The great American nation came into being at the expense of the lives of the Native Americans. The settlers came with guns and spread chaos across the land. They killed the natives of the land in order to claim its wealth and resources completely. This tendency of spreading chaos and shedding blood has followed Americans everywhere. It seems, wherever the American government decides to set its foot, doom will follow. The most recent examples of this are the countries of Iraq and Afghanistan. Ever since 9/11 and the great decision of the West to invade Afghanistan, instead of just dealing with the threat of AL-Qaeda through diplomatic channels, terrorism has gone global.
The success of the powerful United States of America is clear from the fact that the Taliban with a sheer strength of 30,000 have restricted the Afghan army and the well-equipped US troops, numbering around 140,000, for over eight years. Not to mention that the terrorists’ activities of AL-Qaeda increased due to American intervention and had it not been for the efforts of countries like Pakistan, Al-Qaeda would have become stronger still. What is evident from this US led ‘War on Terror’ is that Afghanistan is in a much worse state than it was before American intervention. The same is true for Iraq; Americans invaded Iraq and destroyed it completely. Did they manage to curb terrorism there? The answer is no, instead American intervention led to a surge in terrorism in Iraq, which is threatening to spread all over the world.
What is it that American’s are doing wrong? Are they the bringers of plague and disease, spreading ruin and destruction in its wake or is it something else. It seems that America failed to understand the complicated politics of the tribal culture of Afghanistan. They came to rid the land of terrorism, but they failed to understand the mentality of the people. Firstly, Afghans have never tolerated invaders, let alone invaders who pay billions of dollars to motivated fighters and suicide bombers to take out those who are opposing the US regime. In contrast, the Afghan soldiers were given a meager salary of $120 per month. This led to the creation of an underground corrupt economy, which thrived on bribes and opposed whatever system that America was trying to support. This policy backfired as the people of Afghanistan started favoring Taliban when they realized the real source of terrorism. These people witnessed how the US backed groups resorted to violence and how the US led troops handed out justice. As a result of this US policy,Taliban have grown in strength and have recently claimed the provincial capital of Kunduz.
Now let’s consider the effectiveness of US intervention in Iraq and Syria. Iraq was invaded by US to overthrow the Saddam regime, which was accused of harboring weapons of mass destruction. These claims have long since been proven wrong and the innocent people of Iraq are paying the ultimate price of US blunder. US invasion and its flawed policies have now led to the creation of the most fearsome terrorist organization ‘ISIS’.
This terrorist group emerged in the so called opposition to US rule, but somehow it managed to persecute the very people of Iraq and Syria. What seems surprising is that the entire Iraqi army backed by U.S. weapons, U.S. planes bombing daily, 24/7 aerial surveillance, and U.S. military advisors at the ground level, so far ISIS is still holding most of its territory and is still dominant in large parts of Syria.
The group has managed to acquire the advanced weapons and vehicles that the United States had provided to the Iraqi army and is actively using it against the Iraqi and Syrian government. An important point worth highlighting here is that the targeting of the Russian supported Assad regime by ISIS is something that goes in the interest of the United States of America. It is perhaps this reason, which has led the Russian president to accuse the US of sponsoring and using ISIS for their own benefit.
These ill placed wars have not benefited America at home either. Not only have these wars caused an economic downturn but they have also affected the society psychologically. American soldiers who have participated in these wars are in requirement of extensive psychological and medical attention. Furthermore, there has been a rise in terrorism within America. Externally, US is being challenged everywhere and their superpower status is waning. Perhaps it is high time for US to realize the error of its ways and adopt a policy which is more humanitarian that anarchic.
ahmed sabir