Suicide bombings continue to claim innocent lives in insurgency ravaged Iraq with the so called US backed unity government now grappling with its own survival. The major flaw in all of this has to be seen in the nature of American intervention in the politics of the region to suit its own security interest. The problem is further compounded by a culture of imposition that the US is extremely fond of indulging in. This is clearly seen in supporting or hand picking political regimes and thereby creating more divisions rather than social order. Truly, Iraq is today under a major social and political crisis, a situation many would even say is worse than when Saddam Hussein was in power. With civilian casualty ever increasing, President George W Bush should now realise that he is facing a major embarrassment. Whether it is at home or abroad, his leadership has come under question. The fall out of President Bush’s security approach is not confined to the borders of Iraq alone but has formed into an arc of crisis encircling almost all the major US satellite states—Afghanistan, Pakistan or the Middle East. The chain of violence and death enveloping this new Bush world (dis)order is a cause for concern and needs urgent correction in policies emanating from Washington.
Against this backdrop, the latest effort to shore up security coming from the Camp David Summit, which President Bush is hosting, should lay emphasis on the need for the US and its allies to approach the global war on terror, the crisis in Iraq and Afghanistan without triggering further violence. It is of fundamental importance for the US to focus on a broader security mechanism that goes beyond military strategy and American intervention. It needs to be understood that the underlying causes of terrorist violence lie in politics. And nothing illustrates this better than the existing sense of grievance, resentment, envy and hostility towards the west and in particular against the Americans whose action in Iraq since 1991 and the failure to do justice to the Palestine cause has allowed the breeding of terror networks across the Muslim world and in the process giving rise to 21st century jihads, people like Mohammad Atta who turned passenger airplanes into weapons of mass destruction.
Ultimately, a successful campaign against terrorism requires other non-military elements. One of them is resolving political conflicts—the breeding ground for discontent and hostile groups to emerge. Further there should be an intensified support for economic and human development especially in areas of Central Asia, the Arab world and northern Africa where repression and poverty provide breeding grounds for international terrorism. A major foreign policy overhaul is needed to redefine America’s leadership role in the world and one that is based on a broader security approach, which is humane, rationale and caters to not only American interest but towards peaceful co-existence and a just world order. Only by correcting the flaws in its policy will enable America to be at peace both with itself and with the rest of the world.
