The never-ending war on terror

In the wake of the mass casualty attacks in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Orlando, Belgium, Nice and Munich, as well as numerous smaller ones by the so-called lone wolves, it is simply a disturbing fact that no public space anywhere in the world can be considered safe. Unfortunately, the tempo of these attacks has risen sharply over the last few weeks. Obviously, people are afraid, and they have every reason to be.

What can be done in response? Terrorism isn’t going to go away soon, therefore democratic governments around the globe have to unite and fight it head-on. The stark truth however is that the Western political elite remains in denial, and not just about terrorism but about the anger and frustration on the effects of globalization which have nourished xenophobia in most if not all the rich countries including the United States. Until politicians fully acknowledge these serious problems, the rise of the dema- gogues is all but assured.

It is a fact that not all these attacks on innocent civilians can be stopped, no matter what Donald Trump says. It is one thing to increase security at ports and airports, and even there, as the attacks on airports in Brussels and Istanbul have shown, such measures are hardly foolproof. One simply cannot police every subway station, every cafe and every public square from Berlin to Honolulu. So the one sure thing is, unfortunately, that these attacks will continue.

The war on terror is a strange, long and hateful war, but it is a war just the same. The attacks on Brussels airport, the gay club in Orlando and the Bastille Day celebrations in Nice demonstrate that the measures taken so far, however far-reaching and dangerous are not working. At present it seems that we have the worst of both worlds, a secretive intelligence establishment that does not have the manpower or the techni- cal capacity to keep close tabs on the thousands – if not tens of thousands – of terrorist sympathizers in Europe and North America who have been radicalized through social media.

For the foreseeable future, we have to admit that terrorism is here to stay. Times have changed dramatically, and as French Prime Minister Manuel Valls said some days ago, “we should learn to live with terrorism”. In my opinion, it is not fair to say this although there is some truth in it. In effect he’s telling people there is little that can be done. However, this is something Western electorates are not prepared to hear. They cannot live with it; they cannot grow accustomed to it. As the rise of the radical right in Europe and of Donald Trump in the US shows, resignation remains too bitter a pill for the electorate to swallow.

There must be an alternative. Jos Edmond Zarb Birkirkara