America,
after September 11 attacks on WTC and Pentagon, placed itself at the
helm of "International Coalition against Terror". It also launched
an offensive against Afghanistan, the "Operation Infinite Justice"
from October 7, 2001. The cities in that already ravaged country such
as Kabul, Kandahar, Jalalabad, and Heart are continuously being bombed
in the last 14 days. The famous writer Arundhati Roy recently wrote
an article (Outlook, October 8, 2001) titled " The Algebra of Infinite
Justice". In that she has rightly mentioned that "people are starving
to death, while waiting to be killed… Bombing Afghanistan can only
scramble some old graves, disturb the dead".
Soul-searching
The whole world is supporting US efforts to eradicate the terrorism
from the world. While we welcome this most needed effort, some soul-searching
needs to be done if we are serious about handing over a peaceful world
to our progeny. All along United States, in an enthusiasm to make
the world "uni-polar", sponsored the wrong elements in Afghanistan
"without realising that it was financing a future war against itself".
If we ask questions who is Osama bin Laden and who are these Talibans,
we would realise that every sin committed in the morning would boomerang
at the sinner if not immediately may be in the afternoon. Afghanistan
and US are old friends. In 1979, after the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan,
the CIA and Pakistan's ISI cashed on the Afghanistans resistance to
Soviets. Over the years the CIA is reported to have funded and recruited
more than 1 lakh mujahideen from 40 Islamic countries. CIA also poured
in money and military equipments to these jehadis. When the sponsorship
was not sufficient, opium farms sprang up and drug (heroin) traffic
got picked up in the American streets. We are not willing to look
at the fundamental cause of today's plight. America would not like
to revisit its historical sins as it would embarrass its conscience.
But the world should open those pages and courageously show it to
America, of course in a courteous way that it looks at those pages.
Operation Infinite Damage
For the loss of 7000 lives in WTC, every day hundreds of civilians,
mostly handicapped, women and children are killed. It is painful to
hear that these deaths happen everyday because of the lack of precision
of the aerial attack. US planes and helicopters are bombing hospitals
in Kabul. In what ways, the lives of these civilians in Afghanistan
are less valuable than the lives of those who died in WTC attack?
If it is brushed aside by saying that "it is a hard choice" or "the
price is worth it", it is atrocious and shear arrogance. The Operation
Infinite Justice should be a more target-based (using targeted missile
to nab only the culprits) rather than a ravaging and an avenging war.
Operation Infinite Justice may be justified as a military strategy
but where is the logic or confidence to say that this would end the
global terrorism. Did America succeed in capturing Sadam Hussain?
War is not the ultimate strategy. It would only spawn more anger and
terror across the world. US has sophisticated high-tech weapons but
this kind of war is fought on a guerilla basis. This may lead to biological
and chemical war.
Multi-Pronged Strategy
This author would like to reiterate his view that the war would not
achieve its objective and it should be stopped immediately. The author
lists (wish-list) few strategies (multi-pronged) to bring total peace
to the world. If the United Nation wants to live upto the most coveted
award (Nobel prize for Peace) it has won recently, jointly with its
former Chief Koffi Annan, it should mobilise opinions on these lines
and impress upon US that war would not serve the purpose.. . ....more
