Pact with the Devil

In, say, Haiti, violence stems largely from criminal activity. In Somalia violence might be justified as an extreme manifestation of clan loyalty. Violence can be perpetrated by those who consider themselves “good patriots”; sadly it is also perpetrated by those who consider themselves “good Muslims”. There is a danger that the UN promotion of peace building is conceived as “Western” “Christian” or “anti-Muslim”. I suggest that there is a pattern to sectarian, clan, or revolutionary violence, that, as in the case of the IRA in Ireland and Pol Pot and many other examples, it degenerates into simple criminality after about 8 years, using the original cause as a flag of convenience. It is at this point that the majority of the population are so sickened that they wish for peace at any price. The story of the Queen of Sheba’s response to King Solomon is a marvellous example of this. (As Muslims will know better than me, this is a story from the Koran where she proposes capitulation as superior to the horror of war. It is an example of the wisdom of women over the arrogance of men) Somehow I must piggy-back on this anti-violence reaction to engender a community level, possibly women-lead, popular anti-violence ground-swell. This is my central task. But the intransigent clan system will not help. Power-sharing is working, to a degree, in Nepal with the admittance of the rebel Maoists to government. Power-sharing has worked in Ireland with the Good Friday agreement.

There is a diabolical technique that could be used to speed this revulsion from violence: If possible, forces of law and order can deny “hard” targets (police stations, military barracks, and government offices) to the gangs, militias or terrorists. They are then obliged to attack “soft” targets (market places, meetings, religious centres). The atrocities caused will hasten popular revulsion to, and increasing criminalisation of the so-called “freedom fighters”. This makes combatting them easier. But this is a pact with the devil.