WoT after death of Osama
Faheem Belharvi
War on terror has brought Pakistan immense suffering and ignominy. Death of Osama on May 2, 2011, at Abbottabad, does not matter because of the fact that al-Qaeda has already chartered. In this context, US war on terror in the aftermath of September 11, 2001 catastrophe, leading to developments such as American invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, which is now being waged on global and regional level by Washington’s various tactics and on the other side, response of al-Qaeda militants by clandestine attacks, as shown through a number of suicidal missions in Bali (2002), in 2003 in Khobar, Riyadh, Jakarta, Madrid, and a continued ‘different war’ in Iraq and Afghanistan resulting in many casualties of Americans and Europeans clearly point out that al-Qaeda has organised itself on world level.
As regards the previous bombings, US magazine Time wrote in December 1, 2003: “Al-Qaeda’s decimated Old Guard may no longer be able to mount elaborately detailed plots executed by trained terrorists under its direct command. But US counter-terrorism officials believe that remaining inner core has put out a general go-head to Islamist cells worldwide. Attack whenever and wherever you can, sometimes the mother ship may provide financial and logistical support, but the dirty work seems to be handled by local, autonomous units that are intimately familiar with their areas and can plan and attack below the radar of local security forces”.
The big event has upshot the fortunes of Obama and his Democrat party which was set to lose in next elections. It is a shot in the arm for Obama’s declining popularity and he would from now on handle the domestic and foreign policy issues with more confidence. It will for sure silence his critics; at least for some time and the heavy expenditure incurred on the defence will no more be lambasted since all agree that battle on terror has yet not finished.
Ignoring Pakistan’s huge sacrifices in war on terror, the western print and electronic media with BBC in the lead set aside objectivity and ethics and ruthlessly demonized Pakistan. Right wing newspapers in Britain in particular spat venom and wanted Pakistan to be put on the chopping block. In the US, the Republicans, Congress, House of Representatives, Pentagon, CIA have all ganged up against Pakistan and calls for punitive actions are being made. The US knows that with its crippled economy Pakistan is in no position to cut off relations with the US.
With such colossal all round losses, it seems that our sacrifices have gone down the drain. It is paradoxical to blame biggest victims of terrorism for culpability with terrorism. Ironically, there was no mention of the US unilateral act of aggression against a sovereign state, killing, wounding and kidnapping people and letting down an ally. Has the US been treating Pakistan fairly and playing straight? Is it Pakistan or America that has created the trust deficit? Biased and noxious attitude of the US and the west against Pakistan is nothing new and gives an insight to their inbred hatred for the Muslims.
They cannot believe that a small US force carried out the operation undetected and managed to sneak back uncontested. They would have been overjoyed if the intruding helicopters were shot down.
Their faith has been shattered and never before they felt so embarrassed and insecure. Their anger is mounting and they want to know the whole truth and those responsible for dereliction of duty or complicity punished. Some pro-active measures will have to be taken to restore their confidence. Anti-Americanism has touched new heights and even pro-American elements are dejected.
