| |
Uncertainties Abound in Pinpointing the Real Enemy
Published
on Sunday, September 8, 2002 in the Toronto
Sun
|
|
Uncertainties
Abound in Pinpointing the Real Enemy
|
|
by
Eric Margolis
|
| |
|
PARIS -- A year after the 9/11 attacks on the United States, we know remarkably
little about the attackers, or about who really organized the complex operation
that seems well beyond the capabilities of amateur terrorists. Among the major
questions:
The suicide attackers were apparently middle-class Saudis, though some identities
are still in question. They were quiet, well-educated, "westernized" technical
students living in Hamburg, Germany, whose links to the bin Laden Afghan-based
al-Qaida remain uncertain. Part of the attack planning was done in Spain. The
men who piloted the doomed aircraft were trained at American flying schools. Some
may have briefly visited Afghanistan, but none resided there or were known al-Qaida
members. Were they sent by Osama bin Laden? Bin Laden lauded the attacks that
murdered 3,000 civilians, but denied involvement, though a trail of circumstantial
evidence leads to him.
Al-Qaida is portrayed by the U.S. government and media as an octopoid, world-wide
conspiracy with thousands of members. In fact, Qaida - which began as a guest-house
for holy warriors during the 1980s anti-Soviet struggle in Afghanistan, never
numbered more than 1,000 men, and usually much less. Today, there are probably
only 300 or so hardline Qaida members, scattered mainly in Afghanistan, Pakistan
and Europe. But there are numerous other underground, militant Islamic groups
that align themselves from time to time with Qaida, or draw inspiration from bin
Laden's fiery preachings. Such fighting groups as Egyptian Jihad, Gamma Islamiya,
and Algeria's Armed Islamic Groups, have formed a loose anti-American/anti-Israel
alliance of convenience. But other Islamic groups, notably Lebanon's Hezbollah,
have nothing to do with al-Qaida. Nor do Iraq and Syria, whose rulers have been
targets of bin Laden's wrath for a decade.
Taliban and a variety of Muslim resistance groups - Kashmiri independence fighters,
anti-communist insurgents from Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, Filipino Moros, and
Uighurs fighting China's ethnic absorption of Eastern Turkestan (Chinese Sinjiang),
have all been lumped together as "Qaida." Some of these Islamic International
Brigades were trained in old Afghan camps originally funded by CIA. Others went
through two service support and commando training camps run by al-Qaida - a sort
of Islamic version of Ft. Bragg, home of the U.S. Green Berets. The biggest camps
were not run by Qaida, but by ISI - Pakistani intelligence - preparing holy warriors,
or "jihadis," for combat in Indian-held Kashmir. Many of the 1,000 prisoners captured
and murdered by Uzbek forces of Gen. Rashid Dostam - assisted by U.S. Special
Forces - were from the international brigades.
President George Bush claimed America was attacked because the assailants
"hated" democracy and America's way of life. He describes terrorism as pure evil,
unrelated to any specific political events. This is nonsense. The U.S. was attacked
because of its deep involvement in Mideast affairs, and total backing for Israel's
iron-fisted repression of the Palestinians. In July, Washington agreed to Israel's
request to replenish huge amounts of heavy munitions used in crushing the Palestinian
intifada. These included $80 million US worth of TOW heavy anti-tank missiles
to be fired at buildings, tank shells packed with thousands of razor-sharp flechettes,
and Hellfire air-to-ground missiles. Israel reportedly used more heavy munitions
against Palestinians in one week last April than it expended in the previous 20
years. American money and weapons kill Arabs, Arabs kill Americans.
Bin Laden arrogated to himself the right to champion revenge against the United
States for the bloodbath in Palestine. "There will be no peace in America," bin
Laden warned, "until there is peace in Palestine." These frightening words were
never widely reported in the North American media, which is filled with uninformed
commentators explaining why Muslims are inherently bloodthirsty or anti-western.
America's virtual military occupation of Saudi Arabia, its punishment of Iraq
that caused at least 500,000 civilian deaths, and Bush's planned jihad against
Iraq have enraged the entire Islamic world against the United States. There is
little doubt more attacks against American targets will be coming. Such is the
cost of empire.
Did the 9/11 perpetrators foresee the immense damage they would inflict on
the United States? Besides the 3,000 Americans murdered, $70 billion in property
losses; $10 billion so far of airline losses; insurance rates across the U.S.
soaring by up to 300%. 9/11 helped puncture the stock market tech bubble that
brought $3 trillion in equity losses that cost 160,000 jobs. The next attack on
the U.S. may be designed to cause more economic mayhem rather than kill people,
targeting telecommunications nodes, power systems and airports.
9/11 triggered a psychotic episode in the Bush administration, producing
a futile invasion of Afghanistan; plans for war against Iraq, and possibly Iran,
spurred by the embarrassing failure to find bin Laden or crush al-Qaida. A massive,
$32-billion increase to a preposterous $396-billion defence budget - 36% of total
world military spending - as the deficit soars towards $150 billion. And Bush's
crass rejection of international accords on criminal justice, free trade, environmental
protection, disarmament, and human rights has damaged America's good name abroad.
The rest of the world, deeply dismayed, wonders when the Bush administration will
recover its senses.
Copyright © 2002, CANOE, a division of Netgraphe Inc.
###
|
 Printer Friendly Version
E-Mail This Article
|
|
|
