the terrorists and the society and culture they broke from. A failure to do so can result in stereotyping an entire culture or race with harboring terrorist ideals of the destruction of the western world, such stereotypes are always wrong and only fuel violence and misunderstanding among alienated innocent societies.

This distinction between the terrorists and the innocents is of the utmost importance. Such a distinction must rely upon knowledge that extends beyond the familiarity of a terrorist's name, type of clothing, religion and region of inhabitance. Such limitations in judgment and understanding often lead to misperceptions. The development of such premature judgment does not aid in the combat of terrorism, rather, it merely focuses one innocent society's fears and frustrations towards another, and this is entirely detrimental to any defense against terrorism.

In addition to increasing society's understanding of the actual terrorists and the societies from which they emerged, societies can combat terrorism just as they combat domestic acts of violence, through vigilance and cooperation with enacted security precautions. The implemented precautions engaged by the federal government to combat terrorism are of no use if the general populous chooses to disregard them.

Society, however, must not rely entirely upon the actions of the government to combat terrorism. An active engagement of vigilant awareness by society has the potential to dramatically increase the possibility of apprehending suspected terrorists before they are able to commit any acts of violence. This process, however, must also utilize a society that is, through the means of increased education and understanding, able to identify possible terrorists by means other than racial and religious profiling. Such forms of profiling have long been challenged in the United States as discrimination; therefore, it is necessary for society not to abandon its ethical standards of equality due to the fear and anger brought on by terrorists, but to use knowledge and common sense to aid in the uprooting of concealed terrorists.

In order to fully challenge acts of terrorism, a society must demonstrate the world that such violent attacks are ineffective in destroying the normality of domestic life. However, one must understand that as soon as acts of terrorism are introduced into a society's reality the definition of normalcy must be changed to accommodate that changing reality. Normal must then include the new security measures enacted by government, the need to look within and beyond our domestic borders in an attempt to understand who terrorists really are and, above all else, normal must include the dedication to prevent any act of terrorism from permanently interrupting society. This is specifically what Americans have done and must continue to maintain in order to truly combat terrorism.

Military strikes, by the government, against terrorists are the primary and most forward reaction to handling any terrorist situation, but the most effective methods of combating terrorism include the full participation of society. These societal measures supercede any militaristic action, what is described as a war on terrorism has the potential to be perceived as an organized use of state sponsored terrorism. The use of the military always has a negative backlash, and, in this instance, it is possible for that backlash to manifest itself as the use of the military to be described as state sponsored terrorism. The line between a defensive campaign and terrorism has the potential to narrow, thus, the use of such militaristic means has its limits.

In every aspect of combating terrorism, the primary instrument should be understanding. An understanding of who terrorists are and why they have been motivated to act is primarily needed to distinguish the innocent from the terrorists and to avoid damaging stereotyping and profiling. National governments and societies must work together in order to effectively deter potential terrorist attacks, and the use of the military should be minimized to avoid any political backlash from unintentionally harmed societies. To combat terrorism is to deter terrorism; and, in order to achieve this, all nations and societies must cooperatively work to find solutions to diffusing potential terrorist acts. The changing reality of the global community is now one of interdependence and it is now necessary for the normal means of engagement among peoples and nations to adjust to that new reality.