Today is five years to the day since the world stopped and watched in horror as New York’s twin towers burned, crumbled and came crashing to the ground.
The symbolism of that event is still an issue of torment, not only to the people of the United States, but all those who believe in freedom and democracy. The world still cringes as images of that fateful day are reproduced.
Democracy was dealt its most severe blow to date. The United States and, to a lesser extent Great Britain, embarked on the so called War on Terror in response. But how far have these two nations got in pursuing their goals?
One would have to theorise. It is impossible to know what would have happened, had both countries chosen the path of dialogue – one simply cannot imagine the outcome.
Would radical Muslims have taken an even harsher tack? Would they have backed off? Again, it is impossible to tell. But when one looks at the trend, maybe the radicals would have slowed down, but their mission is blind: eradicate all infidels (non Muslims).
If we were to look at matters they way they are, we would see that the US decided to invade Afghanistan to try and winkle out Osama bin Laden – the man who is the mastermind of the al-Qaeda mission. The US and Britain invaded and for a while seemed to succeed in their goals. In reality, once they took stock of the situation it became clear that the two governments had only succeeded in removing a hostile government and allowing part of the power vacuum that followed to be filled by warring factions. Bin Laden lived (we presume) to fight another day.
Next on the list was a full-blown invasion of Iraq, and we can see what happened there. A dictator was ousted and after initial scenes of apparent jubilation, things turned sour as squabbles between religious factions degenerated. This situation was fuelled by al-Qaeda, and other militant (yet affiliated) groups stoked the flames of religious hatred.
A translation of “al-Qaeda” speaks for itself: “the base”. In military terminology, a base is a place where a force can take refuge, restock, defend its position, bolster its ranks and move to another safe location – and this is precisely what this organisation does. It moves from one safe haven to another. We have heard of bases in Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and goodness only knows where else.
More worrying is the fact that British Muslims have turned their back on their country of birth to take up the terrorist cause, with 7/7 – Britain’s own 9/11 – being ample proof of this. It seems as if the two would-be policemen of the free West have seriously botched their game plan. Brainwashed terrorists from the harsh desert environments of (sic) Hackney, Leeds and Manchester are now plotting attacks against the US and the UK from their own homes. Something has gone very drastically wrong. If both the US and the UK carry on with this strategy against larger (and more fundamentalist) foes in Iran or Syria, we could be heading for global meltdown. The fallout would be incredible. British Muslims are rising up against the west in their own country of birth – one would only wonder how long it would take for the same to happen in the US.
Terror needs to be fought – but not with guns, rockets, warships and aircraft. Terrorism is a form of guerilla warfare – strike, retreat and hide. What is needed here is the hearts and mind approach. Win people’s hearts, then you can appeal to their minds and wits. Now how to do that is a whole different ball game. Yet, it is very clear that all the West is doing is making the Muslim world hate it even more. Terrorism is like the mythical hydra – chop off one of its heads and another (or more) grows back, more venomous than the original.