Some time back the German newspaper Der Spiegel published the article "The Lost Children: France Takes Stock of Growing Jihadist Problem". This article describes how two French families lost a daughter and a son respectively to extremist Islamic groups. These kids were targeted, brainwashed are recruited at a distance, mostly through the Internet. This process was deliberate, planned and executed to indoctrinate and radicalize youth which are then used as front-line soldiers (cannon fodder) in Islamic battlegrounds such as Syria.
The parents are up in arms.
Politicians ignore the problem.
The police know about this.
The "Intelligence Community" is very aware of this.
Nobody knows what to do. But we do. We already talked about this problem in our article ISIL The Invincible. The solution is simple: nothing.
DO NOTHING
Doing nothing is extremely difficult to do. Our do nothing must be understood as an institutional "do nothing", not as a personal one. As humans, our heart goes out to the parents that lost their children and we can only hope that other parents may have heard the message and have decided to "do something" with or for their children. We sincerely hope that this "do something" is effective and that future tragedies can be avoided.
However…
And there is always a however, from the big picture point of view, the correct action is to take no action. As we previously mentioned in our ISIL article, ISIL is indeed undefeatable as there is any other political theory, system and movement. For as long as there are people convinced of their principles, they cannot be destroyed. Political Evolution cannot be forced.
All Political Theories will crumble only and only when their members evolve politically. In the case of Islamic Extremists, this will only happen when the survivors of these groups realize -after years (decades?) of blood and struggle- that that's precisely what they have achieved: years (decades?) of blood and struggle. Only when their members become thoroughly disillusioned will the The Three Laws of Political System Change take charge and force them to move past current political ideology.
Unfortunately in this case there is no telling how many lives this evolution will cost. Those lost children are nothing but the ultimate expression of a political theory in full bloom. Until those children grow up and fully realize what they have done and how little and disappointingly their achievements are, there is no hope of change. Any attempt to induce change is pointless. It won't work. To a certain degree, this issue is like a cold; although it is possible to diminish the effects of the cold, until the immune system gets into high gear, there is nothing we can do.
DO SOMETHING
Of course, do nothing is not something governments do, particularly when they are attacked by "terrorists". All governments defend themselves because in ultimate analysis no politician wants to relinquish power. And so one offers an excuse for the other to attack. Terrorists "fight" against "oppressive" governments, while governments defend themselves against "subversive elements". Quid pro quo.
Now consider the same scenario should governments would not exist. In this scenario political theories would still be created but they would find no opponents. In the case of ISIL, they would simply take over a specific territory with a specific population without opposition. The remaining population around their borders who would refuse to join would have to defend themselves hence creating government-like structures. Institutional attacks produce as a response institutional defenses hence reversing political evolution.
What this means is that this scenario is not possible in reality. It is not possible to have regions of the world which are government-free in contact with governments. Governments would simply take over the entire territory. It is for this reason that the destruction of all governments needs to occur from the inside out while maintaining formalities (see When Countries Dissolve). It is these formalities that allow countries in slow evolutionary political paths to catch on with the advanced ones. It is for this very reason that it is necessary to let "radical" organizations to develop themselves. This is the fastest path to their own annihilation.
It is true that in these circumstances it is exceedingly hard not to do anything because so many lives are at stake. Besides, if you are attacked on your person or properties, wouldn't you fight back? Of course you would.
TO DO OR NOT TO DO
And so we arrive at the core of the issue. On one hand the correct answer to terrorist organizations is to do nothing. On the other hand our instincts are to fight. What should we do?
This is a question that every person must answer by themselves. Some people will fight, some people will submit and some people will simply leave. This is also part of our political evolutionary path. Each one has a different one. In the long run, it would make no difference at all because said terrorist organizations will extinguish themselves through evolution.
Consider the presence of Islam as a government force in Spain. Islam existed in Spain between 709 and 1614. Although theoretically speaking Islam was defeated in the Reconquista wars, in reality the Islamic power as a centralized government had been in decline for quite a few decades before that. Islamism as a centralized political concept entered in decline all by itself and this was the enabler of the Reconquista wars. Should these wars would not have taken place, the result would have been about the same minus al the dead. Today there are close to a million Muslims in Spain yet there are no issues. Does it really matter if the Reconquista wars took place? Of course not. What matters is that Islam in Spain had begun an unstoppable evolution by itself more than thousand years ago.
Still not convinced? Take a look at paths that communist regimes took: the USSR, Khmer-Rouge, Viet-Cong, Mao, Nicaragua and so on. They are all gone. People that fought for them, they still exist but they have moved past those political theories into some form of democracy. Yes. A great deal of people are dead because of them, and that is the true tragedy. But every time that "democracies" fought such regimes, the death toll was fantastically larger and accomplished exactly nothing.
To do nothing is not a particularly satisfactory solution, but it is the only one that works long term. Everything else is just a political Band-Aid soaked in the blood of thousands who did not have to die.
CONCLUSION
When confronted with unsavoury political theories the best way to deal with them is to let them evolve. They will crumble into dust by the weight of their own non-viability. Their very members will abandon them. Give them space. Let them be.
But again, this is not something politicians will accept because at the most basic this means to share power and politics is all about collecting power. So we must ask ourselves, who is guiltier here? True believers or those who do not want to share for purely egotistical reasons?
But then again. Perhaps you are of the opinion that such "terrorist" and "radical" movements should be destroyed. Fair enough. One warning though, as you fight "domestic terrorism" for the next few decades, we will keep telling you "we told you so".
Note: please see the Glossary if you are unfamiliar with certain words.
