Midtown Blogger/Manhattan Valley Follies: Prague Post- Liquidate Terrorist Leaders?

Zeman proposes small units to liquidate terrorist leaders

Published: 30 September 2015

Written by Czech News Agency

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Czech Republic's President Miloš Zeman addresses the 70th Session of the United Nations General Assembly at the UN in New York on September 29, 2015. AFP PHOTO/JEWEL SAMAD

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Czech president gives his recommendations to the United Nations

New York, Sept 30 (ČTK) — Small military units equipped with drones and helicopters that would cooperate with intelligence services are needed to liquidate the leaders of terrorist organizations and their centers, Czech President Miloš Zeman said in his speech at the UN General Assembly in the night.

Zeman promoted a coordinated action against Islamists under the aegis of the UN Security Council, when he was addressing the general debate of the 17th session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

At the beginning of his address, Zeman said he would like to concentrate on one topic and one priority, which is “the fight against international terrorism.

Terrorism is “the main danger for the human civilization,” he said.

“Just now, practically all European countries face a big migration wave, which was provoked as a consequence of terrorist actions in the Middle East and in Africa,” Zeman said in his ten-minute address he delivered in English by heart.

“It is wonderful to criticize terrorism, it is wonderful to organize demonstrations and manifestations against terrorism and it is nice to prepare declarations protesting against terrorism. [Abu Bakr] Al-Baghdadi reading these declarations will be careful, I am sure,” Zeman said with slight irony.

Baghdadi is the leader of the Islamic State that occupied extensive areas in Iraq and Syria in the past year.

Zeman said there are “three illusions concerning the terrorism.”

The first one is that terrorism will vanish and that terrorist acts can be eliminated by using local means only.

“Contrariwise, the terrorist movement is growing like cancer. There us a diffusion of terrorism, there is a growing number of so called failed states, a growing number of assassinations, cruelties, murders, annihilation of cultural monuments like in the case of Palmyra and so on,” he said.

Another illusion is that terrorist organizations can be reduced to Islamic State only, he added.

“But there are many other terrorist organizations, for instance the Al-Qaeda, Taliban, Al-Nusra, Boko Haram and others,” Zeman said.

He added that he had learnt from two high-ranking politicians from the Arab world that the umbrella organization for all is the Muslim Brotherhood.

The third illusion is based on the standard form of the war against terrorism.

“What I propose as a fight against terrorism are no tanks, no infantry, no artillery. We need to seek new forms of the fight,” Zeman said.

“And because unilateral actions are heavily criticized and they were completely unsuccessful, like in the case of Iraq, I do not recommend any massive occupation of any territory. What I recommend is a coordinated action under the umbrella of the U.N. Security Council,” he added.

Zeman recalled that many countries had experience with terrorism, such as the United States with the Al-Qaeda attacks in New York and Washington on September 11, Russia in Beslan and Volgograd as well as Europe in Paris, London and Madrid and India in Mumbai.

In this connection, he highlighted a good example from the past - the unanimously adopted resolution of the U.N. Security Council concerning the sea pirates in Somalia, including the military actions.

He asked the participants in the hall whether they really think that the pirates are more dangerous than the terrorists.

“What we need are small military units equipped with drones and helicopters, cooperating with secret services... Small blue helmets of some sort, which would eliminate the leaders of terrorist organizations and their nerve centers. And not the occupation of territories,” Zeman pointed out.

He concluded that he firmly hoped that some of the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council might propose a resolution about a joint action against international terrorism.