Between Terrorism and War – Where is Sanity?

by M. Abdul Bari

Sanity and Justice has now become the casualty in this so-called ‘war on terrorism', which is getting more vicious every day. The destruction by missiles, high altitude bombs, including cluster bombs, is causing carnage in an already war-ravaged Afghanistan. The ‘carpet bombing' and ‘precision' targeting is causing ‘collateral damages' and innocent Afghan people are dying at the altar of ‘freedom' and ‘civilized values' of the US. This is the message from the ‘champions' of morality today. Bombs fail to differentiate Al-Qaeeda's caves or dubious military targets from mud houses, hospitals, Red Cross warehouses, lorries carrying refugees and even mosques. The cruelty and recklessness of this conflict is astounding. If some one could come up with a new ‘cave seeking' missile in the US armoury, human deaths could probably been lessened.

Terrorists hijacked planes on the 11th September 2001and mindlessly murdered innocent people in the US. The US hawks have hijacked human emotion and started destroying a destroyed country on the 7th October to satisfy their ego, anger and, probably, their lust for domination of the Central Asia. The 11th September and the 7th October are the dark days in the beginning of 21st century. The death of thousands of innocent victims in the US and its universal condemnation is now a pretext to spill more blood, more destruction, fear and terror in the world. The parents of a young man who died in the World Trade Centre said recently, "We read enough of the news to sense that our government is heading in the direction of violent revenge, with the prospect of sons, daughters, parents, friends in distant lands dying, suffering and nursing further grievances against us. It is not the way to go...not in our son's name". Who listens?

You speak against it; you are either with the terrorists or at least an appeaser. You keep quiet; your conscience will haunt you. There is little choice left for the ordinary people, especially from the Muslim stock. Civil liberty in the US and many Western countries that attract the people from other parts of the world is now trampled. Hundreds of frightened Arab and South Asian people are arrested and kept under detention without any charge. Community harmony is in tatters. Suspicion, hate, anger are running high. The overwhelming majority of the Middle Eastern and South Asian Muslims living here, peaceful and hard working like any body else, are now caught between terrorism and war. But, alas, they are still the victims of the West's exploitation – from Morocco to Indonesia. Yet, they are abused as fundamentalists, fanatics or terrorists. The sufferers pay the price and at the same time blamed, for their ethnicity and religion. Spin doctoring and image making of modern age!

What kind of world are we living in today when, in the name of peace, a sovereign country is savagely bombed by a ‘peace-loving and compassionate' nation without the sanction of, at least a nominal, international organisation, called UNO? What kind of ‘enduring freedom' this carnage in Afghanistan is bringing to people in Afghanistan and the rest of the world? What kind of morality allows, in the name of war, a 10-year-old innocent boy of the opponent leader to be killed and the leaders of the ‘civilised world' never utter a word of sorrow? What kind of mind can spread anthrax spores to frighten ordinary people across the world? The world has stooped lower than the age of Jahiliyah!

Coming back to the tragedy of 11th September. Like other people, Muslims across the world, including prominent scholars and leaders from all segments, issued statements condemning the mindless killing of innocent civilians and asked for justice on the basis of the guilt. Muslim organisations and individuals in the West unequivocally did the same. As Islam's position is crystal clear on terrorism and injustice, they did this on their own volition, not for any political scoring or out of fear of the US vengeance. Indiscriminate murder and the shedding of blood, driving people out of their homes and lands, destruction of crops and livestock, the spreading of fasad, i.e., mischief and corruption by whoever it is, individual, group or country – Muslim or non-Muslim, are against Islam. Islam also abhors double standards - ‘my nation, right or wrong' is never accepted in Islam. Whoever did this - Muslim, Christian, Jew or other, should be brought to justice. Terrorists have no religion. Bringing religion in it is pathetic. The famous 32nd verse in Chapter 5 of the Qur'an makes it abundantly clear that killing an innocent person is killing the whole of humanity and saving a life is saving the whole of humanity.

Based on this clear principle, Muslims passionately asked for justice, not vengeance from the US and her allies, as they realised that emotion and anger were running high and might turn against Muslims, because of the prevalent Islamophobia in the West. It is estimated that about one fifth of the victims, people of different faith and nationality, might have been Muslims themselves. Yet, within hours of the attack, the so-called but known anti-Muslim ‘experts' came in the international media and pointed finger at Bin Laden, alias ‘Muslim fundamentalist terrorist'. Their myopic view found ‘villains' in Islam and Muslims. In spite of appeal from the voices of conscience not to abuse the emotion of the victims, and with no knowledge at that stage who committed the atrocities, the US media summarily executed Muslims. The hate, anger and rage against already fearful Muslim communities rose to hysteric proportion. The killing of a Sikh who resembled Muslim in the US, stoning of school bus containing Muslim young children in Australia, paralysing an Afghan taxi driver in Britain and many other incidents created a wave of trepidation among Muslims and other ‘Muslim looking' people. The community came under siege. Still, no group, including Al-Qaeeda, claimed responsibility. Nor was there any iota of proof who did it during the first few days of mayhem. One can understand the embarrassment and frustration of the FBI for their despicable failure in thwarting the tragedy. Muslims were there to pay for the price. What a double tragedy?

Then, comes the investigation. Instead of narrowing down from a wider group of possible suspects, as is normally done in any criminal investigation, the FBI mysteriously started from one single premise – and that Bin Laden and his Al-Qaeeda was the culprit. Once that was postulated and placed before the hawkish policy makers in Washington, they grabbed it. Bin Laden became a ‘suspect' and within days, ‘the prime suspect'. Now, his name is paraded before the world as the symbol of ‘evil'. Afghanistan, where he lives, became naturally implicated. As Afghanistan is ruled by Taleban who are considered stiff-necked by the US administration they immediately came into the sharp end of American rage. This is the name of the game in the 21st century world politics. Might is right indeed!

The question as to who in fact carried out the September 11th carnage has not been solved yet. The US itself clarified that the evidences to implicate Bin Laden cannot stand in any court of law. But it does not matter - Afghanistan has to pay for its intransigence. Justice can be shelved when it comes to weaker people. America, having the ability to find who the real culprits were may, one day, decide to bring it to the public. But that would not undo the present tragedy then.

Who could be the culprits in this terrorism on America? Given its history in recent decades, there could be a number of contending groups, Al-Qaeeda included. Some have equal, if not more, hatred against America. Quite a few of them have superior capabilities to carryout this sophisticated and precise operation. Who could be these players - anti-capitalist group, ex-communists, Serbian or Greek terrorists, the US bred terrorists such as those who belong to Timothy McVeigh's group or the Arab groups? Given the recent Israeli isolation in the world, some are also inclined to think about Mossad's involvement, albeit in strategic level. Whoever did it, they have succeeded in enraging America and the West against Muslims.

The fact that America has miserably failed to produce any proof that can stand in any court of law, including American, embarrasses them. That embarrassment is now covered up by their insistence to claim their ‘moral right' in bombing Afghanistan. Does Bin Laden have the capability to coordinate such an operation within the soil of America from his Afghan cave? Common sense says, no. But, we are asked to believe the ‘experts' - Bin Laden has to be a ‘super man' in that case! For arguments sake, even if there is a solid evidence that he is guilty of this atrocity, what does the international law want America to do? The man has not pleaded guilty; he only expressed his happiness in America's misery. Unless proven in the court of law, he cannot be punished. There is international law to apprehend suspects and bring them to justice, in Hague or any other suitable country, as was done with the Lockerbie bombers. Instead, the Taleban regime was ‘ordered' by the US to hand over Bin Laden. No negotiation, no UN involvement. America is the law! It took only 26 days to bring to an end the diplomacy and politics - enough time to amass US armada to attack a sovereign country. This contempt of justice, like many others in the past, has made America a target of hates and symbol fear to many in the world.

The world is now undergoing through tremendous anxiety, frustration and uncertainty. There are many unanswered questions in this war. What are its fallouts and who is gaining and losing in this crisis, at least for the moment?

Firstly, the hawkish elements and the trigger-happy pentagon bosses in Washington are now dancing in tune with the war. President Bush's ‘want him dead or alive' verdict on Bin Laden reminded the dark episode of the US history. What makes them so bullish? America does not step a foot without its national interest, its ‘security'. Its military presence in the heart of Arabia is only for this ‘interest'. It has now an eye on the Caspian basin in the north west of Afghanistan which has the world's third largest gas reserves and an estimated six billion barrels of oil as well. America needs them, as the Middle Eastern supply will not last long. To America securing the oil route is her priority. The unbending Taleban regime in Afghanistan has proved an obstacle for this. And, of course, there is the necessity of containing China and keeping Russia at bay.

Secondly, the US arms industry has, over the decades, surpassed many other industries in the world. After the fateful nuclear attack on Japan that ended the Second World War America became engaged in many wars and bombed many countries without the UN approval. This has created a massive war machine in the US. The fear in the cold war and artificial military need from surrogate countries demanded more arms and state-of-the-art military hardware. Some, like the Carlyle Group which is known as ‘the world's largest private equity firm', are run by top people like James Baker (ex-secretary of state), Frank Carlucci (ex-defence secretary and Donald Rumsfeld's close friend) George Soros (notorious for stabbing the Far Eastern rising economy). They need war.

Thirdly, many regimes and governments with dismal human rights records are now cynically taking advantage in eliminating dissents and terrorising freedom movements within their countries. Israel took no time in occupying Palestinian territories, killing hundreds of Palestinians and bulldozing villages with tanks and other heavy weapons. The West, in the pretext that Russia was fighting the Chechens ‘terrorists', gave the seal of approval to its ethnic cleansing in Chechnya. Without fear of criticism for its occupation of Kashmir from the West India bolstered its presence in Kashmir. Situation is similar in Tibet and Sinkiang, people are suffering under Chinese brutality. This appeasement to regional atrocities as reward for supporting the ‘coalition against terrorism' is going to make the world more dangerous in the future.

Fourthly, the warmongers in Afghanistan, the so-called Northern Alliance, who created mayhem during their rule after the Soviet withdrawal, are now supported by the US. Suddenly they have become the ‘good guys'. It is true that the Taleban regime in Afghanistan is flawed on many counts – religious strictness, political intransigence and image problems. But, in absence of a better alternative, they established some sort of order in the war-ravaged Afghanistan. Whether they are the people who can bring happiness and prosperity in the land is a matter for the future. It is an Afghan affair. But, the Northern Alliance is in no way a better option. Most of the Afghans or Pakistani people loath them. Even the military regime in Pakistan, America's trusted ally, has voiced their dissatisfaction with the idea of putting them in Kabul.

Now, who are the losers in this war! In a word, humanity. The ‘war on terrorism' has brought further global disorder and incalculable damage to Afghanistan, at least for the foreseeable future. One and a half million Afghans have already lost their lives in the past 23 years with many millions displaced. The Soviet savagery, Mujahideen internecine quarrel and now the US bombing – have brought nothing but destruction and death to the Afghans. The Afghan Diaspora has now surpassed all other Diasporas in the world. UNHCR reported that in 1992 the world's largest refugee population was from Afghanistan, numbering 4.5millions out of its 22 million people. The recent influx of refugees in the border of Pakistan due to the fear as well as bombings gives a harrowing picture, unparalleled human misery. Generations of Afghans are growing up in a society scarred and devastated by war, losing their childhood innocence, school education and civil life. Many people in their 30s and 40 are disfigured and handicapped, missing eyes, arms or legs – thanks to the Soviet occupation. Who knows how many joins them because of American bombing?

This is all because the Taleban regime dared to ask, ‘show us the evidence', in response to American demand of handing over Bin Laden. ‘No negotiation on terrorism', was America's answer. Afghanistan has to suffer and Pakistan has to support the US war, the edict came from the world's only superpower. As civil war is now looming in Pakistan, both the countries are in the same boat, albeit for different reasons. The shortsighted Pakistani Generals failed to read the writings on the wall. As soon as President Bush made his chilling remark, ‘you are either with us or with the terrorists', the Pakistani Generals capitulated. Over in Qatar, the US remark created a shudder among the spineless leaders of the OIC countries who only urged America not to bomb another Muslim country. What an impotence! However, the coercion to enlist the whole world into an American-led coalition did not cut ice in many capitals. As Afghanistan is burning, the world is getting more difficult.

The relation between the West and Islamic world is under stress. Triumphalists like Francis Fukuyama and confrontationists like Samuel Huntington are beating their drums saying they were right in postulating that humanity cannot live in peace with distinct and diverse cultures. Either they have to clash or one has to be the supreme over the rest. Pax-Americana rules! In fact, there is very little difference between these two theories. Fukuyama and Huntington gave the American hawks a purpose, a mission. Bush and Blair's personal popularity in their countries and the public support for war are pleasing to these camps who want to make the world unipolar, where America is in the centre of everything.

Muslims across the world have already been at the receiving ends of American hegemony. Being already losers so far, what else can they lose? There will be more anarchy and commotion in some countries until some good comes out of this mess. At present, Muslims constitute the largest number of refugees, representing the most oppressed people on earth. This needs change and the change has to come. Who knows what kind of change and when? Day follows night.

Is there any hope out of this calamity? Not in the immediate future. America has declared that it would not stop bombing even in the holy month of Ramada. It is ironic that powerful people, fat in arrogance, do not see the seed of their own downfall. Pharaoh claimed to be the ‘Lord' of Egypt and enslaved the people of Israel. He was drowned. The Roman, the Persian and the Ottoman empires in the past followed suit. Power is a two-edged sword. When used for justice it lasts, when misused it vanishes. It is difficult to foresee what would be the outcome of this war. Given the emotion of Muslims in the region and their preparedness to die for their cause, it could end up like another Vietnam to America. That probably will be the end of America's post-world supremacy. Even if America wins, it will only buy some time - unless it changes its attitude and policies. America is now in the peak of power. But history has proved that this is transitory. As America's moral legitimacy to lead the world is now in serious question it remains to be seen how the new world evolves.

If President Bush really wants to display the ‘civilised value' of America and if Mr. Blair wants to demonstrate ‘the moral fibre of Britain', they should immediately stop the war and do everything to engage in bold and imaginative non-violent initiatives to establish genuine peace in the world. They should address the understandable grievances and anger of many people against them and establish justice in those parts of the world where they have influence. They should do more than making gestures. They should ask Israel to end its illegal occupation of Palestine, as ordered by the Security Council. They should call for an end to the genocidal blockade which America and Britain have imposed on the suffering people of Iraq for more than a decade, causing deaths of half a million young children. People dying unjustly by war or sanction, leave a legacy of hatred among weak people that creates terrorists in the world. It is time for the people of America and Britain to seriously reflect and ask their leaders to find just, peaceful and long-term peaceful solutions to terrorism. Vengeance and destruction will simply tear the world apart. Great powers need great political courage.

As for the Muslims and other weaker people, it is time they wake up from slumber and make their voices heard. They need to speak out, without fear or prejudice, for peace and justice and against war and devastation. Inaction is capitulation. They need to clearly declare that they are neither with terrorism nor with the unjustified war, come what may.