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Explanations or justifications? Western governments are the current target of terrorist revolt. But rather than learning from the past, they continue to hide behind a veneer of civilised values and moral purity. (on the eve of war).

Article Excerpt
Meaning and significance are never inscribed in tragic events such as the Kuta Beach bombings on 12 October 2002. They must be imputed to them. What we ultimately choose to make of this devastating attack is important because it will have a significant bearing on whether similar catastrophes in the future can be averted.

Depicting the bombing as a crime or an act of terror is technically accurate, but wholly unsatisfying for those grappling with the scale of the horror. It is tempting therefore to describe the Bali attacks as `evil'. This captures both the wicked behaviour of its perpetrators and the intensity of human suffering they have caused. There is no moral defence of such violence, regardless of its political or religious motivation.

There is, however, a risk in believing that `evil' is both a description of, and an explanation for, such a human tragedy. It might also be a mistake to cast what occurred as the latest chapter in a struggle between evil and civilised values which began on September 11 last year.

According to conservative columnist Mark Steyn in an article published in the Australian in October last year, `the more you insist the Islamist psychosis is a rational phenomenon to be accommodated, the more you risk sounding just as nutty as the terrorists'. According to this line of argument, to describe the perpetrators of the October 12 attacks as evil, affirms that no rational account of their behaviour is possible and no examination of our own role in world politics is required. To draw either conclusion from what has happened would be unwise.

It may be true that no dialogue with individuals willing to commit such appalling acts is possible. Their indifference to their victims, together with the extremity of their cause, would seem to preclude the kind of negotiations which normally involve compromise and accommodation on both sides.

Nevertheless, it is necessary to identify the sources of grievance and anger which drive people to commit such heinous crimes. This will not be achieved if we exclude from our considerations uncomfortable truths about our own behaviour. Regarding them as inexplicable or reducing the causes of the bombings to the religious bigotry or psychic disorders of the culprits, rather than undertaking a serious examination...

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