94 / Two words on terrorism: Resilience and Intelligence
On the opinion page of the newspaper (SMH) today two articles deal with terrorism as the Government White Paper 'Securing Australia, Protecting our Community' is commented on. The points are made that we need resilience - or the ability to absorb shocks - on the one hand, and intelligence - information on home-grown terrorists - on the other hand, to counteract the threat of terrorism.
So on the one hand we need to realise that terrorist attacks are extremely difficult to predict and to prevent (Sam Roggeveen - Resilience the key to fighting terrorism) and focusing heavily on prevention is a fool's errand, since the odds of succeeding are near zero.
On the other hand, however, prevention is everything. We should remind ourselves that our intelligence agencies and police have been remarkably effective in detecting and preventing acts of terrorism in the planning and preparation stages - as is reflected in the heavy jail terms for five Muslim men last week (A calmer strategy against terrorism.)
Methinks both arguments - while seemingly contradictory - are nevertheless true. Ultimately we can't prevent terrorism attacks - certainly not with that wretched 'War on Terror'. We must be resilient in dealing with them when they occur. But prevention at the level of planning and preparation is essential, to minimise damage.
Another point is made by Sam Roggeveen: Humanitarian aid - improvement of health, economic opportunities, education etc - are difficult to connect to the prevention of bombing attacks, thus this kind of assistance really has no place as part of a counter-terrorism strategy.
Well, that is only half the story. Indeed, it would be hard to convince an armed suicide bomber to stop his attack by pointing to a brand new school that has been built in his home town. However, that brand new school educates the young, broadens their minds and gives them opportunities and hope for their future. This will be a strong incentive to stop them putting on that explosives belt in the first place. Thus the strategy of 'prevention' through humanitarian aid doesn't work immediately - but surely in the long term.