Jehad against America
17 Sep, 2001 · 577
Brig Sharma makes the point that the US should take swift and pulverizing punitive action against suspected terrorist outfits
The dramatic and nerve-shattering terrorist attack on
New York and
Washington on
USA , to the ruthless and determined terrorists. The attacks also exposed the serious laxity in the functioning of intelligence agencies. Aircraft were hijacked and commandeered away from their flying lanes for nearly forty minutes without arousing any suspicion. This goes to show that there can never be an impregnable ring of security. Precision, meticulousness and audacity of assaults indicate that terrorists or the group backing them up, are highly skilled and superbly motivated. The "Attack on
America " has reportedly left more than 5,000 dead almost twice the number seriously injured. The sheer magnitude of destruction has sent ominous reverberations through out the world. The U.K, European Union and even
Russia have decided to join hands to combat this rising menace. President George W Bush has said that
USA will hunt the terrorists and not only punish them but also punish those who harbour and shelter them.
Afghanistan and
Pakistan are already on the defensive and are making placatory overtures to the world.
USA and its most visible symbols of economic and military power for their attack. The Western world led by
USA has so far followed a policy of ambivalence and indifference as they were not directly affected by this evil, despite an attempt on the World Trade Centre in 1993. It may be recalled that during the Soviet occupation of
Afghanistan ,
USA was obsessed with the Afghan war, giving financial and material support to
Afghanistan via
Pakistan . Osama bin Laden was thus the creation of
USA . It was also guilty of fuelling Islamic fundamentalism since it suited her short term interests. In the process, they propped up dictatorship in
Pakistan giving disproportionately higher status to
Pakistan as a country in
South East Asia . Despite warnings from
India and the incontrovertible evidence of
Pakistan ’s complicity in terrorism,
USA chose to treat these as inanities.
Afghanistan and
Pakistan .
Pakistan has more than 120 training camps in POK and on the Afghan-Pakistan border. Each of these camps is equipped to train 100-250 militants.
Pakistan thus trains approximately 12,000 militants in a year. These militants have the entire world as their battlefield. Besides
Pakistan takes pride in providing shelter to high profile criminals like Dawood Ibrahim and possibly Osama bin Laden and his ilk. Pentagon’s own studies have indicted
Pakistan as a “rogue stateâ€Â
It may sound sadistic and uncharitable to say that it is just as well that terrorists chose
There is absolutely no doubt that “Islamic Fundamentalism “ has its fertile nurseries in
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