Sometime back the Americans commissioned a survey focusing on reasons why the outside world hates them. I don’t know whether the outcome of that survey ever reached on the tables of high-ups in Washington. After the Paris massacre, the world is joining hands to fight the menace of IS; every sane person shall wish them good luck as the world needs to be purged of this evil force. But will it be the end of story and time for living happily ever after? Sad, life is not that simple black and white, otherwise there won’t be any injustice, hatred and wars across the globe.
It’s time for introspection for all, for both Islamic and western worlds; time to track the roots and routes of IS and likewise terrorist groups. They may be wearing religious cloaks to prove their righteousness but that’s only to recruit innocent minds promising them the past glory of Muslim empires and afterlife rewards. But fact can’t be denied that IS is incarnation and far more brutal form of Al-Qaeda(AQ) but mind you AQ was not present in Iraq when US adventurism in Middle East took an ugly shape in 2003.
How the Americans provided moral ground and recruitment services for IS, AQ and Taliban is now an open secret — in an open letter to Obama administration four former US Air Force servicemen, earlier actively engaged in operating military drones over Afghanistan, Iraq and other conflict zones, have blamed the abuse of drone programme. They found the drone strategy as ‘self-defeating’ as indiscriminate civilian casualties, dubbed as collateral damage, finally lead to more hatred among local population and that’s what terrorists use to recruit comrades. But Obama administration is adamant to not only continue but increase the drone attacks frequency. Lack of any systematic and reliable intelligence on ground and leaving the decision to strike to Predator operators is playing in the hands of terrorists. Someone has to break this vicious cycle of destruction and death.
Malala Yousafzai gave the same message to President Obama in person but perhaps she was talking to a deaf mind. Perhaps it’s time to de-dust the survey report; it could be an interesting read during the lunch break.
MASOOD KHAN
Jubail, Saudi Arabia