Editorial: Global extremism

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Afghanistan Times | June 14, 2016 – Terrorism and extremism is a serious threat to global peace and humanity. The United States and its NATO allies have dropped hundreds of bombs in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Somalia and other parts of the world to eliminate fanatics and dismantle notorious terrorist organizations such as al-Qaeda, Al Shabab, the Islamic State (also known as Daesh) and others. The policy to contain extremism in the developing countries has failed badly, because extremists have made their way to Europe, Australia, Canada and the United States. Even people who had lived there for several decades are standing against their respective governments. They are finding different ways to express their anger against the repressive or liberal policies of the states.

Unfortunately, extremism is linked to certain ethnic groups and religion in the Europe and the US. But as a matter of fact, no religion or group promotes extremism. People of different faith are found to have inclination towards certain fanatic groups. They are brainwashed by a few individuals for their personal benefits. Terrorism has become a profitable industry that’s why there is no end in sight to this business. The terror wave would continue to spread and claim more lives if global efforts were not initiated.

Extremists are recruiting people in every part of the world. Sadly, the developed countries are focused on Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sudan, Libya, Tunis, Egypt and Somalia. They are unaware of the growing support for terrorism on their own soil. Terrorism has not crossed the oceans, but it was bred there under the very nose of the intelligence agencies. Omar Mateen, an Afghan American, was born in the US but the modern state system and education cannot prevent him from mass killing. He killed 50 people at a nightclub and injured 53 others on early Sunday morning. What happened on Sunday morning in Florida, US, is a reminder that the war against terrorism demands more efforts.

How Daesh reached to Mateen and brainwashed him still remains a mystery? It is hoped that the details would not be kept secret. Once the details are made public it would be easy for the other governments to review their security policies and prevent the multinational terrorist group from recruiting people. However, it is very important that the major global players should join hands to fight terrorism and extremism on every front. Individual efforts and conflicting interests would benefit only the militants.

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