Introduction
Terrorism presents a threat to social harmony and stability in the world today. Counterterrorism operations are central to homeland security and important in attaining the goal of preventing terrorist acts[1]. The objectives of the fight against terrorist groups include protecting citizens, preventing attacks, defeating terror groups, such as ISIS, Al Qaeda, Al Shabab, Taliban, and Boko Haram, as well as, eliminating the conditions that entrench terrorism. Counterterrorism operations used to reduce or eliminate the threat of terror groups include military operations, diplomacy, mass arrests, disrupting the flow of funding to terrorist organizations, and community-oriented approaches to create social resilience. This paper examines the effectiveness of the counterterrorism operations in eliminating the threat posed by these radical terrorist groups.
Military Operations
Since the 9/11 attacks, military intervention has been used to counter terrorist groups’ activities and violent extremism. Military exercises target the terrorist organization’s leaders with strikes against targets. The Obama administration, for example, killed dozens of Al-Qaeda operatives and AQAP members and leader. The Africa Union’s Peace and Security Council also created AMISOM and sent troops to fight against Al-Shabab and support the transition government of Somalia. AMISOM, working together with the Somali National Army were successful in gaining back some towns previously controlled by the Al-Shabab.
Military intervention has been both effective and ineffective in the fight against terror groups. Ineffectiveness stems from the abuse of human rights due to the number of civilian fatalities and damage to infrastructure. Strikes to civilian population has increased support for terrorist groups, especially in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. Human Rights Watch has voiced concerns over the conduct of the AMISOM soldiers and Somali government security forces in carrying out atrocities, such as arbitrary arrests and detention, sexual violence, and indiscriminate attacks.
The success of the approach has been witnessed in areas where attacks comply with international and domestic laws and no harm to civilians is done as this has reduced the civilian backlash. Military operations are geared toward preparedness and deterrence of terror activities in potential or actual conflict zones. They have also been effective in reinforcing military alliances with partner states and neutralizing terror threat. The US military operations have helped other countries with training and assistance, aircraft surveillance, command and control, logistics, and maritime security aid in combating terrorism, indicating the effective side of the operation[2].
Military intervention is a common method of combating terrorism, but its effectiveness is short-lived. In most areas, it has resulted in reprisal attacks and displacements of civilians as evident in Syria, and damage to infrastructure. Therefore, there is a need to adopt measures, such as diplomacy and community-oriented approaches to fight against terrorism and violent extremism. Although military involvement has been present since the 9/11 attacks, Islamist-inspired terror attacks have continued to increase while the number of fighters and organizations supporting groups, such as Al-Qaeda and ISIS have continued to grow. However, democratization of countries, for instance, Afghanistan and Iraq has been achieved with success while freedom in terms of political rights and civil liberties have also improved. As such, there is a need for military officers to focus more on reconnaissance, surveillance, and intelligence to counter terrorist organizations’ operations.
Community-Oriented Approaches
The first objective of engaging communities in the fight against terror groups is to sensitize people about the negative effects of terrorism with the aim of deterring people from joining such groups and cooperating to provide information that might lead to the arrest of terror suspects[3]. These approaches start by building trust among people in a community and law enforcement officers and anti-terrorism groups. These approaches aim to counter terrorist activities by taking cooperative initiatives. Community-based methods of counterterrorism include closed-circuit television monitoring, surveillance by police officers. The approaches are critical in strengthening public confidence in and create support for counterterrorism measures through police action, thus, increasing legitimacy in the public eye. They also underscore effective accountability of state officers in counterterror activities. They aim to build resilient communities to reject terrorist ideologies and extremism, and to mobilize members of the community to support counterterrorism agenda.
The community-oriented approaches seek to involve people and maximize their support for policy making and execution[4]. They also improve cooperation between security practitioners, community members, and policy makers. The community-based approaches to counter terrorism have been effective since they improve trust between public authorities and community members. As such, people provide information on any suspects or suspected terror-activities leading authorities to thwart the efforts before the act can be carried out. In Afghanistan, for example, the United States has used community approaches to counter terror groups where counterterrorism is not pursued for state security but for community safety concerns.
In Singapore, for example, community-based religious rehabilitation groups are used to deal with cases of extremism, psychological assessment of suspects, and providing support to suspects’ families while the suspect is on detention. This ensures that families do not feel neglected or isolated while their kin are in prison, thus, reducing the instances of the family members being forced to commit terrorist activities or relapse of the convicted individual upon release. Further, community-oriented approaches involve different stakeholders, for instance, private-sector organizations, civil society, and the public at large, making them active stakeholders in the fight against terrorism.
The community-based approaches can be more effective in fighting terrorist organizations by denying them of recruits if the government intensifies efforts to improve communication with people on counterterrorism. It is important to educate the people on the nature of the threat and the best ways to respond, where to report information, and the actions the police are taking to protect them. It is important for the law enforcement authorities to share information with the community members to increase public resilience and vigilance[5]. The anti-terror organizations must ensure that officers are deployed to communities they understand to improve cooperation, trust, and engagement. The weaknesses of this approach include limited community-policing culture and experience within the law enforcement centers and the history of distrust between authorities and communities[6].
Mass Arrests
Border and airport security checks lead in mass arrests of terror suspects. Others people are arrested during stop and search exercises by police officers for suspicion of involvement in terrorist-related activities. In some countries, such as Nigeria, Morocco, and Kenya, police officers have been accused of side-stepping legal and human rights protections when carrying out the arrests. Suspects are abducted, ill-treated, tortured, or held in secret prisons. This counterterrorism mechanism lacks the guarantees of accountability and oversight, an indication that it has not been effective in combating terrorism since those involved in the violations of human rights enjoy impunity for their actions[7]. Victims do not get avenues for redress, which affects them psychologically and physically while people brand them as terrorists and have to live with the stigma.
In other instances, suspects are held incommunicado for long periods before being brought to court or accessing a lawyer. The suspects are never guaranteed fair trials while in some cases, they may disappear. Algerian military has been cited as having conducted arrests of over 40,000 terror suspects and sent them to camps in the Sahara. The move proved counterproductive as sympathizers and some suspects became much more radical and by their release they become willing recruits for the armed insurgent groups. Mass arrests have not been effective in dealing with terrorism with the challenge lying in dealing with the suspects to turn away from extremism or radicalizing others[8]. Further, radicalization is rampant in prisons and people arrested under suspicion of an activity do not return as the same people. They may join terrorist groups as a revenge mission against the government that imprisoned them for insufficient evidence.
Disrupting the Flow of Funding
Terrorist groups cannot thrive without financial resources. Some of their source of financing comes from the United Arab Emirates where money laundering is rampant. As such, the US government and its allies seek to disrupt the flow of funds from the Arab countries to terrorist organizations. The US has a partnership initiative with the Gulf States known as the Joint UAE-U.S. Financial Counterterrorism Task Force which engages in information sharing and cooperation to cut terrorist financing networks and flow of money to radical groups[9]. Money from black-market oil sales is used to fund terrorist groups. The partnerships have made it easier to monitor charitable fundraising, the flow of money across different countries in anti-money laundering initiatives.
The cutting of funds to terror groups has been an effective counterterrorism operation as it has helped starve the logistics of these groups with the much-needed resources. The Arab countries produce television commercials to warn people to desist from donating monies through unapproved channels, which may be used to fund terrorist groups. Regional taskforces formed to counter terror activities and financing have been beneficial in the fight against terrorism and extremism due to regional cooperation.
Diplomacy Approaches
Diplomacy mechanisms have been considered as counterterrorism operations due to the hostilities and challenges presented by military intervention. These approaches include dual-track mechanism where mediation is combined with military involvement. Dual-track mechanism has been employed in Mali in response to Tuareg rebellion led by the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) with support from insurgent groups in Northern Mali. Dialogue was instituted between the Mali government and the MNLA to ensure ceasefire[10]. The French army was also involved in the process through the United Nations Security Council Resolution.
In Nigeria, mediation talks have been made with the aim of neutralizing the Boko Haram threat. However, lack of trust between the involved parties has stalled the peace talks. Diplomacy and dialogue have shown considerable effectiveness in the fight against terrorism as it has made it easier for terrorist groups to present their grievances with talks following to resolve the issues, as was evident in Mali. Diplomacy has also been crucial in stopping escalated violent conflict for some time.
An inclusive process involving terrorist groups, communities, and government representatives has been fruitful in resolving conflict situations. Diplomacy has also ensured information on how different communities are affected by conflict in addition to allowing parties to raise grievances to address the root causes leading to violent extremism and terrorism. It indicates acknowledgement of existence of conflict and shows a pragmatic will to cease fire.
Diplomacy has been geared toward strengthening the link between peace and development in the affected countries, thus enhancing their economic, social, and political pillars[11]. Socially, it has been critical in rehabilitating the local and foreign fighters to reintegrate into society without the urge to engage in violence. Parties strive to create an enabling environment to promote peace and stability in the affected regions.
Conclusion
Since the 9/11, countries understand that no one is safe from the threat of terrorism and terrorist groups. Every country has counterterrorism policies that have been instrumental in fighting against the vice. This paper sought to analyze the effectiveness of the counterterrorism operations in eliminating the threat posed by these radical terrorist groups. While some operations have been effective, others have not. Among the most effective means of combating the activities of terrorist groups, such as the Al-Qaeda, Al-Shabab, ISIS, and Boko Haram include diplomacy, community-oriented approaches, disruption of the flow of financing, and military intervention, to some extent.
Mass arrests have, however, proven ineffective in combating terrorist activities as its negative impacts far outweigh the intended purposes. While some approaches have been successful in ending ceasefire and reducing radicalization, others have led to massive abuses of human rights and killing of innocent civilians, thus fueling extremism. Approaches that fail to safeguard human rights and liberties erode trust and legitimacy thereby increasing radicalization that leads to terrorism and people joining terror groups.
References
Cherney, Adrian. “Police community engagement and outreach in a counterterrorism context.” Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism 13, no. 1 (2018): 60-79.
De Orellana, Pablo. “When Diplomacy Identifies Terrorism: Subjects, Identity and Agency in the ‘War on Terror’in Mali.” In The Palgrave Handbook of Global Counterterrorism Policy, pp. 1021-1040. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2017.
Fatima, Noor, and Zahid Ali Khan. “Soft Power and Cultural Diplomacy as Counter-Terrorism Measure in Contemporary International Politics.” Global Social Sciences Review 3, no. 2 (2018): 1-20.
Lehrke, Jesse Paul, and Rahel Schomaker. “Kill, capture, or defend? The effectiveness of specific and general counterterrorism tactics against the global threats of the post-9/11 era.” Security Studies 25, no. 4 (2016): 729-762.
Rehman, Faiz Ur, Muhammad Nasir, and Muhammad Shahbaz. “What have we learned? Assessing the effectiveness of counterterrorism strategies in Pakistan.” Economic Modelling 64 (2017): 487-495.
Sauter, Mark A. and James Jay Carafano. Homeland security: A complete guide. McGraw-Hill, 2012.
Schneider, Friedrich, Tilman Brück, and Daniel Meierrieks. “The economics of counterterrorism: A survey.” Journal of Economic Surveys 29, no. 1 (2015): 131-157.
[1] Sauter, Mark A. and James Jay Carafano. Homeland security: A complete guide. McGraw-Hill, 2012, 24.
[2]Sauter, Mark A. and James Jay Carafano. Homeland security: A complete guide, 71.
[3] Cherney, Adrian. “Police community engagement and outreach in a counterterrorism context.” Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism 13, no. 1 (2018): 67.
[4] Fatima, Noor, and Zahid Ali Khan. “Soft Power and Cultural Diplomacy as Counter-Terrorism Measure in Contemporary International Politics.” Global Social Sciences Review 3, no. 2 (2018): 7.
[5] Cherney, Adrian. “Police community engagement and outreach in a counterterrorism context.” 69.
[6] Sauter, Mark A. and James Jay Carafano. Homeland security: A complete guide, 141.
[7] Lehrke, Jesse Paul, and Rahel Schomaker. “Kill, capture, or defend? The effectiveness of specific and general counterterrorism tactics against the global threats of the post-9/11 era.” Security Studies 25, no. 4 (2016): 729.
[8] Schneider, Friedrich, Tilman Brück, and Daniel Meierrieks. “The economics of counterterrorism: A survey.” Journal of Economic Surveys 29, no. 1 (2015): 133.
[9] Fatima, Noor, and Zahid Ali Khan. “Soft Power and Cultural Diplomacy as Counter-Terrorism Measure in Contemporary International Politics.” 12.
[10] De Orellana, Pablo. “When Diplomacy Identifies Terrorism: Subjects, Identity and Agency in the ‘War on Terror’in Mali.” In The Palgrave Handbook of Global Counterterrorism Policy, pp. 1021-1040. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2017, 6.
[11] Schneider, Friedrich, Tilman Brück, and Daniel Meierrieks. “The economics of counterterrorism: A survey.” Journal of Economic Surveys 29, no. 1 (2015): 144.
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