Islamic Movements in Algeria and the Strategy of Violence

36 Pages·2012·0.58 MB·English

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ISLAMIC MOVEMENTS IN
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BY
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LIEUTENANT COLONEL CHAIB SMAHI
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Algerian Army
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e DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A:
Approved for Public Release.
Distribution is Unlimited.
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Only a work of the United States Government is not subject to
copyright. The author is not an employee of the United States

Government. Consequently, this document may be protected by
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copyright.

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e USAWC CLASS OF 2011
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The views expressed in this student academic research
paper are those of the author and do not reflect the
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official policy or position of the Department of the
Army, Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.
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U.S. Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, PA 17013-5050

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Islamic Movements in Algeria and the Strategy of Violence
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Lieutenant Colonel Chaib Smahi
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14. ABSTRACT

As someone with firsthand experience, fighting against terrorism, I will attempt to explain these fanatic extremist
groups who used a religion of tolerance and transformed it to a fatal arsenal, to disrupt and destroy the values and
ethics of a whole nation.

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Islamism

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USAWC STRATEGY RESEARCH PROJECT

ISLAMIC MOVEMENTS IN ALGERIA AND THE STRATEGY OF VIOLENCE

by

Lieutenant Colonel Chaib Smahi
Algerian Army

Dr. J. Boone Bartholomees
Project Adviser

Only a work of the United States Government is not subject to copyright. The
author is not an employee of the United States Government. Consequently, this
document may be protected by copyright.

The views expressed in this student academic research paper are those of the author
and do not reflect the official policy or position of the Department of the Army,
Department of Defense, or the U.S. Government.

U.S. Army War College
CARLISLE BARRACKS, PENNSYLVANIA 17013

ABSTRACT

AUTHOR: Lieutenant Colonel Chaib Smahi

TITLE: Islamic Movements in Algeria and the Strategy of Violence

FORMAT: Strategy Research Project

DATE: 23 March 2011 WORD COUNT: 7,820 PAGES: 32

KEY TERMS: Islamism

CLASSIFICATION: Unclassified

As someone with firsthand experience, fighting against terrorism, I will attempt to
explain these fanatic extremist groups who used a religion of tolerance and transformed
it to a fatal arsenal, to disrupt and destroy the values and ethics of a whole nation.

ISLAMIC MOVEMENTS IN ALGERIA AND THE STRATEGY OF VIOLENCE

Twenty years ago, Algeria was on its way to becoming the first democratic
country in the middle east and Africa. The transition to a new era of freedom and
tolerance seemed to be successful, and most of the Arab countries scorned the
Algerian experience. The reason for that was the fear of the spread of this phenomenon
to their countries. Algeria was seen as a part of a global process that was unstoppable
and spreading across the region. The turn that events took reinforced the fear of
following Algeria‟s example. Algeria has been going through years of terror and
sabotage that caused more than 150,000 deaths, over one million internally displaced
persons and over 30 billion dollars in infrastructure and material damage. It is
something unseen in contemporary history Terrorists targete offi ials se urity
personnel journalists intelle tuals religious lergy oth Muslim an Christian
foreigners an or inary itizens a ies, elderly persons, women and children. They
destroyed schools, factories, public institutions, mosques, and even cemeteries.
The extreme violence that spread through the country for more than a decade,
and damaged it for the future, left the international community skeptical about this
experience and even wondering if Islam is compatible with democracy. The questions
were where would this experiment lead? Did it have an obvious end point? Would this
transition se ure Algeria‟s emo rati future?
The dilemma of Islamism in the Arab countries has to be examined using a range
of factors. The most important of all has no direct connection with the principles of
Islam, but is more related to a local culture rooted deeply in Arab society. This difficulty
is the resistance to peaceful change that is endemic in these countries. Leaders of the
Islamic project have never been aware of the implication of the reforms they were
claiming. If this project has to be applied it has to be embraced first by the entire
society. Islamists are in a rush. They are not willing to wait for this end, and they have
never accepted the notion that the process will take more time than they think they can
afford. On the other side, the Arab states have not had the ability to accommodate the
more dynamic forms of non-violent activism, and in particular, they have been unable to
integrate a major Islamic movement into the formal political system.
Egypt has refused to legalize the Muslim Brothers, and Morocco has consistently
refused to legalize the "Justice and Charity" movement. However, Algeria is the only
Arab country that has legalized the Islamic parties in order to not exclude any citizen
from enjoying his civil rights and to benefit from the savvy and knowledge of all the
Algerian people The Algerian government allowe the “Islami Front of Salvation” well
known as FIS to contest and win two elections, then decided that it could not cope with
the consequences and took the critical decision to dissolve the party. The Algerian
Islamists missed a great opportunity to write an important page in modern history and to
make their mark on the building of a new nation. Instead of this they could drive the
country into unknown turmoil and bloody violence.
The Political Environment
Under pressure of Algerian street demonstrations and huge riots in October
1988, the Algerian president made important concessions in order to positively respond
to the uprising. A new constitution that would facilitate political openness was adopted.
The constitution that was overwhelmingly accepted by voters allows multi-partisanism
and guarantees freedom of expression. The main change was that the new constitution
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