Ok, Barack Obama got what he so desperately needed just in time for the overly patriotic Americans to remember to vote him for a second term. Yes, war and economy are the agendas that win elections in the United States and Obama has made sure he let his people know that he is as virile as his reckless predecessor when it comes to unilateralism — one of the hallmarks of American Foreign Policy.
With Osama bin Laden's killing, the US has once again reminded the world that they don't care for international laws. But with Osama gone, is terror going to lose steam? No. Because, America's war on terror is just fixing the symptom and not the problem.
For terror to go away, the US has to first understand why most people in the Middle East hate them. Former US President George Bush once said, “…they (terrorists) hate our freedom and liberties.” No, Mr. Cowboy, they hate you and want to bomb your nation because you and your nation have created an environment non - conducive for the existence of exactly that “freedom and liberty” for the people of many nations, especially Islamic nations.
If there is one nation that has constantly destabilised the modern world, it is the United States, aided by their rich cowardly partners in the United Nations. In fact, the five permanent members of the elite Security Council — USA, France, Russian, China and England — are the biggest manufacturers and distributors of weapons in the world. Hypocrisy at its best. These five nations are also the most warring nations on this planet and US is the top performer amongst them, racking up enough wars to keep the world in limbo.
America is today seen as an arrogant war - mongering nation, oblivious to the concept of co - existence. But then United States itself was built upon the blood of millions of Native Indians.
As much as US has brought good to the world, it has also given us a generous showering of wars. They went to war with China (1945 - 46), then again in (1950 - 53); Korea (1950 - 53), Guatemala (1954, 1967 - 69), Indonesia (1958), Cuba (1959 - 60), Belgian Congo (1964), Peru (1965), Laos (1964 - 73), Vietnam (1961 - 73), Cambodia (1969 - 70, Grenada (1983), Libya (1986), El Salvador (1980s), Nicaragua (1980s), Panama (1989), Iraq (1991 - 99), Bosnia (1995), Sudan (1998), Yugoslavia (1999), Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2004). Is there any other country that has been so itchy for a war?
For the US, fighting wars has moved up from being just an itch to a habit and now looks like it’s become a full - blown addiction. But may be there is a reason; may be this is not pathological, considering US is a big weapons manufacturer; considering it destabilises nations that have rich natural resources, con-sidering it installs dictators of its choice and change them when it feels “freedom” calling. It is obvious this war-itch has a satiating scratch to it — money.
But hey, the United States does not fight wars, they only have operations. Yes, like surgeons in a hospital who remove organs with clinical precision, the US too removes dictators and nations that have become vestigial organs to them. Americans specialise in three kinds of operations — “Operation Freedom”, “Operation Justice” and “Operation Liberty.” The recent one “Operation Geronimo” is a “sub – specialty”, which they perform only on special occasions and on special patients like Pakistan, their friend supposedly.
Americans went to Afghanistan singing “Operation Enduring Freedom” and bombed Afghanistan which was already in the medieval age into stone age. Then they turned to Iraq. It began as a mission to find weapons of mass destruction. When none were found, it conveniently turned into “Operation Iraqi Freedom.”
But what they really wanted was Saddam Hussein, their former friend. After all, they helped him come to power, they sponsored his 8 – year - war with Iran. They even kept quiet when Saddam in 1988 gassed and killed millions of Kurdish people. But after 14 years, in a moment of epiphany, the US realised that Saddam was a “barbaric dictator”! And his people need to be saved. How convenient!
The same with Afghanistan. Americans may have forgotten but some of us remember how in 1997 a few senior Taliban military lords were invited to Houston, Texas, where they met US State Department officials and Petroleum giant Unocal’s executives. The reason for pampering Taliban? To coax them to allow an oil pipeline to be constructed in Afghanistan. Where was the American concern for human rights and oh! the dignity of women then? Because even back then, the Taliban were as abusive as they are today.
Americans and other rich nations have always found ways to keep nations with rich natural resources in constant state of destabilisation. These nations are usually in Africa and Middle East. So yes, USA's constant meddlesome foreign policy has upset the people of these nations and they will react. Does anyone really believe that America's intimidating military presence in the Middle East is because of their concern for human rights? By being there, they have done nothing but bleed the Arab people of blood and oil.
So how different are the Americans from terrorists? Not very. Terrorists are unilateral, so is America. Terrorists invoke god, so does America. Didn’t Bush say that god told him to invade Iraq?! Terrorists say they are freedom fighters, America assumes it is god's “democracy delivery mechanism”. Terrorists tell their people “Americans will kill you so help us save you”, Americans say “the terrorists will kill you all and destroy the world so let us clean them out for you”. Terrorists kill their own while achieving their goal, Americans have lost thousands of their own fighting wars they didn't need to. Terrorists have killed thousands, America along with the dictators it supported has killed thousands too. Terrorists don't care for laws except their own, and it is the same with America.
So how different are these two? One is an established democracy with a well - trained military force, the other a borderless creature with motivated fighters. But both use violence as a legitimate political instrument. And each say they are going to save us all from the other.
While America tries dictators at the International Court of Justice for committing crimes against humanity, or like in the case of Saddam Hussein forms a Special Tribunal, why does it not apply such laws on itself? George Bush also should be charged and tried for waging a false war on Iraq that killed thousands of innocent civilians and turned millions into refugees. Oh! We forgot, in Saddam's case, it was his choice whereas in the case of Bush, “god told him.”
For us Indians, the amusing part of this unilateral war on terror by the US is the mockery of the Pakistan Army. Pak army may roar like a tiger now, but it is nothing more than a rich man's pussy cat. While Pakistan takes a harmless comment by our Army Chief and turns it into a show of strength, we wonder where this pride and valour was when the American choppers were hovering for a good 40 minutes just 200 meters from their Defence Academy?
Yes in India we love America's exports like coke, jeans, iphones and McDonalds but we also take pride in our freedom, sovereignty and dignity, unlike our neighbours. Also while America is busy delivering democracy around the world, we request they ponder over the fact — why terrorists from all over the world find Pakistan the most conducive place to settle down? Why almost all the money that terrorists get have its origins in Pakistan?
American can never win the war on terror until it lets the people of the Middle East find their own path to freedom. America will never be free of terror as long as they have a fetish for setting up strategic naval bases like ugly warts all over the face of the globe. It will always be a terror target as long as it shows double standards. It will always be hated if it continues to act like the owner of this planet and treats the rest of the nations as its tenants. After all, doesn't everyone hate a bully?
