WAR ON TERROR OR COUNTER INSURGENCY

WAR ON TERROR OR COUNTER INSURGENCY

When I meet civilians, I am often asked, what is this “War on Terrorism” and “Counter insurgency”. We keep reading about this so also see on TV. How does one handle this problem? Why can’t you Army guys finish it off once and for all? I thought I will reproduce a comment, which I wrote in Indimag some years ago on the same subject, although from a different perspective. It would be interesting to understand what General Sun Tzu a very famous Chinese General wrote in His “Art of War”, nearly 2500 years ago, or 500 BC. It concisely explains “Why can’t you Army guys finish it off once and for all? On retiring from the Army after 27 years of active duty 16 years ago, and working on Civvy street, I find that all 13 chapters have a lesson for us civilians too. All we need to do is to interpret his teachings in an oblique manner. However going back to the question my friends ask me.

Said Sun Tzu :

In the operations of war, where there are in the field a thousand swift chariots, as many heavy chariots, and a hundred thousand mail-clad soldiers, with provisions enough to carry them a thousand li (Chinese unit of length), the expenditure at home and at the front, including entertainment of guests, small items such as glue and paint, and sums spent on chariots and armor, will reach the total of a thousand ounces of silver per day. Such is the cost of raising an army of 100,000 men.

When you engage in actual fighting, if victory is long in coming, then men's weapons will grow dull and their ardor will be damped. If you lay siege to a town, you will exhaust your strength.

Again, if the campaign is protracted, the resources of the State will not be equal to the strain.

Now, when your weapons are dulled, your ardor damped, your strength exhausted and your treasure spent, other chieftains will spring up to take advantage of your extremity. Then no man, however wise, will be able to avert the consequences that must ensue.

In India we have the Kashmir problem, the Naxalites, the Maoists and may be a few more movements still under wraps. Believe it or not, the way our esteemed politicians are handling these insurgencies, a total Indian Army involvement is not too far. Sun Tzu then will frown from the heavens if he is not already turning in his grave.

Who is right and who is wrong?

The starting point is the assumption that violence is a virtue in itself and a powerful means to solve social or political problems. Terrorism can be healed only when such people understand the mistaken non logic of any ideology that inspires terrorism and incites to violence—and when they realize that going along with it can never get them anywhere. Until those ideologies’ errors and contradictions are revealed, all measures taken against terrorism can be short-term. Terrorism will emerge again, in different places and under different circumstances, behind a different mask. Unfortunately it is very difficult to change human perceptions upon which is based the world view of individuals. Over a period of time these perceptions become beliefs and finally truths.

Importantly, the root cause for people to lean towards terrorism has to be eradicated. The prime cause which along with abject poverty is : Lack of Food and shelter, Financial and Physical Security,  Unfulfilled Social needs and Self Respect.  

Another factor is materialistic tendencies which go as far back as Darwin’s theories of survival of the fittest. How one perceives this maxim will depend how susceptible one is for indoctrination based upon the root cause. Man has been searching for a way to heaven for thousands of years, if somebody preaches that salvation can be only through this or that particular religion, the ideologies become even stronger. 

When political and materialistic ambitions come in, then this becomes a dangerous and potent combination as far as turning a normal human being into an insurgent/ terrorist goes. Examples are galore from ancient times to this day.

The Crusades were a series of religiously sanctioned military campaigns waged by much of Latin Christian Europe, particularly the Franks of France and the Holy Roman Empire. The specific crusades to restore Christian control of the Holy Land were fought over a period of nearly 200 years, between 1095 and 1291. Other campaigns in Spain and Eastern Europe continued into the 15th century. The Crusades were fought mainly against Muslims, although campaigns were also waged against Pagans (Non Believers or people in villages who worshipped nature) pagan Slavs , pagan Balts , Jews, Russian and Greek Orthodox Christians, Mongols, Catharists , Hussites, Waldensians, Old Prussians, and political enemies of the popes. Crusaders took vows and were granted penance for past sins, often called an indulgence (and a shortcut to heaven). Why were these crusades not labeled as terrorist activities by the rest of the world? Why now? Times change interests change, world views change.

Counter Terrorist Operations
The counter terror operations are now called as WAR ON TERRORISM. Instead it should be treated as a counter terrorism/insurgency. The implication is that WAR means indiscriminate force and counter insurgency would mean adequate force. In addition the emphasis must be on isolating the terrorists/insurgents from their support base and NOT destruction of supporting people. An insurgent without the support of the local population is, as I quoted earlier, like a fish out of water. To achieve this we must also take advantage of political intervention and economic tools. Unfortunately as far as India is concerned, more than 50% politicians are criminals themselves, A year ago, in Goa, the local Muslims chased out a Maulavi from UP who began to preach hate in peaceful Goa! In the end community opinion is the best check on extremism-  either Christian, Hindu or Muslim. Insurgents or terrorists both attempt to gain the support of the local population through an appeal to an overarching ideology and by demonstrating their ability to overturn the status quo through violence. When the activity becomes worldwide we tend to call it as terrorism. It is definitely never an act of war.
While military action is necessary, it is not a sufficient condition for success. “A counter insurgency effort that does not respond to legitimate internal socio-political concerns and deals only with military capabilities is ultimately destined to fail.” There is also a risk that too much military action (particularly if it is indiscriminate) can be counterproductive. A theme running throughout discussions on counter insurgency operations is that “smaller may be better” when it comes to the actual employment of military forces.

Lessons Learnt
During the most unfortunate Punjab insurgency we learnt a very instructive lesson. No amount of troop deployment was proving successful in bringing to an end that tragedy. What finally prevailed was isolating the insurgents from the people. For that the army and the local administration did an excellent job. This was achieved by using good interpersonal communication with the locals, importantly employing socio-economic tools, educating the local population, providing medical aid, ensuring that educational institutions remained open and continued to function, helping those who were terrorized by the insurgents and generally spreading goodwill. As I said a militant without the support of locals is like fish out of water. The results are there for all to see. Thankfully the same steps are being now taken in Kashmir. Here sometimes one does need to take a tough military stance if the insurgents are being supported by neighboring countries. The latter might lead to military action though in a limited or contained manner. 

Looking very briefly at the history of US interventions and results worldwide, may it be the Phillipines, Vietnam, The Gulf, Iraq, and now Afghanistan, it would be too simplistic to think that their priority would lie in the betterment of people under so called terrorist siege per se, but would always be driven by extreme “SELF INTEREST”. It could be Oil or blocking Communism or reviving their setting sun status as a super power on world stage or whatever. Further the declaration of WAR ON TERRORISM in itself means use of indiscriminate force and acceptance of so called collateral damage, means killing of innocent civilians. Further India will be forced to toe the line of US ideology. In extremis align ourselves to the US, which is not acceptable. 

To Do
To further our interests as a growing and a democratically mature Nation, it would be best to continue with our current program of economic assistance. Using socio economic tools, build and run schools, hospitals, roads, power stations and a plethora of developmental activities. This I am sure will make the local population isolate the insurgents/terrorists as far as India is concerned. This line of action is now being followed in India as well as in Afghanistan where the US had proposed an Indian Military presence. In due course of time we will rid our nation of this particular evil and following this action in friendly countries  will gain strong allies. We must not forget that India has come of age and will soon take the place of being a world leader. For that we must start putting our house in order. 

Ajay