What to do About Terrorism?

by Tom Kando

Tuesday March 22, 2016: Brussels, Belgium: ISIS-sponsored terrorist attack kills at least thirty four (so far). This is Belgium’s “9/11:” In proportion to the US population, it is the equivalent of 1,100 dead. The bombs contained nails and shards of glass, to inflict maximum suffering.

My first reaction upon hearing this was, “Oh no! Not again!” Coincidentally, I was in Belgium just a couple of weeks ago. I was also there a year ago, in Liege. On that occasion, I was flabbergasted when I saw practically no Belgians downtown Liege. The entire city seemed to have been repopulated by immigrants, primarily from Africa.

I taught Violence and Terrorism at the university for fifteen years. It may be helpful to put things in historical perspective: Back in the 1980s, the groups terrorizing Europe were all named “Red this” and “Red that.” There was the Red Army Faction, (the Baader-Meinhof), the Red Brigades, the Action Directe, etc. They blew up cafés, restaurants and other places with grim regularity, killing dozens of innocent Europeans. But in time, this scourge was defeated. Its foreign base of support collapsed. And that base was a hell of a lot more powerful than ISIS or AlQaida are today. It consisted of the USSR and its satellites in East Germany, Czechoslovakia and elsewhere.


So the first thing to keep in mind is this: This too shall pass.

Now don’t get me wrong: I am not advocating burying our head in the sand.

Of course, there have been more recent attacks, and more recent terrorist groups. There was Madrid in 2004 (192 dead) and London’s Russell Square in 2005 (55 dead). And the closer you get to the epicenter of terrorism and sectarian warfare, the more attacks you have - Turkey, Iraq, Lebanon and other Middle Eastern countries are savaged with terrifying frequency.

So obviously, doing nothing is not an option. But are we in fact doing nothing?

Absolutely not. We are doing a lot already. We simply need to do more, and do it better. So the second thing to keep in mind is: Stay the course, and improve on it.

What does this mean?

Well, for one thing, we must distinguish between the US and Europe. People ask, why does “it” (terrorism) keep happening there (Paris, Brussels, etc. )so much? Simple: Because that’s where the terrorists ARE. The US is lucky to be an ocean away. Of course, we also had an attack in San Bernardino (2015), and we still own what is far and away the world terrorism record - 9/11. So obviously there are no guarantees. But all in all, terrorism in the US makes up an infinitesimally small proportion of violence: Since 9/11, 264 people have been murdered by terrorists in America, which is 18 per year. Meanwhile, the total number of murders in America was 220,000, or 15,000 per year: almost a THOUSAND times more. Terrorist Attacks and Incidents in the United States 

The other advantage America enjoys over Europe is that it assimilates its immigrants better. Most of the people who move to the US simply want to become Americans. In Europe, thousands of immigrants remain unassimilated, festering in impoverished ghettos such as Brussels’ Molenbeek and turning into radicalized, militant Muslims. So Europe’s great challenge is to assimilate these immigrants.

Unfortunately, the response both in Europe and in the US is increasingly becoming the opposite, namely one of nativist xenophobia. In the US, this response is epitomized by Donald Trump. In Europe, it is embodied by people like Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban. Both advocate excluding Muslim immigrants and admitting only Christians. In the US such a reaction is ridiculous and unnecessary.
In the US, some aspects of border and airport homeland security may have to be fine-tuned, although we already do a lot: Upon (re-)entering the country, everyone is now automatically photographed. Also, prior to departing European airports for the US, every passenger is individually interviewed (at least this has been my experience in the Netherlands).
Our southern border is now far more secure than in the past. Visa requirements for foreigners are being beefed up. It may become necessary to remove some countries from the visa waiver program, which includes thirty European countries.

In Europe, the assimilation problem appears to be more real. It needs to be addressed. And sooner or later Europe must stem or at least slow down the inflow of immigrants, if for no other reason simply because no place can absorb an infinite number of new arrivals forever. The external borders of the Schengen area have to be fortified, and some internal borders within the EU will have to be re-instated. So, working out immigration policy is one issue.

The other one is fighting terrorism. Obviously, fighting ISIS on its own turf must continue. NATO is the primary instrument for this, but it must coordinate with Russia and with Muslim countries. “Boots on the ground” must mean Muslim boots and special ops from the West, not conventional military forces.

But what is even more important is to neutralize the radical European Muslims whom ISIS recruits, trains and then sends back to Europe to commit terrorist acts there. European law enforcement and its intelligence about these networks are woefully inadequate. Talk of “bringing these terrorists to justice” is nonsense, since they are largely suicide bombers. Keeping them alive (behind bars, of course) whenever possible might prove to be much more useful.

© Tom Kando 2016

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