National 5 (Spotlight Weekly)

“I Am Impressed By The Sensitivity And Determination (Of Nepalese) To Resist Terrorism”

— J. Cofer Black

Ambassador at Large J. COFER BLACK, Coordinator, Office of the Coordinator for Counter-terrorism, State Department, briefly visited Nepal last week. Black has had a distinguished 28-year career in the Directorate of Operations at the Central Intelligence Agency. Prior to joining the State Department Ambassador Black was the Director of the CIA Counter-terrorist Center. He was also the Task Force Chief in the Near East and South Asia Division. On behalf of the Secretary, ambassador Black represents the Department of the Counter-terrorism Security Group. His office plays a leading role on the Department of State’s counter terrorism task forces organized to coordinate responses to international terrorist incidents. Ambassador Black’s responsibilities include coordinating US government efforts to improve counter-terrorism cooperation with foreign governments, including the policy and planning of the Department’s Anti-terrorism Training Assistance Program. Black visited Pakistan and India before coming to Nepal. Follows the excerpts – compiled by KESHAB POUDEL - of the statement he made before select Nepalese journalists in Kathmandu, on March 3, and replies he gave to their queries:

On His Visit to Nepal:

It’s a pleasure to come to your country. I was certainly determined to come to Nepal. It’s an important country. My focus is counter-terrorism. I have spent a good portion of my working life doing counter-terrorism. I have done that as an intelligence officer. I have done counter-terrorism around the world. I know the issues from an operational standpoint. It was, after a career in CIA, a great honor to be asked by the Secretary of State to come to the State Department as the ambassador of counter-terrorism. The reason that I take such pleasure in this job is two-fold; one is to encourage the countries of the world to have the will to resist terrorism; and another is to build capacities of those countries who have the will to resist terrorism. This does not mean just the United States in bilateral sense. It also means using United States’ influence in a regional sense and in an international sense. Regionally, for example, in western hemisphere, we work with Counter-terrorism Security Organization of American States. We also work with UN Counter-terrorism Committee. We work with the Counter-terrorism Action Group, of which US is the current president. We do a lot of these things. What’s the point of it all? This is why I am talking to you. There are various elements that affect the counter-terrorism. And a key element of it is to meet with the press and to convey what the United States is trying to do.

On Terrorism

I always think it is most unfortunate that the United Nations is unable to agree on a definition of terrorism. Just what is terrorism? Who are terrorists? You essentially know from the human heart where it really comes down to – it is the protection of innocent men, women and children. What the United States is trying to do is work bilaterally with countries – we have effective relationships on the subject of counter-terrorism with virtually all the countries of the world except a handful, which come from among the countries who support terrorism and many of them are basically changing their policies such as Libya and Sudan and some have a long way to go such as North Korea and Cuba. But, we have good relationship since 9/11 – the cooperation, the resources devoted to counter-terrorism has gone up dramatically. I never thought I would see this in my life. I spent my working life at the CIA operating against terror and at times, we had to do that without much help from anybody else. Now we get tremendous help because the comity of nations has come around this point.

On Counter-terrorism Efforts

While we can’t all agree on how to define terrorism exactly, we all do agree that we practice counter-terrorism, we are against terrorists and we have found areas of cooperation. I take great pride in doing this job, representing my country because I know what we are trying to do. My colleagues, fellow Americans, we just work hard to save the lives of peoples of other nationalities as we do in the United States. We think it is a good, long-term strategy and that in the end, it is going to pay off for us. On the top of that, it is the right thing to do. There is nothing really easy about terrorism. People define it in different ways and work in different ways to approach the problem. But, I think, we do it from the heart. We have suffered from it. We do not want to suffer again. We want to help others so that they do not have to suffer from it. So, we approach this as a global issue. I spent most of my time traveling around the world. Yesterday I was in India and the day before I was in Pakistan. The week before I was in Indonesia. The United States is encouraged to be led by Australia and Indonesia to be a focal point for the community of nations in the Asian region. They have come together to encourage each other; to gain confidence to engage terrorism and build capacity. As a result they are establishing an Academy in Jakarta to be a focal point to provide training on counter-terrorism, among others.

On Nepal

I am not an expert on Nepal, believe me. I don’t know the names of all the political parties. But, I do know the counter-terrorism. And I have a sense to see which way these things go. I can’t tell you the contempt that I have for these Maoist terrorists. Now, lets get down to the basics here. Don’t get me into this insurgent, freedom fighter business. Remember the perception how we see it; people who harm innocent men, women and children, there is no justification for any group or any state to do it. The United States puts big emphasis on human rights. We believe in the rights of the individuals. We try to encourage that in all of our international partners. We advocate it and we have policies supportive of it. But we also are determined to resist the scourge of terrorism. The United States is honored to be able to work with Nepal. When we look at countries, we think of the people not the government. We think of the people in the country. We believe in democracy. Your country is a nation of people. It is the right of the people to representative government; to be able to choose the kind of leadership they wish to have. Then only we provide assistance and we cooperate.

On Situation Here

I had had the pleasure of one day only to meet the leading officials of your government who are involved in counter-terrorism. I would say I have been very impressed. When I go back to the United States, I will report to the Secretary of State Colin Powell and, if I have the chance, to the President of the United States and tell them how impressed I am at the sensitivity and determination of these people to resist terrorism and, at the same time, respecting the rights of individuals. I think, they would certainly be the first ones to say no one’s perfect. There have probably been incidents that are regrettable. There is a determination to have lessons learnt, to move forward to defend innocent men, women and children of this country. We take pleasure in working with these people in the defense of innocent men, women and children. I would also say that there is a drive here for professionalism to be efficient in counter-terrorism so that you counter the terrorists only. I have full respect for the ability of the individuals to express political views, beliefs and so on.

On Maoists

I call the (operation against Maoists) as counter-terrorism because the methods being employed by the Maoists are so contemptible. They conform to the worst scum I have ever operated against. Where is their respect for human rights? Where is their attention to protecting innocent men, women and children? It is not there. This is crap manipulation. I have seen this before in other places of the world. This makes me wish I was an intelligence officer again so that I could go after these guys. I just can’t imagine any right-thinking person would think it is a good idea to let these clowns (grow). I think this is a beautiful country, the one that I know since I was a boy and had only the greatest admiration for. And these people trying to turn it into a hell for the people. Having said that, I would like to add that it has also a regional implication. If you look at the Maoists, they have aspirations of insane grandeur. They wish to be government of this country and after that, by their own statements, they wish to be regional power and they have territorial aspirations in neighboring country. It will be a bad thing for Nepal, and it will be a bad thing for the region. Nothing good could ever come from this.

On Charges of Rights Abuses

I have been here for just one day. I haven’t been out to the countryside and I have witnessed anything myself. I can tell you what we believe and what we advance, we hold to. We are a country that was founded on the rights of individuals. This is so precious and so dear to us. We, Americans, we do not fight for a flag; we fight for the Bill of Rights – the rights of individuals. We wish to do counter-terrorism with respect to the rights of individuals and with respect to freedom of expression. We are totally against the abuse of authority in any country. Nepal or any other country; we fixate on doing our mission in a way that serves the people. Anywhere in the world, if the security forces do not (concentrate) in engaging terrorists, then something is seriously wrong and needs to be corrected. You have to be mindful of the fact in combat situation in remote areas; in wars here and in wars elsewhere, there has to be relentless determination for standards, protection of the rights of individuals. But I will tell you, my sense, by meeting our Defense Attache here and by meeting the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) officers, there was an emphasis upon human rights, serving the people, wanting to do counter-terrorism efficiently, and wanting to put in procedures and standards taught in the training. I am not in a position to say, unequivocally, this happened and this didn’t happen. I can tell you what United States emphasizes and when we cooperate security forces of other countries, we go in with the human rights.

On Maoist Link With Other Terror Outfits

Based on the reporting that we receive in the United States government, I can say that I know of no report that make a link between Al Qaeda organization and the terrorism in Nepal. The United States has the primary objective to collect information on terrorism and terrorist groups and we look for such things. But, there are regional links. (Maoists) have links with the groups and a lot of contacts with regional communist parties. Some of these do have offshoots that are engaged in terrorism. We did make the designation on the Maoists, under an executive order 13224. And this executive order authorizes the United States to freeze any funds in the United States and to advance this to the United Nations. So, we have the legal authority to seize all money associated with this group. I do not know if any money has been thus identified and seized as yet.

On His Talks With Indian Officials

To be very diplomatic, when I was in New Delhi I talked with senior officials there. To put it very mildly, they wish to be supportive. They do recognize the Maoists for what they are, they’re terrorists. They do want to support Nepal in a way that is effective and constructive. So, I commend the Indians. I think their support to counter-terrorism forces is very efficient and effective. Here again, I would like to stress the objective of my visit which is to help build will and to encourage the men of goodwill to fight this scourge whether it is in Nepal or in Indonesia. I certainly see that and I think the trend is positive. The trick here is that we all, those of us helping to provide capacity, want our support to be mutually supporting. We don’t want all doing the same thing. We want to be coordinating and mutually reinforcing when we provide our assistance and training. We don’t want to contradict the other.

On US Actions Against Bin Laden

Osama Bin Laden, for us, is the number one international terrorist. The United States, working with our international partners, have been able capture, detain or kill more than two-thirds of the Al Qaeda leadership after 9/11. We also have been able to arrest/detain more than 3400 of their operatives and supporters. We have the highest priority in the apprehension of Osama Bin Laden as well as Ayman Al-Zawahiri. There is an intensified intelligence collection activity as well as counter-terrorism activity. I just came from Islamabad. There is certainly increased activity on the part of Pakistan and all the regional players.