27 Dec. 2001 - 2 Jan. 2002
Issue No.566
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 27 Dec. 2001 - 2 Jan. 2002 Issue No.566 |
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What remains
In Washington's declarations, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that, now that it has effectively destroyed Al-Qa'eda and Taliban, America is readying for "step two" of the war on terrorism. Indeed large numbers of American forces have reached military bases in the Gulf. American military leaders have announced that Somalia is top of the list of candidate targets. The scope of war, they have said, will also encompass Iraq if the regime there rejects "smart sanctions" and the return of international observers.
There is a consensus among European states, especially France and Germany, that a military move against Iraq cannot be included in the framework of a war on terrorism. Washington has promised certain Arab parties, moreover, that the campaign would not affect any Arab countries. Yet revenge instincts -- and the defence industry lobby -- in the US administration are dissatisfied: the destruction of the USS Cole in Yemen, the death of 18 American soldiers in Somalia in 1993 and of over 200 marines in the course of the Lebanese Civil War some 20 years ago still await retribution. Amidst the hubris in Afghanistan over a victory that cost not a single US soldier, the warmongers in the Pentagon are gaining ground in American public opinion. In a poll conducted by ABC, 75 per cent of Americans supported striking "terrorist bases" in Yemen, Somalia and Sudan.
In an attempt to circumvent American intervention, the Yemeni regime, in accordance with an agreement it signed with America, quickly launched a military campaign against a few tribes accused of offering Al- Qa'eda terrorists safe haven; the clashes resulted in the death of dozens of people on both sides. And thus Yemen carved out a new wound that will fester with dire consequences even though no members of Al-Qa'eda were arrested in the process.
Somalia, which lacks a central government and suffers from unceasing factional warfare, has arrested a number of Kurds, Palestinians and others in the context of an anti- terrorist campaign -- circumstances that can only encourage the Americans to make Somalia their next target after Afghanistan. Sudan may be next in turn, since Washington relies on the Security Council resolution that gives it the right to pursue Al-Qa'eda as the primary suspect in the 11 September attacks wherever it happens to be located.
In this way America is setting an example of the irresponsible use of military power. It selects alleged military targets, on the pretext of combating terrorism, and leaves to its allies the task of dealing with the ruins and caring for civilian victims. America wages war, while others try to pick up the pieces. Its aggressive policy may have been justified in the case of Afghanistan, where the regime embraced Bin Laden's terrorist organisation, accused of perpetrating acts of terror in various parts of the world. This was the source of the almost unanimous support Washington received in this context.
Yet the conditions in question do not obtain in the case of targets like Somalia, Yemen, Sudan, Lebanon and Iraq. Arab states and the international community alike must oppose the notion that military action, in these cases, is justified. And America's aggression, on which Israel models its attacks on the Palestinians, must be fought to the end.
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