Last Hope
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Has anyone noticed though that its nine years since Afghanistan was invaded?
Does anyone even remember? Does anyone care?
The Afghans still get killed like flies on a daily basis. Big deal. They have always been. But what is interesting is that the Americans and their comrades-in-arms from other freedom-loving nations too are dying in droves and no one, including the American people, seems to care two hoots. Afghanistan, a la Iraq, has been consigned to the collective bin of American amnesia.
No one seems interested in being reminded of the far war and why its being fought or when its likely to wrap up, if it ever does.
Right now the Americans have far more important, and far more serious, things to worry about, like the jobs, for instance. The worlds biggest economy is still stuck in the hole our friend George W. Bush buried it nicely. All the financial stimulus and pushes and shoves by the US government havent been able to get it out. So whos got the time to worry about a distant, disastrous war, thank you very much!
The neocons assured us that this war was absolutely vital to the future of America and survival of the civilized world. With us or against us, was the stark choice W. offered the world. And the world couldnt say no, especially when the offer was made with the worlds mightiest army holding gun to your head.
We were told that a country still living in the Stone Age by American standards of progress and the rag-tag band of Taleban with their ancient weapons, were a clear and present danger to the civilized world. It matters little if no Afghan was involved in the attacks on New York and Washington, the purported pretext of this war.
So what has the coalition of the willing achieved with this new crusade? If this war has already been won and the Taleban and Al-Qaeda have been beaten, what is the West still doing in the wild East? These questions are important and must be demanded by the Americans and countries whose forces are fighting along side the US in the worlds most hospitable terrain for guerrilla wars.
For much of the economic mess on the US Wall Street that feeds, drives and fuels the world economy, is directly and indirectly linked to the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Where do you think those trillions of dollars in the taxpayers money have gone? They have gone up in smoke in the killing fields of Afghanistan and Iraq, thats where they have gone!
President Barack Obama had a historic opportunity to end these unjust, unreasonable and unwinnable wars and clear the mind-boggling mess gifted to him by his predecessor.
As someone who had the courage to oppose the disaster that was to be Iraq War in its nascent stage, Obama should have turned his back on the shame of these wars and the larger so-called terror war. Instead hes ended up with Bushs baby in his hands, having enthusiastically adopted as he has his predecessors illegitimate brood.
OK, maybe it wasnt possible for Americas first nonwhite president with a Muslim middle name to cut and run from the wars being waged in the name of fighting Islamic terror immediately after taking over from W.
But why does our hero, who has so repeatedly talked of exploring a new way forward with the worlds Muslims, fail to see that these wars are not just fueling hatred and anger against the US and the West around the world but may very well be producing generations of ready recruits for groups like Al-Qaeda.
The shockingly callous drone attacks deep inside Pakistani territory on a daily basis have killed hundreds, perhaps thousands, of innocents over the past few years. And yet Pakistan is supposed to be Americas old ally and friend! With friends like these, as the Persian saying goes, who needs enemies?
Ironically, the attacks have seen a sudden upsurge under the Nobel Peace laureate president. If the Pakistanis have now taken to setting the fuel tankers headed for the US-NATO forces ablaze, they are doing so to cool the cauldron of cold fury and frustration blazing inside their hearts.
And this crackling inferno of anger is now spilling over far beyond Pakistan and Afghanistans borders. The case of the Times Square bomber, who was given life sentence this month, and this new European terror plot may only be the tip of the iceberg. What about many others who havent appeared on the radar? Or those who might have got away? Despite all the circus that that goes on these days at airports around the world in the name of security and the fancy gadgets at their disposal, surely you cant always succeed in catching all the plotters?
In the meantime, it has occurred to no one that maybe they should pause and look up the factors and forces that are sending wave after wave of angry young men to attack Western targets. You know, cause and effect! And even when they seem to realize the source of the strife, as US Commander Gen. David Petraeus recently did in his appearance before the Senate, little is done to check it.
Lets face it. Tragic as the 9/11 was, the US has exploited it to turn the entire planet into a battlefield where just about anyone and everyone is a terrorist and a clear and present danger to world peace. The Sept. 11 attacks claimed around 3,000 lives. In retribution that followed, over a million people have already paid with their lives. This is truly an asymmetrical war, if there ever was one. And theres no end in sight. How long will this go on? How many more innocents have to die before the world says enough is enough? When will this blood-spilling end?
I believe Obama when he says theres a great deal that is common between the West and Muslims and the so-called clash of civilizations can be and must be avoided. However, when you see Israel continuing to persecute the Palestinians with the Western connivance, and defenseless women and children are killed in the name of fighting terror in Afghanistan-Pakistan, its a little difficult to believe in the grand cause of civilizational dialogue.
Meanwhile, the liberal Europeans and the rednecks in Americas heartland are competing with each other to make their Muslim communities feel at home. After the storm over the Manhattan mosque and Florida outrage against the Quran, it seems Muslim-bashing is now part of mainstream America, with the assorted Republicans, Zionists and Fox News, of course, joining the fun. Across America, they have taken to streets declaring, Muslims are not welcome!
Across the Atlantic, the Swiss have banned the minarets and Belgium and France have made wearing the veil a crime. If this is the state of affairs in countries like Belgium, home to European Parliament and EU headquarters, and France, the land of liberte, egalite, fraternite, imagine the situation in societies like Denmark and the Netherlands.
Its no coincidence that two Muslim-bashing parties are about to taste power in Sweden and the Netherlands, the latter belonging to the lunatic Geert Wilders, notorious for his obnoxious film on the Quran.
Wheres all this confrontation going to eventually end? The answer has to be sought by both the West and the Muslim world. This dangerous gulf can be bridged only when you identify the real source of the rot. After nine years of fighting phantoms, maybe its time for the US and the West to do that.
-Arab News (Friday 22 Oct)
Does anyone even remember? Does anyone care?
The Afghans still get killed like flies on a daily basis. Big deal. They have always been. But what is interesting is that the Americans and their comrades-in-arms from other freedom-loving nations too are dying in droves and no one, including the American people, seems to care two hoots. Afghanistan, a la Iraq, has been consigned to the collective bin of American amnesia.
No one seems interested in being reminded of the far war and why its being fought or when its likely to wrap up, if it ever does.
Right now the Americans have far more important, and far more serious, things to worry about, like the jobs, for instance. The worlds biggest economy is still stuck in the hole our friend George W. Bush buried it nicely. All the financial stimulus and pushes and shoves by the US government havent been able to get it out. So whos got the time to worry about a distant, disastrous war, thank you very much!
The neocons assured us that this war was absolutely vital to the future of America and survival of the civilized world. With us or against us, was the stark choice W. offered the world. And the world couldnt say no, especially when the offer was made with the worlds mightiest army holding gun to your head.
We were told that a country still living in the Stone Age by American standards of progress and the rag-tag band of Taleban with their ancient weapons, were a clear and present danger to the civilized world. It matters little if no Afghan was involved in the attacks on New York and Washington, the purported pretext of this war.
So what has the coalition of the willing achieved with this new crusade? If this war has already been won and the Taleban and Al-Qaeda have been beaten, what is the West still doing in the wild East? These questions are important and must be demanded by the Americans and countries whose forces are fighting along side the US in the worlds most hospitable terrain for guerrilla wars.
For much of the economic mess on the US Wall Street that feeds, drives and fuels the world economy, is directly and indirectly linked to the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Where do you think those trillions of dollars in the taxpayers money have gone? They have gone up in smoke in the killing fields of Afghanistan and Iraq, thats where they have gone!
President Barack Obama had a historic opportunity to end these unjust, unreasonable and unwinnable wars and clear the mind-boggling mess gifted to him by his predecessor.
As someone who had the courage to oppose the disaster that was to be Iraq War in its nascent stage, Obama should have turned his back on the shame of these wars and the larger so-called terror war. Instead hes ended up with Bushs baby in his hands, having enthusiastically adopted as he has his predecessors illegitimate brood.
OK, maybe it wasnt possible for Americas first nonwhite president with a Muslim middle name to cut and run from the wars being waged in the name of fighting Islamic terror immediately after taking over from W.
But why does our hero, who has so repeatedly talked of exploring a new way forward with the worlds Muslims, fail to see that these wars are not just fueling hatred and anger against the US and the West around the world but may very well be producing generations of ready recruits for groups like Al-Qaeda.
The shockingly callous drone attacks deep inside Pakistani territory on a daily basis have killed hundreds, perhaps thousands, of innocents over the past few years. And yet Pakistan is supposed to be Americas old ally and friend! With friends like these, as the Persian saying goes, who needs enemies?
Ironically, the attacks have seen a sudden upsurge under the Nobel Peace laureate president. If the Pakistanis have now taken to setting the fuel tankers headed for the US-NATO forces ablaze, they are doing so to cool the cauldron of cold fury and frustration blazing inside their hearts.
And this crackling inferno of anger is now spilling over far beyond Pakistan and Afghanistans borders. The case of the Times Square bomber, who was given life sentence this month, and this new European terror plot may only be the tip of the iceberg. What about many others who havent appeared on the radar? Or those who might have got away? Despite all the circus that that goes on these days at airports around the world in the name of security and the fancy gadgets at their disposal, surely you cant always succeed in catching all the plotters?
In the meantime, it has occurred to no one that maybe they should pause and look up the factors and forces that are sending wave after wave of angry young men to attack Western targets. You know, cause and effect! And even when they seem to realize the source of the strife, as US Commander Gen. David Petraeus recently did in his appearance before the Senate, little is done to check it.
Lets face it. Tragic as the 9/11 was, the US has exploited it to turn the entire planet into a battlefield where just about anyone and everyone is a terrorist and a clear and present danger to world peace. The Sept. 11 attacks claimed around 3,000 lives. In retribution that followed, over a million people have already paid with their lives. This is truly an asymmetrical war, if there ever was one. And theres no end in sight. How long will this go on? How many more innocents have to die before the world says enough is enough? When will this blood-spilling end?
I believe Obama when he says theres a great deal that is common between the West and Muslims and the so-called clash of civilizations can be and must be avoided. However, when you see Israel continuing to persecute the Palestinians with the Western connivance, and defenseless women and children are killed in the name of fighting terror in Afghanistan-Pakistan, its a little difficult to believe in the grand cause of civilizational dialogue.
Meanwhile, the liberal Europeans and the rednecks in Americas heartland are competing with each other to make their Muslim communities feel at home. After the storm over the Manhattan mosque and Florida outrage against the Quran, it seems Muslim-bashing is now part of mainstream America, with the assorted Republicans, Zionists and Fox News, of course, joining the fun. Across America, they have taken to streets declaring, Muslims are not welcome!
Across the Atlantic, the Swiss have banned the minarets and Belgium and France have made wearing the veil a crime. If this is the state of affairs in countries like Belgium, home to European Parliament and EU headquarters, and France, the land of liberte, egalite, fraternite, imagine the situation in societies like Denmark and the Netherlands.
Its no coincidence that two Muslim-bashing parties are about to taste power in Sweden and the Netherlands, the latter belonging to the lunatic Geert Wilders, notorious for his obnoxious film on the Quran.
Wheres all this confrontation going to eventually end? The answer has to be sought by both the West and the Muslim world. This dangerous gulf can be bridged only when you identify the real source of the rot. After nine years of fighting phantoms, maybe its time for the US and the West to do that.
-Arab News (Friday 22 Oct)
