SPAIN, NOT IRAQ, PROVIDES MODEL FOR FIGHTING TERRORISM

By Mario Soares and - - Reprint | | Print |

This column is available for visitors to the IPS website only for reading. Reproduction in print or electronic media is prohibited. Media interested in republishing may contact romacol@ips.org.

LISBON, Mar 1 2004 (IPS) - President elect Zapatero\’s intention to withdraw Spanish troops from Iraq unless the UN takes over is both logical and coherent, writes Mario Soares, President of Portugal from 1986-1996. In this article, Soares writes that brute force alone cannot defeat terrorism. We must study its causes and understand the reasons for its influence over desperate and humiliated populations. The March 11th attacks demonstrate that global terrorism still has resources and can broaden its scope of action. Those who believed that \’\’the war on terror\’\’, to use Bush\’s phrase, could be won by defeating and occupying Iraq and, later, by capturing Saddam Hussein are unable of explaining what just happened. The fact that today\’s world is interdependent means that we are all responsible. Solidarity and social justice cannot remain mere words. As ever, everything depends on whether we decide to improve the troubled world in which we have to live. Zapatero\’s victory reinforces those who are working for peace, social justice, dialogue, human rights, and international law. This is the way to fight terrorism.

Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, in keeping with both his campaign promises and his participation in demonstrations for peace and against the illegitimate war and illegal occupation of Iraq, has confirmed as president elect his intention to withdraw Spanish troops from Iraq unless the Unite d Nations takes over command of operations there.

His decision is logical and coherent. I agree entirely with Zapatero and believe that brute force alone cannot defeat terrorism. We must study its causes and understand the reasons for its influence over desperate and humiliated populations.

The awful attacks of March 11th in Spain demonstrate that global terrorism still has significant resources and is capable of broadening its scope of action, striking a European country for the first time. Those who believed that the ”war on terror”, to use Bush’s phrase, could be won by defeating and occupying Iraq and, later, by capturing Saddam Hussein, are at a loss to explain what just happened.

We cannot avoid asking whether the strategy conceived for the ”war on terror”, which gives priority to military force and ignores the conventions of international law and human rights (in Afghanistan and Iraq, for starters) was the most intelligent and appropriate. This question grows more urgent the more one takes into account the progressive deterioration of both countries and the growing tensions in Iran, Syria, and Pakistan and, in a more subtle but no less worrying manner, the Islamic world in general — not to mention the progressive worsening of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with the unacceptable construction of the new ”wall of shame” on the West Bank.

Wherever we look, the world is slipping into profound crisis — a crisis of morality and values. The clash of civilisations and religions –and within them of fanatic and extremist sects, like the Christian fundamentalists, which count George Bush among them– seems to be setting the stage for an extremely dangerous future.

”Predatory globalisation” –to borrow a term from the book with that title by Princeton University professor Richard Falk — is reducing Third World countries, principally in Africa, to misery, but it is also creating two-tiered societies in the developed world, where the gap between rich and poor is growing wider and wider.

Capitalism itself is changing its nature, evolving from a productive, industrial model to what is essentially a financial, speculative one — what might be called casino capitalism.

This syndrome is spreading throughout the world as unregulated globalisation leads us deeper and deeper into unforseen disasters. Immorality and the absence of ethical values have further exacerbated the situation, as has the rampant subordination of politics to partisan interests and unjust economic criteria.

The time to react is now. A few days ago eight million Spanish citizens –a fifth of the population– demonstrated in the streets and squares of Spain against the terrorist attacks of March 11th. This act should serve as an example. All people must reject immorality in economic activities, deception in politics, indifference to the hardship of one’s neighbours, and insensitivity to catastrophes and pandemics like AIDS until the day they strike one or one’s family.

The fact that today’s world is interdependent means that we are all responsible. Therefore solidarity and social justice cannot remain mere slogans. As ever, everything depends on whether we decide to improve the troubled world in which we have to live. This is why I believe the victory of Zapatero and the Spanish Socialist Workers Party was an excellent sign. It is a victory that reinforces those who are working for peace, social justice, dialogue, human rights, and international law. This is the way to fight terrorism. (END/COPYRIGHT IPS)