More than 20 years ago, without any warning, I was struck by a cruel, cunning and relentless enemy, cancer. The tactics it employed were those of a modern day terrorist; it relied on stealth and hit and run tactics calculated to cause the maximum damage. But by far, its greatest weapon was the fear it evoked. Cancer in my mind’s eye spelt death.

For one whole year a battle was waged which required the concerted and consistent efforts of many. Cancer specialists, much like highly trained NSG commandos, led the charge, while family, friends and well wishers provided much needed moral and practical back up and support. It was a prolonged siege for which I was actively held hostage for almost nine months, with the enemy constantly changing tactics and location and threatening to spring back and attack at will. I believe the lessons I learnt from those months of coping with the terror within are of relevance in facing terror whereever it might be.

Lesson No 1: Do not waste time seeking an answer to, ‘Why me?’ This line of questioning leads nowhere besides making you increasingly frustrated, guilty, sorry for yourself and angry. Generally, the anger is misdirected at those closest to you who are your trusted and dependable allies.
Lesson No. 2: Do not bargain unless it is a tactic to buy time. Not only is your adversary not amenable to reason, but it gives him an advantage over you.
Lesson No. 3: Do not go into denial. Face reality head on and counter attack. For this to happen you must marshal all relevant facts about your adversary and gather the resources you need to fight back. These must be from credible and informed sources. If you need to consult a psychiatrist for your sanity, do so.
Lesson 4: Be ready to cooperate with the counter-attack team. See yourself as a vital and contributing member. Have confidence that the objective is your welfare and security at all times.
Lesson No.5: Believe in the audacity of hope. Do not give in even when you feel you are reaching breaking point and the odds appear to be weighed heavily against you. Remember, there was a time when Barack Obama thought that he would never be President of the USA because of his middle name, ‘Hussein’.
Lesson No.6: Plan to stay alive. Remember, there is always something you can do as long as you are alive to do it. So no matter how great the temptation, do not take any hasty or ill advised actions that increase your risk.
Lesson No.7: Keep chipping away at your adversary. Concentrate on his weak and vulnerable points. Everyone has them. While the shoulders may be big and bulky, the knees are often weak. Besides, it is likely that they are shaking as much as yours are!
Lesson No.8: Build yourself up. Do not see yourself as a helpless and puny being at the mercy of circumstances beyond your control. You are built for survival. Not only are you part of a vast universe that has existed for millions of years but within you are depths waiting to be plumbed. Dive right in.
Lesson No.9: Terror exists in the mind. The battle will ultimately be lost or won there. He who can control his emotional reactions and maintain a cool head even under the severest of provocations robs the terrorist of his most potent weapon: fear. If you see the terrorist for what he is, a coward, he cannot intimidate you.
Lesson No.10: Start preparing to face terror today. Strengthen your mental and emotional defenses. Practice the ‘rope a dope’ tactic used so effectively by the great boxer Muhammad Ali against George Fraser in their classic confrontation in Kinshasa, Zaire. Ali had done so many sit ups that his stomach muscles had become like a wall of steel. Consequently, no matter how many blows Foreman rained on his midriff, as he rested against the ropes, he could not penetrate his defenses. Ultimately, it was an exhausted Foreman who received the knock out punch. In your case, the defenses you need to develop and strengthen are in your mind.

The lessons enunciated above are as true for an individual as they are for a collective. Nations have to build an intelligence gathering infrastructure, secure their borders on land and at sea, as well as equip a highly trained counter-terrorism team to fight the threat of terror. But this is not enough. They need leaders with cool heads and with a single minded determination not to be diverted from the primary objective of securing the life and limb of their citizens. The challenge that those who treated my cancer faced was to use all the fire power at their disposal and yet never lose sight of the ultimate goal which was to secure my survival. This objective can never be compromised at any cost for this is what separates us from our adversary who is a cowardly and cold-blooded killer.

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