Algeria and Islamic Terrorism

The recently concluded operation of the Algerian military against a terrorist attack on one of its gas fields demonstrate that Algeria has no patience, and definitely no minutiae of respect for any form of terrorism. The Islamist rebels that have wrecked havoc in Mali have met their match in a government determined to exert its sovereignty and defend its interests against any and all threats by refusing to negotiate with the rebels. As of date, all the rebels have been killed, although some reports indicate that four of the terrorists were captured alive. It is worthy to note however, that many of the hostages were also killed in the operation.

In a way, the strong armed, no nonsense approach of the Algerian government shows that it has no patience for any talks with any terrorist threat. Its response is unequivocal in its message: do not mess with us. This will send a very, very strong message to would be terrorists or terrorist misadventures that they will be met with force, and force alone. Future terrorists, and in no uncertain terms, especially Islamic terrorists, will undoubtedly get the message that to mess with Algeria is to sentence themselves to death.

Personally, I support the strong handed response of the Algerian government. Without doubt, terrorists speak in the language of violence, and only by and through violence can one truly communicate with them. Harsh may this seem, this is unfortunately the reality of modern Islamic terrorism. As these are no ordinary political movements, extraordinary means have to be used. To negotiate with Islamic terrorists is to recognize their power, and recognition of their power, however subtle and sublime, gives them the impression and the bravado to commit ever more brutal and violent escapades.

However, such no-negotiation tactics will also send the message to terrorists that only the murder of hostages will show their solid determination to mean what they demand, whatever that may be. Their is a possibility that should another hostage event happen again, the first thing that terrorists would do would be to liquidate a good number of hostages to send a message that if no negotiations take place and no demands are met, the brutal possibility that all hostages will have to die becomes the overriding policy.

The Algerian government therefore has to step up operations within its border regions to clamp down on the unhindered movement of the terrorists, this has allowed the terrorists to take the gas field in question in the first place. By concerted and heightened patrol of the border regions, the Algerian government can significantly paralyze the operations of the Islamic terrorists that have taken over northern Mali.

Coupled with the operations of the French military inside Mali itself, with the assistance of some African troops, the global community can prevent another cancerous Islamic terrorist lump from growing  in West Africa, and potentially save the lives of hundreds of people the world over.