Wednesday, June 29, 2011

UNITED STATES THE PROTAGONIST BEHIND TERRORISM !


During the cold war, the United States wanted to badly win against Russia. So great was their desire to win that rather than looking at what they were doing was ethically and morally wrong, they wanted to checkmate USSR at any cost. They took all possible measures and techniques to defeat Russia and used different shades of people ruthlessly to achieve their own gains. Afghanistan which was under Russian control at that point hence came into the picture. In the Afghan region, US used all shades of people – some of which were truly defending Islam, religious extremists and even thugs to work towards the end of Russia. All these groups were given sophisticated weaponry by the Americans to defeat the Russians, These efforts did not go in vain as it led to the demise of USSR and hence, victory of the United States. United States now dominated a unipolar world. But once the war was over, America had no control to reign these armed men in. These people who were well armed, belligerent later turned against each other and the rest of the civilized world in order to either impose their views on the rest of the world on to protect their wealth and power.

Afghanistan was a country which represented different identities of Afghanis. After the departure of Russia, various groups like Gulbudeen Hekmatyar, Massod, Abdul Rashid Dostum etc starting fighting amongst them. It is believed that Pakistan then raised an army of young Afghans laced and drained by Pakistani army which swept through Afghanistan and within weeks, took over Kabul. This army was the ‘Taliban‘.

Initially, people embraced them for they were tired by the perpetual bloodshed and fights for power and longed for a peaceful and serene atmosphere. However the Taliban turned out to be the most religiously extremist and wrote a bloody chapter in Afghani history. The rest is something the world has witnessed....the 9/11 bombings, the 26/11 terror attacks, the London metro bombing and the list goes on and on.

Iraq under Saddam Hussein was supplied with dangerous chemical weapons by USA for use against Iran in Iran-Iraq war (1980-88). Tens of thousands of Iraqis and Iranians perished in the war which ended without any side emerging as a victor. Later on, Saddam who was given full support for a decade was labelled as a ruthless dictator and was charged with storing weapons of mass destruction and having links with Al-Qaeda. Under the pretext of locating weapons of mass destruction, every nook and corner of Iraq was combed by UN inspectors for well over two years. Even though the inspectors gave clear report, Iraq was invaded and destroyed without obtaining UN approval and disregarding world protests. Without a doubt, these men would not be armed and creating terror all around the globe had it not been for United States. Even though it claims of eradicating terrorism from the world – it is but the root cause of today’s situation. For America, it’s always been about power. 

United States’ economy runs primarily upon on the sale of arms and ammunitions to other countries. It is – in fact – the USA which is still handing over arms to their enemies.US money started to flow in Pakistan from 1954. Pakistan has been given funds for over 55 years by the American government to strengthen its military when a military agreement was signed between the two countries, as it was an American ally during the Cold War. When the Afghanistan situation came to the forefront, United Nations began to give Pakistan financial aid in order to push the Soviets out of Afghanistan, in which they succeeded – but this led to the formation of Taliban – which later turned into a curse for the United States. 

After the 9/11 attacks, much visible changed in the attitude of America was seen – they heightened security and began to monitor all operations with great caution and security – but was there really a change? I doubt there was. You see, as it is mentioned before too, the United States to a large extent depends on the export of arms and ammunitions for the growth of its economy. So, the question arises, that even though we – on television, newspapers, etc – read that America strongly condemns terrorism and is taking drastic measures against it – is it in reality? I’m not talking about the Osama raid – yes, the 9/11 attacks shook the very foundations of the country and so, they undertook all possible measures to ensure that such an event does not occur ever again – but has United States stopped the production and extensive export of arms and ammunitions to other countries? No, it hasn’t. 

It is indeed interesting to note that if there were to be a war; United States would benefit the most because it is the largest exporter of arms!

America’s past and present testifies the fact that there is no country in the world matching its destructive oriented policies. To what extent is a country like the United States of America willing to go to maintain its supremacy in the world – is a question which only the future holds!

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