Daily Times

The sixteenth anniversary of the deplorable 9/11 attacks on New York’s Twin Towers and Washington DC’s Pentagon, was observed solemnly. People around the USA honoured thousands who died in the terror attacks on September 11, 2001. US President Donald Trump, presiding over his first 9/11 commemoration ceremony, stated: “Today, our entire nation grieves with you and with every family of those 2,977 innocent souls who were murdered by terrorists 16 years ago.”

At the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum in downtown New York City, people looked at the names of the victims engraved above the recessed pools where the Twin Towers once stood. In Shankesville, Pennsylvania, people gathered to look at names on the wall at the Flight 93 National Memorial, which is at the site where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed after it was hijacked by terrorists who were then overtaken by the plane’s passengers, which prevented the hijackers from reaching their target.

This year, the events were held in the backdrop of Hurricane Irma, which has devastated Florida. The question which is being asked is whether the world is a safer place in the aftermath of 9/11. The answer is no. The 9/11 attacks killed 2,996 people, injured over 6,000 and caused at least $10 billion in infrastructure and property damage. However, in retaliation, US forces in tandem with NATO, attacked and invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 and Iraq in 2003.

The attack on Iraq was based on the false and faulty premise that Saddam Hussain possessed weapons of mass destruction, which were never found. While casualties continue to rise both in Afghanistan and Iraq, Information Clearing House (ICH) has estimated the Cost of War in Iraq and Afghanistan as US $1,785,565,112,611; Number of Iraqis Slaughtered In US War And Occupation of Iraq “1,455,590”; Number of US Military Personnel Sacrificed (officially acknowledged) In US War And Occupation of Iraq 4,801; Number of International Occupation Force Troops Slaughtered In Afghanistan: 3,487.

The number of civilians killed in Afghanistan can only be estimated to be about 100,000 while in Pakistan, which has borne the brunt of the attacks, according to South Asia Terrorism Portal (SATP), up till September 10, 2017, the number of fatalities is 62,445, which comprises: 21,905 civilians, 6,817 security personnel and 33,733 terrorists.

Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) emerged from the ashes and has terrorised Pakistan. Various military operations have weakened the terror mongers but not decimated them fully because its leadership has found safe havens in Afghanistan. The Afghan Taliban on the other hand, who want to rid their motherland of foreign occupiers, are being demonised and used as an excuse by the US to retain its forces there.

Countries like Pakistan would have been destabilised long before and defanged of its nuclear weapons, but thanks to the resilience of its armed forces as well as the firm support of its all-weather friend China, it continues to exist

The Islamic world was shaken up in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Revolutions and uprising against various monarchs or dictators titled as the Arab Spring shook up the Middle East. Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen lost their long reigning rulers while chaos and conflict has replaced them. Syria was badly jolted, but its ruler Bashar al Asad has managed to cling to power. Syria and Iraq saw the rise of a new demonic phenomenon, the Daesh or Islamic State (IS) replacing the Al-Qaeda. It managed to occupy territory in Syria and Iraq, wreaked horror with its butchery but for the time being has been beaten back. Daesh spread its wings in Afghanistan and partly in India and Indonesia, where it has found some foothold but not secured its presence as yet.

US President Donald Trump has unfolded his Afghan Strategy and the gist of it is deploying more US forces there, and blaming Pakistan for the failures of the US.

The aftermath of 9/11 reveals the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates ganging up on tiny Qatar while the US sells weapons of mass destruction to both adversaries. In a nutshell, Islamophobia has been created and chaos prevails in the Islamic world which was perceived to be the enemy by the Occident.

Countries like Pakistan would have been destabilised long before and defanged of its nuclear weapons, but thanks to the resilience of its armed forces as well as the firm support of its all weather friend China, it continues to exist. Pakistan has paid an immense price in supporting the war on terror. Besides the number of lives lost, statespersons like Benazir Bhutto and Salmaan Taseer have been assassinated in cold blood by the terror mongers and in the case of the latter, the assassin was idolised by a group of people including some members of the judiciary. The world is no longer safe, and terror and mayhem has replaced peace and harmony.

The writer is a retired Group Captain of PAF. He is a columnist, analyst and TV talk show host, who has authored six books on current affairs, including three on China

Published in Daily Times, September 16^th 2017.