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Combat evil with courage and solidarity

Published: March 24, 2016 - 11:36AM

Yetagain, terrorists have wreaked havoc in the centre of a major city, this time in the cavernous departures hall at
Brussels' international airport in the morning peak period and, an hour later, in a train carriage underground at the
city's central railway station. At least 30 people have been killed and about 200 injured.
This represents yet another outrage against humanity by murderous militants, who wrongly believe that violence will
carve them a desert caliphate. The group that calls itself Islamic State, also known as ISIS, has claimed
responsibility, saying this was a strike against "the crusader alliance". It warns of "black days" ahead.
For all the dour language, these attacks do not advance the militants' barren claims for a caliphate. They do not
endear their cause to the world and therein lies the absolute tragedy of this seemingly endless cycle of violence and
mayhem. It is fundamentally pointless.
This latest carnage follows terrorist bombings and shootings in Istanbul and Ankara in Turkey, in Iraq, Libya, Egypt
and France, in Afghanistan, Cameroon, Nigeria, Yemen and Somalia, on an idyllic beach in Burkina Faso, in
Pakistan and, yes, in Syria, where a devastating civil war has raged for ve years. And that is only an abbreviated list
of the nations that have been hit by terrorists in the past three weeks alone.
Our near neighbour, Indonesia, has also been hit by dreadful terrorism, most recently in January.
For ISIS to strike, rstly, in France, and now in Belgium, a relatively soft target, signals both an extension of its
efforts to make a mark on the world and, possibly, a weakening of its central goal which is about gaining territory in
Syria and Iraq.
The bombings come just days after Belgian authorities had arrested the fugitive Saleh Abdeslam, who they allege is
an ISIS sympathiser and a mastermind of the Paris attacks which claimed the lives of 130 people. Against that
belated success is this latest failing on the part of Belgium's intelligence and security forces. The targeting of masstransit facilities in Brussels, striking at innocent people in crowds and queues, suggests that this cell of terrorists, at
least, has developed a degree of sophistication in terms of both planning and bomb-making techniques.
Forget the soft-headed propaganda of those who have sided with ISIS; it is not a humanitarian organisation. This is
an organisation that is prepared to murder men, women and children innocent people, of all races, all colours, all
creeds and all nationalities in the reckless pursuit of a retrograde and nihilistic cause.
Europe and its Western allies, indeed, all nations that stand for human rights and freedom, must remain rm in their
response, act collectively and resolutely, and employ the intelligence and security measures that are necessary to stay
one step ahead of terrorists. At the same time, they must take care not to trample or unnecessarily curb the core civil
liberties that make such nations strong.
How do we combat the indiscriminate evil that is manifested through terrorism? Not by shrinking from the enormous
and complex challenges it presents. Not by surrendering to murderous and maniacal zealots whose ill-conceived
ideals would seek to rob us of rights or universal liberties.
We combat evil by demonstrating unending courage as a nation, as a people and as a united world community. We
combat it by reinforcing and acting out the highest qualities of humanity. We do not cower from it, regardless of how
deeply it might damage and sadden, nor do we ratchet up the fear-mongering, as some demagogues and opportunists
have done in the aftermath of the Belgium attacks.
We will defeat terrorists, not just through intelligence and actionbut by winning the battle of convictions and ideas.
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