Who won the war?

Five years after 9/11 all the major players involved in either 'Jihad' or 'war on terror' have failed to achieve their declared policy objectives. No one knows for sure, even today, the objectives of the 19 Middle Eastern adventurists who immaculately carried out those attacks that killed around 3000 innocent people.

 

In response, the military invasion of Afghanistan — to wipe out religious fanaticism from the most backward and tribal society of world — did not achieve the desired objective either. Despite having planted a ruler of their own choice, the US has failed to establish peace in Afghanistan. All those who are killed, and they are being killed by the dozens, are being dubbed as 'Taliban'. There is no institution or peace activist or intellectual or politician in the world to ask them that if there were only Taliban, why on earth was the country attacked on the pretext that it was a safe haven for al-Qaeda.

 

Pakistan, the most important strategic partner of US, has paid a heavy price already. While there were no terror attack inside US after 9/11, there have been dozens of terrorists attacks in Pakistan killing hundreds of innocent people. Besides, Pakistani forces have also suffered many casualties in their efforts to flush out Taliban from all over Pakistan, especially at the borders. Gen. Pervez Musharraf's conditional support for President Bush has not only politically divided the society; it has also resulted in an upsurge of religious extremism. The unprecedented success of religious obscurantists in 2002 general elections was also due to the pro-Bush policies of the military government.

 

US alienated not only its traditional Muslim allies in the Middle East but European nations also openly criticisd US policies regarding war on terror. In another misadventure, more than 3000 US soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Iraqi citizens have so far been killed after the 'victory' of the US in Iraq which is on the verge of a civil war.

 

Back home, the graph for the approval of Bush policies has touched rock bottom. He is being criticised for not capturing Osama Bin Laden and Mulla Omar, an objective for which Afghanistan was invaded. The decision of the Supreme Court against the treatment of terror suspects at Guantanamo Bay prison and Pentagon's acceptance of the ruling that required it to abide by the Geneva Conventions had also demoralised the forces on the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

According to a recently conducted opinion poll by Time/Discovery channel 49 per cent people as against 45 percent in United States consider that Bush Administration was using the threat of terrorism for political purposes. Fifty-nine per cent respondents were of the view that Bush Administration had no clear and well-thought policy to deal with terrorism. Majority of people who took part in this survey believed that US occupation of Iraq was hurting the cause of war on terrorism.

 

The truth is that the United States that had never been attacked on its own soil and had always considered itself invincible was attacked from within. Bush administration exaggerated the threat of terror attacks to justify its excessive use of military force in Iraq and Afghanistan. Its plans to use force against Iran and Syria has created a permanent feeling of fear among the American public. President Bush and his advisors are reluctant to accept the reality that they mishandled the war on terror.

 

There are no indications to suggest that the US has learnt its lesson — that unless it removed the causes for terrorism the efforts to eliminate terrorists and extremists would not succeed. People in United States are afraid to travel in planes and trains. A constant emergency with terror alerts prevails on all international airports and for passenger air travel has become an agonising experience.

 

The Muslims all over the world have paid a heavy price for a misadventure of a handful of zealots. Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine and Lebanon have turned into vast graveyards. The rulers in Afghanistan and Iraq are finding it hard to establish their writ. Osama Bin Laden in constantly on the run. General Pervez Musharraf is facing lots of domestic and international problems. Religious extremism and fanaticism have forced the progressive elements to the backfoot in Pakistan and other Muslim societies.

 

Enough food for thought. One, who won the war on terror? Two, what exactly did the enthusiasts who attacked World Trade Center and Pentagon five years ago achieve?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Courtesy: The News Pakistan

By Dr Mehdi Hasan