War on Terror

War Against Terror

The September 11 2001 (9/11), terrorist attacks on the United States changed the perspective of the world towards terrorism especially the Al Qaeda. The world, in particular the major powers came to realize that the greatest threat they had in the 21st centaury was global terrorism and President Bush once said, “Al Qaeda is to terror what the Mafia is to crime” (George Bush, 2001,p.2). Just few days after September 11 2001, President Bush delivered a speech in which he declared that America was at war, a war to “find stop and defeat” every terror group of global reach (George Bush, 2001, p.5). On October 7 2001, the USA and UK launched a joint attack on Afghanistan, to overthrow the oppressive Taliban government and to destroy the Al Qaeda’s stronghold in the nation, and by 2011, 49 nations, including Australia had sent more than 140,000 soldiers into Afghanistan (Rogers Simon and Lisa Evans, 2009). The second phase of the ‘War on Terror” took the USA and its allies to Iraq, where they had suspected the Saddam Hussein led government was creating weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and was cooperating with the Al Qaeda to launch attacks on USA and its allies. On March 20 2003, the USA, UK and their allies launched an invasion of Iraq without the consent of the UN (Ewen MacAskill, and Julian Borger, 2004). The invasion eventually led to the capture and execution of Saddam Hussein. However, no evidence was found of the Saddam regime creating WMD or collaborating with the Al Qaeda to cause damage to the West (Pincus Walter and Dana Milbank, 2004).
The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have come at great costs with over 13,009 civilians loosing their lives in Afghanistan and over $ 1.7 trillion being spent by the USA alone in Afghanistan over the past decade fighting the Taliban and the Al Qaeda (Amy Bingham, 2012). In Iraq over 106,348 civilian people have lost their lives and over $ 800 billion have been spent. Further, thousands of soldiers have either been killed or fatally wounded (Amy Bingham, 2012).
Currently, all foreign troops have been withdrawn form Iraq and the same is expected to happen in Afghanistan by the end of 2014. However, the scars of war still remain in Iraq and Afghanistan. Today, Iraq is a torn nation with Iraqi citizens fighting amongst each other. The Iraqi Al Qaeda, which was established after the invasion in 2003 to fight foreign armies, has grown in size and stature. Just last week the Al Qaeda claimed responsibility for bomb attacks, which swept through Bagdad, in which more than 50 people were killed (BBC, 2013). The Prime Minister of Iraq later stated that the Al Qaeda were “trying to provoke a sectarian civil war,” between Shia and Sunni Muslims to destabilize the country and establish themselves as the major force in the country (BBC, 2013). Afghanistan too is in a fragile position, the once defeated Taliban has regained its confidence and has started to gain some of the power and land it lost during the USA led invasion in 2001. Across the boarder form Afghanistan; Pakistan has become a state with great uncertainty as terrorist groups linked with the Al Qaeda have caused great social and political unrest (Sohail Ahmed, 2010).
At the 11th memorial service of 9/11, President Obama stated that “Al Qaeda’s leadership has been devastated, and Osama bin Laden will never threaten us again. (Mary Bruce, 2012) ” Yet on the same day, the Al Qaeda, attacked the American Embassy in Libya, in which four people including the US Ambassador Christopher Stevens were killed (ALAN McLEAN, SERGIO PEÇANHA, ARCHIE TSE and LISA WAANANEN, 2012). Simon Jenkins, a writer for the Guardian, in the UK states that the response to the 9/11 attacks was just what Osama Bin Laden was dreaming about, because it gave him the opportunity to show case his belief. That the West is against the Muslim world and that the USA is the “the great Satan” (Simon Jenkins, 2011). This belief is also reiterated by Inayat Bunglawala, chair of Muslims4UK, an organization based in the UK to bridge the differences between Muslims and the West. According to Bunglawala, 9/11 was an invite for the USA to open warfare. An opportunity for the Al Qaeda to showcase to the world, in particular young Muslims that the world’s biggest supporter of freedom, equality and justice were in fact the biggest perpetrators of it and there was a need for groups like the Al Qaeda to protect their people, their values and their beliefs (Bunglawala, 2011). Even the FBI has stated has reiterated this belief. In its official website the FBI states that “the war in Iraq, NATO presence in Afghanistan, and Guantanamo, serve to inflame and, perhaps, radicalize those sympathetic to al Qaeda’s ideology” (Lauren B O’Brien, 2011). However, there are many that believe that the reaction to 9/11 was the right one. Jonathan Powell, chief of staff to Tony Blair believes that 9/11 was perhaps the greatest achievement of the Al Qaeda and that the response of USA and the major powers was the right one; as the group has been unable to amount another “spectacular attack” (Jonathan Powell, 2011). Further, Arab Spring has demonstrated that people of the Arab world really do not agree with the Al Qaeda ideologies. As none of the governments that have replaced the overthrown government have anything to do with the Al Qaeda. PJ Crowley, a professor at Penn State, too believes that a decade after 9/11 the world has changed but not in the way Osama Bin Laden hoped for. He too like Powell sates that the Arab spring has demonstrated that the people of the Arab world do not want to live in the environment of Al Qaeda or Bin Laden, but in an environment where everyone can prosper and share their views (PJ Crowley, 2011).
President Bush once said that the Al Qaeda’s goal not about “making money, its goal is remaking the world and imposing its radical beliefs on people everywhere” (George Bush, 2001,p 2). Terrorism is a born out of emotions and if the emotions are not understood and acted upon, than more often than not people tend to act in radical and dangerous ways. Yes, Al Qaeda has been decimated; its top leaders have been killed or captured. However, many innocent people have lost their lives, and Al Qaeda has been able to manipulate many young people. Today, the Al Qaeda still operates in Yemen, Pakistan, Somalia and Iraq, and perhaps the leaders of the world need to change the way they deal with terrorism because by just eliminating the branch does not eliminate the roots.

Bibliography:

Ahmed, Sohail. "Pakistan 's Economy Hit Hard by War on Terror." Caii RSS. N.p., 18 June 2010. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://centralasiaonline.com/en_GB/articles/caii/features/pakistan/2010/06/18/feature-01>.

"Al-Qaeda in Iraq Claims Deadly Baghdad Bombings." BBC News. BBC, 20 Mar. 2013. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21857424>.

BINGHAM, AMY. "2,000 Dead: Cost of War in Afghanistan." ABC News. ABC News Network, 01 Oct. 2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/2000-dead-cost-war-afghanistan/story?id=17367728>.

"Breitbart.com." Breitbart News Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-TV/2012/12/06/President-Karzai-Blames-US-For-Problems-in-Afghanistan>.

Bruce, Mary. "Obama at 9/11 Memorial: ‘No Act Of Terrorism Can Ever Change What We Stand For’." ABC News. ABC News Network, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/09/obama-at-911-memorial-no-act-of-terrorism-can-ever-change-what-we-stand-for/>.

Bush, George. "Transcript of President Bush 's Address." CNN. CNN, 21 Sept. 2001. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://articles.cnn.com/2001-09-20/us/gen.bush.transcript_1_joint-session-national-anthem-citizens?_s=PM:US>.

Jenkins, Simon, Jonathan Powell, Mohammed Hanif, PJ Crowley, Orzala Ashraf Nemat, George Galloway, Aditya Chakrabortty, Inayat Bunglawala, and Carne Ross. "What Impact Did 9/11 Have on the World?" The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 05 Sept. 2011. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/sep/05/9-11-impact-world-al-qaida>.

MacAskill, Ewen, and Julian Borger. "Iraq War Was Illegal and Breached UN Charter, Says Annan." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 15 Sept. 2004. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/sep/16/iraq.iraq>.

McLEAN, ALAN, SERGIO PEÇANHA, ARCHIE TSE, and LISA WAANANEN. The New York Times. The New York Times, 12 Oct. 2012. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/09/20/world/africa/the-attack-on-the-american-mission-in-benghazi-libya.html?_r=0>.

O’Brien, Lauren B. "The Evolution of Terrorism Since 9/11." FBI. FBI, Sept. 2011. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/law-enforcement-bulletin/september-2011/the-evolution-of-terrorism-since-9-11>.

Pincus, Walter, and Dana Milbank. "Al Qaeda-Hussein Link Is Dismissed." The Washington Post. The Washington Post, 17 June 2004. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47812-2004Jun16.html>.

Rogers, Simon, and Ami Sedghi. "Afghanistan Civilian Casualties: Year by Year, Month by Month." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 10 Nov. 2011. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/aug/10/afghanistan-civilian-casualties-statistics>.

Rogers, Simon, and Lisa Evans. "Afghanistan Troop Numbers Data: How Many Does Each Country Send to the Nato Mission There?" The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 08 Sept. 2009. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2009/sep/21/afghanistan-troop-numbers-nato-data>.

"September 2011." FBI. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/law-enforcement-bulletin/september-2011>.

Shane, Scott. "Report Says 54 Countries Helped C.I.A. After 9/11." The New York Times. The New York Times, 05 Feb. 2013. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/05/us/politics/report-says-54-countries-helped-cia-with-interrogations-after-9-11.html?_r=0>.

"The War in Iraq." The Returned and Services League of Australia. The Returned and Services League of Australia, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://rslnsw.org.au/commemoration/heritage/the-war-in-iraq>.

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