MAJ. GEN. MUSAAD EL-SHESHTAWY, EGYPTIAN ARMED FORCES
The joint Egyptian-American Bright Star exercise is one of the largest and most important military exercises in the Middle East. Since 1980, Bright Star has sought to exchange expertise in several areas and strengthen cooperation to confront challenges, terrorism being one of them.
Terrorism consumes those who produce it, those who harbor it, and those who support it. It has no nationality or religion. It is a global threat to both human existence and civilization. It has already affected every nation and community, and even great powers have not been immune to its dangers.
Terrorism has struck Egypt and many other nations. Terrorists have already closed in on Europe and the United States, and terrorism is expanding in Africa. Domestic or multinational groups can reach abroad to create victims elsewhere. For example, airplane hijackings affect passengers from many countries.
Terrorism is generally defined as an action that seeks to intimidate an individual, group, organization or country through violence or threats, spreading fear and instability through assassination, mutilation, sabotage, torture, and the destruction of morale to achieve political objectives that are impermissible under existing laws and customs.
International terrorism means any attack on life and public or private property carried out by groups in one country against people living in another and includes acts of racial and ethnic discrimination in which some countries engage.
Terrorists often conduct psychological operations, using social media and satellite television, to destroy public morale in a country and raise doubts about its capabilities.
Clarifying misconceptions quickly and accurately is essential for increasing awareness and countering terrorist deceptions, and refuting the false narratives is the responsibility of everyone.
This leads us to the relationship between terrorism and organized crime, which is similar to terrorism in that each is an expression of organized violence led by groups and organizations with significant organizational capabilities to plan actions secretly and precisely. Organized crime is similar to terrorism in some of the methodologies followed.
The causes of terrorism are various. First, sponsorship of terrorism by some countries and political organizations causes it to grow and widen in scope globally, expanding the reach of these states and political organizations.
Second, the conflicting goals and interests of certain powers or states aim to influence security and stability while serving their own interests and the interests of their allies. This often goes by the name of “state-sponsored terrorism.”
Third, negative social phenomena such as unemployment, slums and corruption — especially when rampant among state institutions — contribute to radicalization.
Fourth, we cannot disregard the impotence of religious, cultural and media discourse in confronting terrorism and the rigid fundamentalism that rejects the use of reason in interpreting reality or sound religious texts. Similarly, paid mouthpieces of hateful propaganda spread discord among the people of the targeted nation and disrupt peace and security in that society.
With the growth of terrorism, matters have become more complex with the emergence of several entities and organizations affiliated with extremist ideology, takfirism, and intimidation in the name of religion under the banner of black flags, including Daesh Islamic Jihad, al-Qaida, Ansar Bait al-Maqdis, Boko Haram in Nigeria and al-Shabab in Somalia. Their satanic goals promote ruin, murder and destruction, and all have exported their barbaric philosophy by distorting Islam through incorrect interpretations of religious texts.
In this regard, there exist many well-funded satellite TV stations that are part of a framework of “media and e-terrorism” that uses information and the internet for purposes of intimidation and coercion in service of political goals. These methods are largely linked to the advanced role information technology plays in all areas of life as well as its previously mentioned role as one of the primary methods of modern warfare.
Egypt maintains that terrorism has no nationality or religion and must be fought everywhere in all its forms and manifestations. The nations of the world must therefore place this fight among the responsibilities they bear to their people and to humanity.
Consequently, if these nations are truly interested in securing a better life for their people, they must act because this is not possible while terrorism still finds those willing to shelter, direct, fund and arm it, leaving room for it to expand.
This is what Egypt has said and what President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has warned of repeatedly. Egypt does not deal ambivalently regarding the issue of terror as some countries do to achieve political goals. Egypt faces terrorism in which elements from foreign countries and paid satellite channels participate. Egypt has often borne the brunt of confronting and revealing the ugliness of terrorist organizations allied and backed by international organizations.
In its war against terrorist elements, Egypt also realizes it is not facing a political or legal entity but secretive rogue organizations that do not recognize national identity, organizations from which cross-border terror cells have emerged to spread ruin and corruption not only in Egypt but also on the world stage. These terror cells have sought to ignite strife in Egypt as part of a strategy to destroy the stability of the state, particularly after these organizations grew and become transnational with vast funding from several countries seeking to harm Egypt amid (failed) attempts at unraveling its national fabric, requiring the mobilization of our national forces to succeed in eradicating terrorism at its roots.
Egypt is waging a war on behalf of the world to put an end to this criminal terrorism that hinders growth and development and targets Egypt’s youth, be they officers, Soldiers or innocent civilians.
For this reason, the European Union-League of Arab States summit was held in Sharm El-Sheikh in February 2019 with more than 50 nations attending to address the topics of terrorism and illegal immigration against the backdrop of Egypt’s war on terrorist elements in the Sinai Peninsula and border regions on the world’s behalf.
With mass mobilization of troops, our Armed Forces, in cooperation with state police, carried out countless operations to eradicate terrorism and dry up its sources in the northern and central Sinai based on complete and accurate monitoring that was a result of military and intelligence efforts to implement security over every inch of the country and to create the conditions necessary to begin major development operations in the Sinai.
The Air Force targeted several outposts, hideouts, and arms and ammunition depots used by terrorist elements as staging grounds for attacks on law enforcement personnel of the Armed Forces and police and civilian targets in the northern and central Sinai. Joint elements of the Army and police also intensified measures to secure vital targets of strategic importance to the state.
In short, Egypt is on the right path and will not be deterred by any terrorist incident or villainous conspiracy that increases in violence and fury in the face of our great national achievements and the resilience of our people — our greatest weapon against terrorism and conspiracy.
Egypt stands strong in the face of terror, presiding over a powerful economy and large-scale national building projects that, God willing, will lead the country to prosperity and progress, restoring a smile to the face of the Egyptian people and Egypt to its place as leader in Africa and the Arab World.
These are the shoots of goodness spreading their green color across the desert — construction of decent housing for the poor, power stations that turn darkness into light, and road networks providing lifelines to all corners of Egypt. It also means new armaments for our great Army, and the return of peace and security to our great land.
May Egypt remain steadfast and safe, thanks to the Almighty and His true promise that “whoever enters it shall be safe.” May Egypt be faithfully and honestly led and may its sons be the best Soldiers on earth. Our country, with its tradition and spirit of redemption, will remain proud, proud of its ancient people who have shaped civilization over thousands of years on the banks of the eternal river Nile.
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