Oleh/By : DATO SERI DR MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tempat/Venue : DAVOS
Tarikh/Date : 24/01/2003
Tajuk/Title : THE PLENARY SESSION ENTITLED HOW
THE FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM
WILL CHANGE THE WORLD AT THE
WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM
Versi : ENGLISH
Penyampai : PM
What is obvious is that the fight against
terrorism has already changed the world.
2. We were carefree before, criss-crossing the world
in jet planes for pleasure and for business. The world
had become a village, every part of it accessible in
less than 24 hours from any other part. Not only were
the towns almost identical in terms of buildings and
facilities but we expected and we knew we could get the
same food and drinks, hotels and shops and branded
goods in every country across the world.
3. But we were not satisfied. We wanted identical
political and economic systems, namely democracy and
deregulated free trade with identical laws and uniform
practices as well. We wanted globalisation in a
standard environment. Everyone must conform or be
economically strangled.
4. We believe that there are far too many corporations
in the world in each business. Most were financially
weak and inefficient. We should get rid of all the small
businesses and have only a few super-giant so-called multi-
national corporations to take over everything, from
retailing noodles to producing and selling aeroplanes.
Who needs papa-mama shops when hypermarkets can supply
everything we need in life.
5. But there are countries which insist on protecting
their little inefficient banks and industries. They must
be eliminated. Sanctions should be applied. Markets
should be closed to their products. And where they had
somehow survived and developed their countries, undermine
their currencies and destabilise them.
6. And so whole regions were made poor, forced to
borrow from the rich, and become permanent debt slaves,
completely compliant to the demand that they conform
and accept globalisation.
7. It looked like things would go according to plan.
The whole world was becoming a huge standard market
place for the standard products and services of the
consolidated, amalgamated, merged giant banks and
corporations. There could be only greater growth and
more wealth for the rich proponents of free trade and
globalisation.
8. Yes the poor would also benefit. They would
provide cheap labour. Still automation and robots
would throw most of them out of work. But that is the
price we all have to pay for the technology which has
made cheap and better products possible. The dole will
take care of the unemployed. Too bad if the
governments of the poor countries have no unemployment
benefits. That is their problem. Free trade must be
upheld at any cost.
9. Many people all over the world lived in abject
poverty. And many live in fear of terror attacks. The
Palestinians of course deserved to lose their country.
For two long years the world watched in the comfort of
their homes, 200,000 Bosnians being slaughtered. Bombs
were periodically rained on Iraq, killing innocent
civilians. In Northern Ireland, Protestants and
Catholics live in fear of the next bomb. And in many
parts of the world there were constant fears of terror
attacks.
10. The world accepts that these people deserve what
they got. They live in terror because they did not
know how to protect themselves; to take security
measures. Those who know and have the means would
always be safe, watch terror from a safe distance.
11. Then literally out of the blue terror came to the
wealthy and the protected. After September 11 no one
is safe. And everyone anywhere can be the victims of
terror attacks.
12. Unfortunately having ignored terrorism as
something that can only happen to others, the people
most capable of tackling terrorism do not know how to
tackle it. They can only think of improving their
defenses with more stringent security measure and more
sophisticated weapons. 1.3 billion Muslims were
identified as the potential enemy. They must be
harassed, restrained, detained indiscriminately. Their
shoes have to be examined. No pen-knives, paper
cutters, metal cutlery on aircrafts. Every ship has to
be thoroughly examined. Every port in the world must
be checked constantly. Marshalls with weapons on very
aircraft. And many, many more security measures.
13. All these have strained relations between many
countries and people, affected economic development of
the world adversely and domestic politics as well.
Everyone is frightened of flying or travelling to
certain countries, frightened of living at home, of
investing, of receiving parcels, of large gatherings,
of high rise buildings and parked vehicles. The
tourist industry, the hospitality industry, the
airlines have seen bankruptcies galore.
14. Against these enormous losses and the huge outlay on
defence and security, the cost of mounting the attack such
as on September 11 is minimal. No costly missiles.
Just a dozen people in hijacked aircrafts can create
havoc.
15. The question is, how long can all these
defence/security measures be kept up. How long can we
live in fear; how long can we withstand economic
downturns? How long can the fight against terrorism be
allowed to blight our life, to change the way we live?
16. So what should we do? The Israelis have the most
thorough defence against terrorist attacks but the attacks
are still going on. Abroad, the Israelis are sitting
ducks. So are the other targets of the terrorists.
Terrorising the terrorists as the Israelis have done has
not reduced the number of terrorist. In fact they seem to
increase. Attacking Iraq and getting rid of Saddam
Hussein is most likely to create more anger and increase
the recruits for terror attacks.
17. For as long as there are people who are oppressed,
whose land has been expropriated, whose sufferings have
been ignored; for whom there is no justice, there will
be terrorists and acts of terror. It only cost them
their lives, something they seem to care very little
about. The bombs can be made cheaply and the delivery
vehicles hijacked.
18. Today, the whole world is suffused with hatred and
anger. No one is seeking for anything else except
revenge. Both sides are saying "they will pay a heavy
price for this".
19. Giving fancy reasons for the acts of terror will
only result in our not taking the right actions. Is it
true that Islam teaches its followers to terrorise non-
Muslims? Is it true that Muslim poverty is at the root
of their dastardly behaviour? Is it true that they
envy the freedom and the democracy of the West?
20. September 11 was the work of people who were
neither poverty-stricken, nor ignorant, nor even
directly suffering from oppression. They were
apparently ordinary people with families, sufficient
income and enjoying a comfortable life. They were not
Palestinians or Afghans or Libyans, Sudanese, Iraqis or
Iranians, all of whom have good reasons to hate their
western detractors. Yet they were prepared to die a
horrendous death. Given the opportunity, there will be
others who will do it again.
21. It is time that we examine the true causes of
terrorism. It is time that we remove the causes, If we
don't, if we continue to delude ourselves then the fight
against the terrorists will never end and the change in
the world caused by terrorism will remain permanent.
Sumber : Pejabat Perdana Menteri
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