In the Name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

"WAR ON TERRORISM" - PRESIDENT BUSH'S "WMD"

[Shamim A Siddiqi, New York]

In his "epoch" making speech delivered on last Thursday, October 6, 2005 before the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington, President Bush presented his patented "War on Terrorism" [WOT] in naked aggressive mood in unconcealed words, phrases and terminologies. His entire rhetorics about WOT were concocted, baseless and frivolous without defining what terrorism is. His entire "free-thinking" envelopes around the tragedy of September11, 2001. Without ascertaining judiciously who could commit it, he within a couple of hours of this inhuman tragedy declared pin-pointedly towards a character that was made and developed by the USA in its own interest in the war of Afghanistan against Russian aggression. That mystery is still going on unresolved. Even the "9/11 Commission" was not entrusted to investigate as "who did it'?

His foreign policy rotating around WOT instigated him to coin the concept of preemptive attack and in its wake he destroyed and captured Afghanistan and then Iraq where "peace and security" are the rarest things to be traced out anywhere in these two unfortunate Muslim countries. More than four years have passed in this state of "limbo". Hundreds and thousands of innocent people at both the places have been killed along with thousands of Americans in uniform but Bush's slogan of WOT is continuing menacingly unabated. Now it has attained greater dimensions in his aforesaid speech. Before that his "War on Terror" was just a slogan, a catchword to intimidate the "idiot" despotic rulers of the Muslim world, a coercive means to force them to side with his high handed unrealistic policies, a "trump card" to hijack his own people and an undemocratic cry to usurp the human rights of the Muslim community of the USA.

However, his speech of October 6, 2005 has transformed his war-mongering slogan, WOT, into a reckless war philosophy and an aggressive ideology against his so-called "Islamic Radicalism" to give new impetus to his unsuccessful policies at home and new coverage to his totally unacceptable foreign policies that world has rejected "in mass" except the staunch collaborating governments of UK, Israel and India. Bush's hidden agenda against Islam has now come in the forefront. The cat has come out of the bag. He has opened all his cards to start a naked war against Islam on the pattern the USA fought the war against communism. He has unfolded his concept of "Crusade" against Islam. He has at length elaborated the hidden self-designed philosophy of the so-called 'terrorism" and personified it with "dead" Bin Laden and the illusive Zarqawi who in his opinion are determined to "capture" a Muslim land form "Spain to Indonesia" to establish an Islamic state and then "intimidate" Europe and attack America through developing their "Weapons of Mass Destruction". President Bush has expressed his determination to fight to the end these agents of terrorism. In other words he and his collaborators will appose tooth and nail the emergence of an Islamic State as a political entity anywhere in the Muslim world. Even the countries that will harbor the agents of terrorism like "Syria and Iran" as pinpointed by him will not be spared.

President Bush has thus put the foundation stone of the concept of "Clash of Civilization" into a forthcoming real episode of history. On flimsy grounds, he has showed his determination to prepare the West, his henchmen, to fight the remnants of Islam as an ideology, as a way of life wherever and in whatever form and shape it is found. Islam in his "considered" opinion can now live only as a "religion" as Christianity and Judaism are in a limited sense only to worship in mosques and vacate the world for the his liberal democracy, freedom-for all, globalization and "liberated" womenfolk. He has, thus, given a clear signal of total war against Islam in the name of his "War on Terror", his "Weapon of Mass Destruction" for Islam and the Muslim world

President Bush has, thus, given a wrong message to world opinion which is already set up against him and to his country whose fundamental values are very much akin to Islam. Bush may be ignoring them "knowingly" but the contemporary world is not ignorant as he may be. In fact, his statement is full of distortion of facts, false assertions and meaningful threats to the leadership, the so-called undemocratic despotic "rulers of the Muslim world which appear to be his main addressee in order to coerce them to tow down his lines. The fallacies of his approach can be put up in brief as follows:

* He could not distinguish between state terrorism and the response of oppressed "group" or people who respond to sate oppressions, tyranny and denial of human rights and having no choice. He has generalized them at par to hide the oppressive designs of his friends and collaborators.

* He has totally ignored the hard facts of history that long burning and bleeding issues like Palestine, Kashmir, Chechnya, Algeria, etc. are the creation of the "big five" or "G 8" or their henchmen. If these powers honesly could resolve those issues, in my humble way, I can assure President Bush that there will be no "terrorism" in the world at all. He has the "good offices" to do it but he will not do it as he is "playing" the game of vested interests.

* He has neither studied Islam nor has the will to do so. Islam has a resolute will of its own. The more he will try to crush it the more it will rebound and rebound with a great thud. The reaction that he is facing in Afghanistan, Iraq and around the world must open his eyes. He should know Muslims are very peaceful people. They could be approached without threat and declaration of war to get the issue resolved. It would have made much difference. Here the equation is quite clear. You solve their problems, they will love you. If not, the consequences are before you.

* President Bush knows it perfectly well that the Muslim world is dominated by his henchmen or yes-men who are the greatest oppressors in their respective countries and the Muslim population is totally against these regimes as well their "masters" sitting in Washington, London, Paris and Moscow. His unwise campaign against Islam will only antagonize them more against Uncle Sam.

"War on Terror" is President Bush's false ideology and a false ideology in no way can match and fight the truthful ideology of Islam, howsoever powerful may be its advocates. In the battle of the "Clash of Civilization" only the truth will win in the long run but in the mean time the world peace will suffer and humanity will cry in vain for its sustained wounds that will be afflicted on its already bleeding body and all its ill-effects are being written in the scroll of President Bush for which he will be accountable to posterity and to his Creator and Sustainer Whom he is going to meet soon in the life Hereafter. President Bush cannot avoid the grave consequences of his false "War on Terror" for staying a few years in power. He will pay a price that he cannot even imagine in the power-drunk atmosphere of Whitehouse.

Shamim A Siddiqi

October 9. 2005