Sivuyile Mangxamba
28 September 2001
Cape Town — The United States-led coalition against global terrorism has little legitimacy and cannot provide lasting solutions to the problem unless the United Nations takes a leading role in the campaign, say international relations experts.
Professor of international relations at Rhodes University, Korwa Adar, said it was critical that the war against terrorism was fought under the banner of the United Nations.
This view follows a statement by Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota who said South Africa would take a military part in the campaign against international terrorism only if the United Nations asked it.
"The world needs a long-term solution to global terrorism and the UN is the only legitimate institution to spearhead the fight against international terrorism," said Adar.
He said the US-led coalition against terrorism was likely to heighten anti-American sentiments in the Arab world.
An American compound was set on fire in Kabul, Afghanistan, early this week in what was the biggest show of anti-US anger so far, and in Pakistan the government's decision to lend support to the Americans has divided the population.
In an interview with the Cape Argus yesterday, international affairs analyst Elizabeth Sidiropoulos said a UN security council mandate would give "the struggle against global terrorism greater legitimacy".
Meanwhile, Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma also warned in parliament that no single country could fight terrorism on its own and win.
Adar said it was pertinent that world leaders came with a clear definition of what they meant by terrorism, and the best institution to discuss that was the UN.
"It is also important that the global war on terrorism should not be concentrated in Afghanistan as there are huge atrocities being conducted by the state against civilians in Sudan," said Adar, who is a specialist on politics of the Horn of Africa.
Highlighting the complexities of defining terrorism, Adar recalled that former US president Ronald Reagan once said: "One nation's terrorist is another nation's freedom fighter."
However, Sidiropoulos, of the SA Institute of International Affairs, said: "Terrorism is the use of force on civilian population in a non-war environment in pursuit of a political objective."
Assuming that Osama bin Laden was behind the World Trade Centre and Pentagon attacks, Sidiropoulos said the motive of the attacks would have been to limit or rid Muslim countries of the "Americanisation and erosion" of their culture.
Both experts agreed that the capture of bin Laden would not solve the underlying problems that created an environment for international terrorism.
Adar said any strike against Afghanistan would create more resentment of the US, and he added that it was important that the US entered into some form of "constructive engagement" with its adversaries.
"It will be impossible for the Americans to arrest or kill every terrorist and opponent.
It is important that they sit down and talk," said Adar.
As for the Middle East, Adar said it was paramount that the Palestinian people were granted a sovereign state with clearly defined borders if lasting peace was to be secured in the region.
Both Adar and Sidiropoulos agreed that it was important for the US to review its foreign policy and engage itself with world issues.
The Rhodes University academic said one could not say the tragic September 11 events were completely divorced from the position taken by the US at the recent racism conference in Durban.
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