It is fifteen calendar years today that the twin towers were brought down
\nin New York , the USA by radicalised Islamists under the cloak of Islam
\nfollowing \u00a0a mid-air hijack of \u00a0two US-bound commercial jetliners that
\nwreaked a large-scale destruction of the World Trade Centre and a part of
\nThe Pentagon in a most daring attack. That harrowing incident goes down in
\nhistory as a savage attack on civilisation which \u00a0resulted in a monumental
\nloss of human lives.
\nOn this day in question four hijacked jetliners reportedly flew over the
\nUnited States hitting targets below. I often sit back, hand on chin
\ncudgelling my brain to unravel the motive behind the attacks at the period
\nunder sad review, the more I try to find an answer the more I keep failing
\nat every turn. The men who carried out \u00a0September 11, 2001, attacks were
\ndoubtless a band of radicalised Islamists who loathed western values and
\ncultures and in their campaign of hate killed no fewer than 3,000 people
\nin the most powerful country in the world.
\nNew York, Washington, Virginia and Pennsylvania were hit in the attacks
\nwhich caused disgust and unbridled rage not only in the USA but across the
\nworld. This led to the mobilisation of the world’s largest military
\nalliance under the then President GW Bush Jnr. \u00a0with a firm resolve to
\npursue the terrorist to their hideouts.
\nOur knowledge of any past event is always incomplete, probably inaccurate,
\nbeclouded by ambivalent evidence and biased historians without extensive
\nresearch. \u00a0Does Islam permit radical Islamism and a destruction of human
\nlives? And does this violence go down well with those who profess the
\nfaith? I have had to do an in-depth research on this and also go the extra
\nmile via formal discourses with the adherents of the faith but was
\nastounded in no small measure \u00a0at their opinions and stance on the Quranic
\nteachings. If Islam is supposedly a religion of peace as they presented it
\nin the course of our discourse, \u00a0from whence comes their \u00a0doctrines that
\noften corrupt other adherents of the faith? This is a question that no one
\nhas been able to give me an answer to this day.
\nBe that as it may, the world is now under a more serious threat fifteen
\nyears after as terror-linked attacks are \u00a0on the ascending order of
\nmagnitude. In Africa, for instance, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb has
\nlaunched devastating attacks on Mali while Boko Haram holds sway in
\nNigeria’s northeast causing a large-scale destruction, Al-Shabab’s
\nactivities have taken a toll on human lives via cross-border attacks
\ncalling to mind the armed invasion of a shopping mall in Nairobi Kenya in
\nthe not too distant past.
\nAlthough America has taken some proactive measures and steps to forestall
\nany of such attacks, pockets of terror-linked attacks have been reported
\nin the country and in other countries in the West. A deadlier Islamist
\nterror group, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has unleashed fury
\nrecently on great civilisations in this part of the Old World. France has
\nbeen hard hit in these attacks and similar attacks by IS militants also
\ntook place in neighbouring Belgium causing an appalling destruction of
\nlives and property, the very recent one being the \u00a0Mediterranean coastal
\ncity of Nice in France.
\nToday, as the whole world quakes with terror, there is no denying fact
\nthat most of us sleep with one eye opened not knowing whose \u00a0turn \u00a0the
\nterrorists’ axe would chop like teak wood. Years after the American-led
\ninvasion of Iraq the death of Saddam has attracted a motley crew of
\ndiscontents in the Arab world. Countries that took part \u00a0in the gulf war
\nface increased terrorism threats which speak volumes for the subsequent
\nattacks \u00a0on western interests all over the world. On September 9, 2013,
\nAmerican Consulate in Benghazi was attacked and scores of US diplomats
\nwere killed. Terrorism threats years after the gulf war have doubtless
\ncontinued this time with undiminished intensity thus giving rise to
\nquestions as to why that war was ever prosecuted. However, there \u00a0remains,
\na natural tendency to ask if \u00a0the war and \u00a0the resurgent attacks changed
\nanything. But one and a half decade on, such conclusions seem
\nunjustified.
\nSeptember 11 did alter the focus and foreign policy of the George W. Bush
\nadministration. But the administration’s new approach, one that garnered
\nso much praise and so much criticism, was less transformative than
\ncontemporaries thought. Much of it was consistent with long-term trends in
\nU.S. foreign policy, and much has been continued by President Barack
\nObama. Some aspects merit the scorn often heaped on them; other aspects
\nmerit praise that was only grudging in the moment. Wherever one positions
\noneself, it is time to place the era in context and assess it as
\njudiciously as possible.
\nAll this writer hankers after is the lost golden age without weapons and
\nviolence and has often frowned upon the activities of perpetrators of
\nviolence and death merchants alike. Before 9\/11, the Bush administration
\nhad amid other sensitive issues \u00a0focused its foreign policy attention
\nChina and Russia; on determining whether a Middle East peace settlement
\nwas in the cards; on building a ballistic missile defense system; and on
\ncontemplating how to deal with “rogue” states such as Iran, Iraq, Libya,
\nand North Korea. At many meetings of the National Security Council,
\nofficials debated the pros and cons of a new sanctions regime against
\nSaddam Hussein’s dictatorial government in Baghdad; they also discussed
\nwhat would be done if U.S. planes enforcing the no-fly zones over Iraq
\nwere downed. Fortunately or unfortunately little was agreed on at the
\nperiod under sad review.
\nAs we can see terror has indeed become a thorny and contentious issue the
\nworld must join forces \u00a0to fight and bring to a standstill no matter whose
\nox is gored. Terror-linked attacks have cost the world so much that it has
\nbecome a hydra-headed international problem set to annihilate mankind if
\nit is allowed to rear its ugly head unabated. Countries have often been
\naccused of sponsoring and exporting terror and it has become absolutely
\nnecessary to disabuse the minds of rogue regimes who arm terrorist that
\nthe world can not continue to trudge on at their mercy.
\nA standing multi-national military high command is considered absolutely
\nnecessary to both \u00a0check and curtail the excesses of rogue nations who
\nhave been reasonably suspected and indicted for terrorism support and
\nsponsorship in cash or kind. The world can not continue to brood over the
\nmisfortunes of the past without putting far-reaching measures in place to
\ncheck the excesses , the causes of terrorism and thus make provision for a
\nsafer tomorrow. Urgent steps should be taken by the United Nations to
\nenforce arms control, disarmament and regime change in countries which are
\ncaught red-handed providing financial or tactical support.
\nThe big actors on the world stage commonly referred to as the Big-5 namely
\nthe United States, Russia, China, UK and France should as a matter of
\nurgency review their foreign policies. These countries are tarred with the
\nsame brush when it comes to the \u00a0quest for primacy and military supremacy,
\nunilateralism without the expressed consent of the rest of the permanent
\nmembers \u00a0of the UN security council. It would be recalled, however, that
\nthe USA with its allies went ahead and prosecuted the war in Iraq without
\nthe expressed consent of other permanent members. There is indeed a great
\ndanger in this, unilateralism should increasingly be discouraged when it
\ncomes to taking military action against rogue regimes and dictatorial
\ngovernments anywhere under the sun.
\nThere is also a need for greater understanding and cooperation \u00a0among the
\nBig-5. Great-power partnerships would doubtless reduce terror threats by
\nsending a strong message to leaders of \u00a0rogue states of the culpable
\nimplications when implicated or caught aiding and abetting terrorists.
\nEconomic liberalisation will remove trade restrictions, promote global
\neconomic growth and, therefore, reduce poverty. Recent studies have shown
\nthat much of transnational together with domestic terrorism stems from
\ngrievances against rich nations. In some cases, terrorist group while
\nexpressing grievances attack nationals and property of rich nations in
\ntheir land and such cases have been witnessed and recorded in countries
\nmost susceptible to terrorism. Cases of abductions of foreign nationals
\nand attack on properties have been widely reported in Pakistan, India,
\nIraq, Libya, Kenya, Nigeria and a host of other countries.
\nFractionalization is another contentious and thorny issue that must be
\nlooked into. A society that is fractionalized by conflicting interests
\nbrings about a weak government and when this occurs political instability
\nis elevated. In Nigeria, for instance, we see a country that is highly
\npolarised and this has resulted in a jihadist insurgency. In the
\nsouth-east, marginalisation has brought about separatist feelings and
\naspirations thus giving birth to conditions that could trigger off
\nterrorist acts. Urgent steps must be taken to address this emerging
\nproblem in that part of the country that is gradually rearing its ugly
\nhead on the ascending order of magnitude.
\nIyoha John Darlington , a social activist, political analyst and public
\ncommentator on national and global issues wrote from Turin, Italy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It is fifteen calendar years today that the twin towers were brought down in New York , the USA by radicalised Islamists under the cloak of Islam following \u00a0a mid-air…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33272,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles-opinions"],"yoast_head":"\n