Growing cracks in US policy

Seven years ago today, the devastating September 11 attacks which killed nearly 3,000 people took place in New York and Washington D.C. Hijacked planes were crashed into New York's Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania.

US president George W. Bush immediately set the tone of his administration to go after the perpetrators and most Americans agreed with him on the need to pursue Al Qaida. Osama Bin Laden's name and face have since become so numbingly familiar to Americans. A national internal security agency called the Department of Homeland Security was set up in an attempt to make Americans feel safer. Thus, America's role in the world took a different turn and the “War on Terrorism'' theory began.

In 2002, Bush's state of the union address praised victory in Afghanistan and extended the war against Al Qaida to an “axis of evil'' (Iraq, Iran, and North Korea). The message by then was clear; America has the right to pre-empt future threats.

What happened seven years ago sets the tone in today's America. The country is fighting two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It has become the norm to have tight security at airports and there are now more air marshals patrolling the skies, as well as closer monitoring of those who enter the United States.

Today, there is a US president who is resolute in international belligerence. But the impact of 9/11 can also be seen internationally. In the Islamic and Arab worlds, most people consider the US to be synonymous with arrogant power and biased policies towards Israel. According to Abdul Bari Atwan, a leading commentator on the Middle East and Editor-in-Chief of Al Quds Al Arabi, the US got a golden chance to fix the world according to its vision as it was the only superpower for almost 20 years but instead, it created wars and behaved in a very arrogant way.

“The current US administration destroyed the country's values in the last eight years and America is no longer respected or feared,'' he says.

Global setting

There have been some changes in the global setting. The rise of China's soft power should also be noted. After centuries when the Atlantic was the strategic and economic centre of the world, the focus has moved to East Asia. Russia is also back in the news, following its recent invasion of Georgia.

Does this mean the US power is weakening? Atwan says yes and it will be a miserable end for this superpower. “Instead of one superpower, the former USSR, the US will have to deal with at least four rising superpowers: Russia, Europe, China, and India.''

“America has too many problems; economic problems, two wars of attrition, the Iranian nuclear file on its door steps, and a negative reputation abroad to name a few.''

These are signs that its cracks are beginning to widen. Interestingly, Atwan cautions, the collapse of the former USSR began in Afghanistan and it was like a domino factor. The same could happen for the United States.

The question of whether or not the US government has been able to balance legitimate national security concerns with the rights and freedoms that have characterised the American democracy remains an open one. For some analysts, measuring the success or failure of the Bush administration is an easy task.

John Esposito, professor of religion and international affairs at Georgetown University, says the US response to the attacks of 9/11 has been in large part a failure. “It has indeed fed anti-Americanism as well as the growth of extremism. Iraq is a perfect example: both in terms of Sunni-Shiite sectarian violence and the influx of foreign fighters and rise of other extremist groups, including Al Qaida.''

Esposito adds the magnitude of the number of dead and wounded and the destruction of Iraq's infrastructure are very difficult to even attempt to justify. “There is more militant violence today than there was before 9/11. This shows that the entire war on terror has only led to deaths, without delivering the desired result''.

Meanwhile, Al Qaida's movement continues to evolve in terms of recruiting new members and getting involved in local conflicts. Atwan says Al Qaida is regrouping again in Afghanistan and has managed to derail the US plan to remove the Taliban and set up a pro-American government. If nothing, he says, the US war in Afghanistan has deprived Al Qaida from their safe haven of Tora Bora, which is why they are now looking into the area between Pakistan and Afghanistan. “Al Qaida is lethal and active,'' he adds.

Since 2001, thousands of innocent people have been killed in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other theatres of the war on terror. Several people have been detained and many of those tortured and abused. It seems Washington's post 9/11 response has laid the ground work for conflict over the next decades — the consequences of which will be with us for many generations to come.

What does 9/11mean to you now? Has the 'War of terror' made an impact? Or has it only made international relations worse? Tell us at letter2editor@gulfnews.com or fill in the form bellow to send your comments.