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Repercussions for Muslim world

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By Imtiaz Alam

ISLAMABAD: Accusing fingers are being raised against Osama bin Laden and his hosts Taliban, besides Islamic Jihad, for an unprecedented and horrifying attack on America which forced most powerful man in the world, US President Bush, from coming back to the White House and who said that "America will hunt down and punish" the terrorists.

Time has come for the Jihadi adventurists and their associates to face the wrath of the mightiest of the world whom no one can now stop from cleansing the menace and its apologists and quite ruthlessly in the wrongly accused Muslim world. Never had in its history the United States had ever faced such a catastrophe, not even during the attack on Pearl Harbour, with power symbols falling down one after the other from New York to Washington, including the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, in what appears to be a well coordinated terrorist attack by using the passenger planes.

Whoever had perpetrated this well coordinated and most provocative adventurist terrorist attack has in fact provoked the sole superpower to retaliate at will wherever it wants and with no one to stand in its way, and against the interests of the Muslim world. In, at least one attempt, the terrorists have shown how much even the United States is vulnerable to the retaliation by highly desperate and the extremely hopeless and the most frustrated among discriminated and radicalised sections in the Muslim world. What the alleged revenge seekers among the most detested militant elements ignored is the fact that they, if they are really involved, have in fact provoked the mightiest superpower in the human history to go berserk. Experts after experts in the US media left no ambiguity in implicating the "Islamic terrorists", especially Osama bin Laden, and the need for an "integrated action" against the perpetrators and backers of terrorism. Most disturbed in the Muslim World was Yasser Arafat, the PLO Chairman, who knew the adverse repercussions and rightly expressed his deeply and genuinely felt grief for the American people.

Despite a senseless display of some thoughtless jubilation among a very small number of Palestinian youth, the Palestinian leadership look genuine in condemning the most horrendous act. On the other hand, Taliban Foreign Minister Wakeel Ahmad, despite condemning the terrorists, looked unconvincing to the world since he defended bin Laden at the same time who is now increasingly being accused of planning such a well coordinated act. The American experts, from former secretary of state Henry Kissinger to ambassador Richard Holbrooke, implicated the Islamic militants, especially bin Laden, for the ghastly act. The emphasis was squarely laid on the door of rogue states, Taliban regime in Afghanistan in particular. It was alleged that the previous attack on the World Center, destruction of two US embassies in Africa, attack on US Cole ship in Yemen and an aborted plan to shoot down 11 passenger airplanes over Atlantic were planned and executed by Osama bin Laden or his associates.

The greatest sufferer of the US retaliation against a variety of "Islamic terrorists" are going to be the most unfortunate Palestinians and, more probably the "proud Afghans" being led by Taliban who will now be facing an unprecedented attack by the US and its broadest coalition, maybe worse than that on Iraq. This probability brings Pakistan into an embarrassing focus of an ally of the harbourers of Osama bin Laden, the Taliban.

Although Pakistan has agreed to observe UN Security Council sanctions against the Taliban, its pleas to engage Mulla Omar regime is going to backfire and may cost Pakistan too heavily if Islamabad did not now amend its Afghan policy drastically. To avoid a worst case scenario, Islamabad needs to leave Taliban on their own if they don't amend themselves, they are unlikely to since they refuse to listen to Pakistan's good advice under the influence of the rogue Arab fanatics in Afghanistan.

The showdown with the US and Security Council on Taliban that was being expected to come in the next six months is now very close and Islamabad must not in any way be backing up the rogue regime of Taliban to avoid being clubbed with the militia. Not only the Taliban, but also all kinds of Jihadis are going to be brought into a very rigorous scrutiny, including those Jihadis in Kashmir who are linked to Taliban and bin Laden.

President Musharraf, when he meets President Bush, will be facing a very uphill task in distancing from the Jihadis and the Taliban in particular. No one will now buy our argument in any way in defence of Jihad, even if it is related to the most genuine cause of the Kashmiris. This development will also toughen further New Delhi's position on "cross-border terrorism".

The repercussions of this unprecedented terrorist attack on the United States will have very deep repercussions on the relations between the Muslim world and the West. From aggressive intrusion into the sovereignty of the Muslim countries to the policy of immigration and violation of all international norms in tracking down the so-called terrorists in the Islamic world, the US has now got a very justifiable pretext to teach a lesson to the culprits that may not in fact affect the accused but the common people who will, in turn, look towards the fundamentalists who are quite competent in bringing ever increasing miseries to the common Muslims.

More importantly, and quite disturbingly, the massive terrorist attack on the US will strengthen the conservatives in the US Congress and the Cold War warriors in the Bush administration. A bipartisan consensus will emerge in favour of nuclear and conventional response against the rogue states and the terrorists who can only be handled by unconventional means. The missile defence system will now be pushed ahead regardless of the fact that it will erode three decades of non-proliferation regime. Whoever has executed this terrorist attack has in fact played as agent provocateurs to the advantage of the hard-liners in the US. It's time that the Muslim world distance itself from all kinds of Jihadis.

-- Anonymous, September 12, 2001