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since. Udo Steinbach, director of the German Orient-Institute, comments: “The thematic
of the international terrorism, carrying an Islamic justification, will occupy the media for
some time to come. The underlying cause, however, has less to do with Islam than with a
West - led by the USA –who finds it hard to comprehend that profound structural
problems in the international political order after the end of the East-West confrontation
…are not solvable by the agenda of one power alone, but only by all concerned in
cooperation”(Steinbach,59). And in “all concerned” I would include those lead rebels --
‘terrorists’ by defensive connotation, but rather to be recognised as civil-society fighters
in cultural-territorial self-defence -- applying asymmetric warfare strategies in lieu of a
functional political order to protect their claim. They are important charismatic
personalities in their regions. Winning their cooperation, at present half-heartedly
experimented in Iraq and Palestine, should be seen as a cornerstone on the road to
peaceful solutions. –
‘ Moral leadership’ wanting
The West should promote public debate to aid the generation of ingenious philosophies
and strategies for its outer and inner comport. Mostly through the ‘crimes’ permitted in
the pursuit of US foreign policy, the West has lost its moral stature for years, if not
decades, to come. “There is no question there is a hunger for moral leadership”, says
Shibley Telhami of Maryland University(10).“In the end the argument against terrorism
is moral. You can`t make that argument unless you have a moral authority. And there is a
hunger for that kind of authority.” Yes, and this kind of authority is not won by publicity
competition in extrovert compassion after natural disasters such as the recent South-
Asian Tsunami, while giving a blind eye to the equally heavy man-made tragedy in the
occupied regions of the Near-East. Is the media-effective generosity of the Tsunami relief
promises for many a Western politician an attempt to escape the awareness of a
cowardice suppression of an inner rebellion against the blatant injustice committed there,
with their support or tacit permission ? - Every casualty suffered by the occupation forces
is meticulously counted, while the 100 times higher, mostly civilian casualties among the
local population are rarely surveyed. Are they merely collateral damages on the road to
US / Israeli regional hegemony ? –
Convention