Sunday, February 17, 2008

Practice of terrorism can be seen of its historical roots in an extreme Shiah figure named Hasan bin Sabah from Hassyasyin (1057 M) sect which was given title The Old Man of The Mountain in Alamut (near Caspian Sea) and the name “Hassyasyin” (has something to do with use of hasyis—a kind of drug) then was westernized into “Assasination” since this group always suddenly killed their political enemies. Meanwhile, ideology of modern terrorism in general is originated from Darwin’s evolution theory: “struggle for survival between the races” and natural selection theory. Furthermore, Maximilien Robespierr, a figure of French revolution is regarded as the person setting up basics of modern terrorism, followed by Vladimir Lenin (Russia), and Joseph Stalin (Russia), who was given the title executive master of terror (1924), followed by Mao Tse Tung (China) who in provoking terrors to secure people loyalty to the state destroyed family and religious institutions.

In United States, terrorism hasn’t been a strange thing since a war in the 17th century. This nation was even, as one historian note, conceived and born in violence, so that American war against terrorism is actually war against itself, or part of its terrorist culture.

Internationalization on Terrorism
There are two things that serve as bases for internalization on terrorism at present: Usamah bin Laden and Afghanistan or Peshawar city.

1. Actually Usamah bin Laden emerges at international stage as an impact of Saudi Arabian domestic politics. Usamah as a Muslim and Saudi nationalist together with about 50 Saudi ulama/intellectualls raised a strict protest once against the kingdom on American military base in holy cities of Mecca and Medina. The Saudi kingdom didn’t give any respect on the aspiration of Usamah and other 50 Saudian figures; instead, they preferred to show their commitment on their cooperation with US. Usama was then deported from his native land and he made all Islamic states his “native land”. He lived in Sudan once and then in Afghan, at present, he has probably passed away, but his figure is often shown to guard the war project against global terrorism.

2. When Soviet Union was occupying Afghanistan, US had the strong interest to expel it. In its effort to expel the communist soldiers out of Afghanistan, US assisted, trained, and armed Afghan’s Mujahiddin. Communist invasion on Afghanistan highly motivated Muslims around the world to do jihad in the poor country. US found a potential power to disturb Soviet Union there, and then it facilitated non-Afghanistan coming from all Islamic countries, including Indonesia, in Peshawar, Pakistan.

Peshawar was just like a military academy with 100.000 mujahidins around the world were trained there under guidance of CIA’s instructor team led by William Cassey, M16 (UK), ISI (Pakistan), and financed by Saudi Arabia. After Soviet Union had been expelled from Afghanistan’s territory, the Mujahidins felt that it was they who had expelled those unbelieving soldiers from Afghanistan, but US thought that it was it who had succeeded in defeating Soviet Union by training Afghan and non-Afghan mujahidins. After the leaving of Soviet Union, there were still war veterans (mujahidin) in a very big amount. Mujahidins’ success in expelling the super power Soviet Union soldiers psychologically caused a positive self-concept on the mujahidins; they feel they can overcome any difficult problem. Hence, waves of Afghan war veterans entered Bosnia, Chechnya, Daghestan, Moro, Poso, and Ambon.

Principally, those mujahidins were and are ready to jihad and die as syahid wherever Muslims are oppressed. When those tough war veterans were no longer find other jihad fields, most of them returned to its original habitat as ordinary people, farmers, traders, or religious teachers, but some of them experienced psychological problems like those of Vietnam veterans in US. Hambali, Amrozy, Imam Samudera and many other are village (local) people entering global political cyclone.

They live in small villages, but they always listen to world global information through the Internet, and, like Rambo, their souls are easily shocked whenever they see US’ arrogance that always uses double standard. They are not the kind of terrorist labelled by public opinion in American media, but they are ideological strugglers in needing of appropriate standing base. Therefore, treating the group arbitrarily by using paradigm of war against international terrorism like what has been provoked by President Bust is not only ineffective but will resurrect spirits of war veterans now staying quietly in their original habitats.

A Pentagon’s Defence Science Board report entitled Strategic Communication, as quoted by BBC.com (Thursday, 25, 11, 2004), openly blamed the war against terrorism that precisely broadened terrorism network against America, since public diplomacy by US on democracy to the Islamic world is not more than merely a pretension. US’ actions on the Islamic world, according to the report, are driven by a hidden motive and intentionally controlled to fulfil US’ national interests by victimizing the Islamic world.