By: K. Gautam
It is ironic that Pervez Musharraf has declared Emergency in Pakistan citing terrorism as one of the reasons – the very same terrorism that Pakistan has been abetting and spoon feeding for the last 2 decades. It is though debatable whether Emergency was declared for this reason or as a desperate move to stay in power.
Terrorism has come to a full circle for Pakistan. What started off as state policy with the Kashmir issue as justification has now boomeranged on Pakistan.
At the same time, it would not be correct to only blame Pakistan for the terrible state of affairs in the region. The United States has to take a major share of the blame. Pakistan was only an opportunist who came to the party and cashed in and is now repenting. How did it all start?
It all started with the erstwhile Soviet Union supporting the Communist Party of Afghanistan against the Islamic fundamentalist forces in the late 1970s. This was superseded by a full-scale invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 by the Soviets. The war lasted for a decade till 1989. This invasion was the catalyst for destabilization of the region, which would culminate in the Twin Tower attacks on September 11, 2001, and is still sending shock waves across the world.
Now what was the role of the United States?
The US, when it should have, as a responsible superpower taken peaceful measures to stabilize Afghanistan, chose to sponsor and provide military training to the Islamist Mujahideens there. It ignored the fact that the fundamentalists were tearing Afghanistan apart inciting terror and war. This entire move by the US was to prevent the advent of Communism setting in Afghanistan.
Now, the Mujahideens armed with money, arms and training were pulled in by Pakistan to invoke terror in Kashmir. These irresponsible acts by the Soviet Union, the United States, and Pakistan created a monster in the form of the Taliban and then an even bigger monster – The Al-Qaeda. What a price the world has to pay? What a price the United States themselves had to pay on 9/11?
However, the US still doesn’t seem to have learned its lesson. Though the invasion of Afghanistan post-9/11 can be justified to an extent as it was under the Taliban rule, the Iraqi invasion under the garb of it with lies and falsehood was unpardonable. As many as 6,55,000 Iraqis are reported to have been killed since the Iraqi invasion in 2003, which is an average of around 450 Iraqis killed per day for the last 4 years. Even considering the fact that the statistics is exaggerated as claimed by the Bush Administration, too many Iraqis have lost their lives, too many have lost their homes and livelihood, and too many have become incapacitated through lost limbs.
How can the world expect to contain terrorism if it continues to tolerate such atrocities by the United States? The War on Terror by Bush is a cruel joke, a joke he has played too far, for which others are paying for.
Some people have rightly described Terrorism as an amoeba. The more you decapitate it, the more it grows. I would describe Terrorism as a man-eating tiger that cannot be killed, but only cured. The War on Terror has been a disaster, and other measures are desperately required.
It is ironic that Pervez Musharraf has declared Emergency in Pakistan citing terrorism as one of the reasons – the very same terrorism that Pakistan has been abetting and spoon feeding for the last 2 decades. It is though debatable whether Emergency was declared for this reason or as a desperate move to stay in power.
Terrorism has come to a full circle for Pakistan. What started off as state policy with the Kashmir issue as justification has now boomeranged on Pakistan.
At the same time, it would not be correct to only blame Pakistan for the terrible state of affairs in the region. The United States has to take a major share of the blame. Pakistan was only an opportunist who came to the party and cashed in and is now repenting. How did it all start?
It all started with the erstwhile Soviet Union supporting the Communist Party of Afghanistan against the Islamic fundamentalist forces in the late 1970s. This was superseded by a full-scale invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 by the Soviets. The war lasted for a decade till 1989. This invasion was the catalyst for destabilization of the region, which would culminate in the Twin Tower attacks on September 11, 2001, and is still sending shock waves across the world.
Now what was the role of the United States?
The US, when it should have, as a responsible superpower taken peaceful measures to stabilize Afghanistan, chose to sponsor and provide military training to the Islamist Mujahideens there. It ignored the fact that the fundamentalists were tearing Afghanistan apart inciting terror and war. This entire move by the US was to prevent the advent of Communism setting in Afghanistan.
Now, the Mujahideens armed with money, arms and training were pulled in by Pakistan to invoke terror in Kashmir. These irresponsible acts by the Soviet Union, the United States, and Pakistan created a monster in the form of the Taliban and then an even bigger monster – The Al-Qaeda. What a price the world has to pay? What a price the United States themselves had to pay on 9/11?
However, the US still doesn’t seem to have learned its lesson. Though the invasion of Afghanistan post-9/11 can be justified to an extent as it was under the Taliban rule, the Iraqi invasion under the garb of it with lies and falsehood was unpardonable. As many as 6,55,000 Iraqis are reported to have been killed since the Iraqi invasion in 2003, which is an average of around 450 Iraqis killed per day for the last 4 years. Even considering the fact that the statistics is exaggerated as claimed by the Bush Administration, too many Iraqis have lost their lives, too many have lost their homes and livelihood, and too many have become incapacitated through lost limbs.
How can the world expect to contain terrorism if it continues to tolerate such atrocities by the United States? The War on Terror by Bush is a cruel joke, a joke he has played too far, for which others are paying for.
Some people have rightly described Terrorism as an amoeba. The more you decapitate it, the more it grows. I would describe Terrorism as a man-eating tiger that cannot be killed, but only cured. The War on Terror has been a disaster, and other measures are desperately required.
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