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America's Military Campaign in the Region
19-Nov-2001
by Mullah Abdus-Salam Zaeef, Taliban Ambassador to Pakistan
(Published in the Frontier Post, Pakistan)
http://66.96.205.195/~azzam/afghan/html/afghanarticleamericanimperialism.htm
It is common knowledge that American Imperialism is the custodian of global
capitalism. Safeguarding the interests of this
menace that has crossed national boundaries in search of greener pastures
around the world.
American Imperialism, emerging as the most savage power after the World War
II in which it reduced to ashes two big islands of
Japan, had proven its credentials as candidate to play the role of
international mercenary for the global capital. Thus, the
capitalist world selected the Americans as their watchdog on the basis of
their savageness in World War II. Barbarism and
tyranny are hallmarks of American life and history. The native Americans
labeled, as Red Indians are reminiscent of the
American savages who committed ethnic cleansing through the length and width
of an entire continent. After wiping out the native
American, they heaped unparalleled miseries on the people of another
continent, Africa, to build their newfound pastures. The
entire edifice of their so-called civilization was, thus, laid upon the most
atrocious form of tyranny.
Pragmatism, the philosophy of American life that they are brazenly proud of
means nothing more than pure selfishness and
opportunism. Their entire history is a testimony to the fact that they have
no permanent foes and friends, jumping into the fray
whenever the environment is found to be entirely conducive but running for
cover whenever the stakes are high. These fair-weather
friends, notwithstanding the spurious and opportunistic war-time promises of
standing through thick and thin to their allies, have
an impeccable record of not even looking back to inquire about these allies
at the time of their misery. One should not be
bewildered, therefore, to find their allies left in the lurch licking their
wounds with the American 'master' enjoying the scene from a
safe distance.
The bright slogans of freedom and human rights raised by these mercenaries
of the global money are mere propaganda tools to
make inroads in the Third World and use them as a pretext of interfering in
the affairs of other nations for their own petty and
selfish goals. To further their Capitalist objectives, Free Market Economy
has been imposed on the world through carrot and stick
policy, bullying adamant nations into submission and bulldozing their way
all over the world through their puppet international
organizations and monetary institutions like UNO, IMF, World Bank etc.
The Americans were given tough time by the Communist Bloc for more than
seven decades. Both the Communist and the
Capitalist blocs were fiercely competing to grab the lion's share of the
natural resources of the world, particularly the oil-rich
region of the Gulf and the international navigation routes in the warm
waters. The American defeat at the hands of the
Vietnamese was a great setback to their leadership claims and qualities in
the eyes of the capitalist world due to its utter failure
to deliver the goods despite its extreme savageness in the war. Had there
been any formidable candidate for the leadership of the
capitalist world, the American gangster would have been ditched and a new
'Rambo' would have been crowned. Hence, the want
of a suitable candidate allowed the ageing and dying leader to remain in the
driving seat but with little grip over the shaky balance
of power.
The Afghan Jihad provided the dying capitalism and the ailing leader with a
golden opportunity not only to avenge its humiliating
defeat in Vietnam but also to get rid of its archrival without offering any
sacrifice in flesh and blood. The Muslim and freedom
loving Afghan nation, in line with the tenets of its faith and true to its
invincible record, not only gallantly defended the motherland
but also fatally wounded the Polar Bear breaking the myth of its
invincibility and exposing the hollowness of Communism. The
world came to realize that the Islamic faith is mightier than modern
technology as it is the only Religion that can make its
followers encounter the aggressors as a formidable wall sacrificing their
souls for the better reward of the Hereafter.
The Islamic reawakening due to the Afghan Jihad send shudders down the
spines of the colonial West and alarm bells rung in
the anti Muslim camps which had plotted to perpetuate their rule of terror
and loot in the Muslim world. With the collapse of the
Communist Bloc and the much-celebrated demise of the Soviet Union, the
arrogant American started feeling to be the sole
masters of the world. Arrogance and stupidity combined made the Americans
believe that the entire world is theirs to rule and
loot the way they like. Soon, they "informed" their to-be-subjects
that they
had laid out a New World Order for them to follow.
Under the New World Order capitalism, the economic doctrine of the
materialistic West, was to be practiced by all and the claim
of the American supremacy and sovereignty over the entire world euphemized
as the leadership of the civilized world had to be
acceded to without raising even an eyebrow. They were sure that it was only
a question of time for their dream of becoming the
sole masters of the entire world to come true.
The American came to know that their ambition could not be realized unless
they directly control the life line of the modern world
the oil-rich Gulf, not only to manoeuver the prices of oil keeping them low
to serve the interests of the capitalist world but to also
ensure that the region does not fall in the hands of the Muslim masses who
drew inspiration from the gallant struggle of their
Afghan brothers. The drama of the invasion of Kuwait, which was undoubtedly
orchestrated by the Americans, provided them with
the necessary pretext for military intervention. With the bill footed by the
Arab countries they were not only able to test their new
weapons and revive their recession-hit economy, but also made sure that the
entire region remained under their firm control.
These mercenaries of global capitalism also wanted to gain access to the
mostly untapped natural resources of Central Asia, but
a truly Islamic Afghanistan could prove an impregnable barrier in the way of
fulfillment of this goal. Through their own
machinations and the wheeling and dealing of their agents in and around
Afghanistan, the Americans succeeded in pitting the
Mujahideen groups against each other to ensure their mutual elimination and
complete destruction of the arm stockpiles left by
the Russians.
Last but not the least they aimed, through fuelling the intra-Afghan
fighting, at portraying Jihad solely responsible for all the
miseries of the Afghan nation so that no other Muslim nation attempts to
emulate the Afghan model. The celebrated appearance
of Taliban in the gloomy horizons of Afghanistan was a true embodiment of
the wishes and a befitting reward for the oppressed
Afghan nation on one hand and the death nail in the coffin of the enemies of
Islam on the other.
The Taliban, truly conceived by the nation as the custodians of the fruits
of Afghan Jihad and welcomed by the nation fed up with
the intra-fighting gained control of more than 95 per cent of the country
with little or no resistance. Aghast at this new
development, the Americans tried to exploit the situation. With peace
restored to Afghanistan under the Taliban rule, the
American tried to start trade and business with Central Asia via
Afghanistan. American oil and gas companies such as UNOCAL
came to the region with great pomp and show, making overtures to the new
government in a bid to secure a foothold for their oil
and gas companies.
In this noble pursuit, they even overlooked the protestations of their
European allies over some of the policies of the Islamic
Emirate. But to their dismay, they found that they are faced with a new
leadership which does not bend to the so-called
superpower and is not ready at any price, to mortgage the future of its
country to anyone. They also realized that despite their
efforts to block the way of an Islamic government in Afghanistan, the
sacrifices of the Afghan nation has come to fruition in the
shape of a pure Islamic government which has decided to implement the
Shariah of Allah
in total.
Therefore, the Americans decided to unleash media war against Afghanistan
finding faults and criticizing the purely Islamic
policies of the Islamic Emirate. The Americans were not only enraged at the
prospect of losing a promising region but were also
wary of the Islamic system being truly implemented on the soil of
Afghanistan as it could serve as a model for other Muslims. No
stone was left unturned to tarnish the image of Islamic Emirate of
Afghanistan and isolate it in the world community. To
pressurize us, Mr Rabbani, the ousted President, who spent most of his time
in Tajikistan and other countries continued to be
recognised as the legitimate head of Afghan government which had quasi
control over less that 5 per cent of Afghan territory.
Further, the Americans dubbed as a terrorist Osama bin Laden who was living
in Afghanistan before the advent of Taliban and
demanded from the Islamic Emirate to hand him over to the Americans.
Despite our persistent demands of any evidence against his involvement in
any terrorist activities, the so-called champions of
freedom and justice failed to provide us with any proof. Our desire to find
a solution to this problem through negotiations was
rebuffed time and again. The Americans used all tactics to browbeat the
Muslims of Afghanistan but in vain.
The Clinton administration embroiled in the humiliating sexual scandals of
Clinton authorised, as a diversion tactic, the terrorist
act of bombarding Afghanistan with cruise missiles killing dozens of
innocent civilians. As a proof of our claim that no body is
allowed to use the Afghan soil for any hostilities against any country, we
placed strict restrictions on communications and
activities of Bin Laden. The Americans felt that their plans in the region
could be seriously jeopardised by the rapprochement
between the resurgent Russians under Putin and the Chinese.
The launching of Shanghai V forum was a clear indication that a new alliance
to counter the American hegemonic designs was
crystallising in the region. The Americans hastened to win over the Indians
as a counter balance to this emerging alliance and to
preempt any attempts by the Indians to join the forum or by the members of
the forum to woo them to their side. Eyeing the huge
Indian market was undoubtedly another objective for this newfound love
between the erstwhile antagonistic parties during the Cold
War era. The Americans as a gesture of their sincerity to the Indians, felt
no hesitation in not only abandoning Pakistan for
greener Indian pastures but also squarely blamed the former for its alleged
help to the Mujahideen in the occupied Kashmir. The
players in this regional game entered into a highly pitched diplomatic
battle with the Americans trying to break the alliance with
unprecedented offers of economic and military assistance to the Russians.
(They reportedly made an incredible offer of buying
the obsolete SAM missiles of the Russians at exorbitant prices).
The Chinese on the other hand, rushed to assist the Pakistanis in
stabilising their economy and cutting the routes of the
Americans to the Central Asian region. The unprecedented promise of the
Chinese to build Gwadar Port can be seen in this
backdrop. However, the Americans realised that they could not remain in the
driving seat unless they gained effective control of
the Central Asian riches before the Chinese make a foothold in the region or
the Russians can reclaim their lost leverage. The
American strategists convinced that the only viable path to the Central Asia
for them lies through Afghanistan, pressed for early
Action.
Having found that the bandits in the north of Afghanistan are not able to
topple the government of the Islamic Emirate, the
Americans dragged the deposed king to the counter stage in a bid to create
division in the southern and western regions of
Afghanistan against the Islamic Emirate. They planned to install a puppet
regime in the areas under the control of the Northern
Alliance and to push their mercenaries towards Kabul under American air
cover. This is a fact known by all and sundry well
before the incidents off 11 Sep in New York and Washington.
The statements emanating from Washington immediately after the attacks of 11
Sep made it clear that the Americans wanted to
exploit their tragedy for promotion of their colonial designs. The American
belligerence and their refusal to provide any evidence
against Osama bin Laden or enter into negotiations with the Islamic Emirate
left no doubt in the minds of the same people in the
world that the proposed American attack on Afghanistan was not a retaliatory
act aimed at seeking revenge from those behind
the incidents in New York and Washington, but a pre-planned action aiming at
occupation of Afghanistan, toppling its Islamic
government and installing a puppet regime in its place. Francese Vendrell,
the personal envoy of UN Secretary General had been
brazenly involved in paving the way for the Americans since his appointment.
It is common knowledge that Mr Vendrell tried to allure many Afghans, much
before the incidents in New York and Washington,
to participate in this American game impressing upon them that the Americans
were actively working to install the deposed king
in Afghanistan through military intervention before the winter of 2001. And,
therefore, he used to tell them that they should
support the plan and reserve a place in the coming set up lest they miss the
train. Mr Niaz A Naik, a well-informed Pakistani
diplomat, has also disclosed this fact in one of his interviews with BBC
some time ago.
In the light of these facts, it is crystal clear that the American attack on
Afghanistan has nothing to do with the 11 Sep incidents
in New York and Washington. It is a Crusade against the Muslim world in
general and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in
particular. The confession of Mr Bush that he is waging a Crusade and the
assertions of the Italian Prime Minister in which he
boasted of the West's capability to defeat the Islamic civilization should
serve as timely eye-openers to those who are still
burying their heads in the sand.
The Muslims of the world have realized that the Americans' sole purpose is
to annihilate a Muslim nation that has chosen to live
according to the law of Almighty Allah
so that no one else dare commit this
crime. They even want to snatch the right of
interpretation of Qur'an and Sunnah from the Muslims as true teachings of
Qur'an are terrorizing the West.
The Americans have failed to show any credible evidence to the world that
can prove involvement of Osama in these incidents. It
is amazing to see the AMERICANS have come to our region with greater designs
and for a long period to stay. The American
game plan is, therefore, unfolding in stages. In the beginning, they started
talking in terms of days and possibly weeks and now
they are speaking of years. The controlled attack of anthrax is the
handiwork of the US intelligence organizations to pave the way
for chemical attack on Afghanistan and Iraq.
The Indian belligerence and its troops build up are pressure tactic against
Pakistan to yield more to the American demands
Irresponsible reports about the security of Pakistan's atomic installation
and maddeningly foolish allegations that atomic
weapons might have been transferred to Afghanistan are all pointers to the
real designs of the Americans in the region. Many
armchair critics, oblivious of the American designs in the region and
blaming us for not thinking strategically, advised us to
surrender Osama and commit what they called the lesser evil. We refused to
compromise on our principles shared by all the
sane and just people of the world as surrendering a suspect, against whom
there is not even an iota of evidence, to the accusing
party is clearly tantamount to sacrificing justice at the altar of
expediency. Such pragmatism has no place in our Religion and the
time-tested traditions of the freedom loving and guest honouring people of
Afghanistan. The American planners started counting
their chickens before they were hatched.
The 'great minds', in an hour of wishful thinking, thought that the
government of the Islamic Emirate would break up under the
American air bombardment. Plans for the 'future set-up' under the deposed
king who needs physical aid even to stand on his feet
were drawn in spectacular haste only to be contested and disputed by
different groups of the all-talk-no-action mercenaries. But,
to their utter dismay and sheer disgust the Americans found that even
shaking the popular and formidable Islamic government is
a tall order. The Islamic Emirate is standing as a rock in the face of the
most savage and criminal bombardment as the overt
attacks of the Americans and the covert they were forced to ûpdate' their
plans and started forecasting a long battle and calling
for patience at home. Deeply frustrated at their failure to dislodge the
Islamic Emirate's government, the criminal terrorists started
hitting civilian targets in a calculated way to avenge their failure and to
show some 'results'. After almost two weeks of relentless
and barbaric bombardment, the American officials had to publicly admit that
the Afghans are tough customers and they are faced
with a battle-tested and formidable enemy.
The "chocolate soldiers" could not stay on the land of the lions for a
full
night and had to beat a hasty retreat in the dark of the
night leaving behind a downed helicopter and suffering scores of casualties.
This made the master terrorists shy away from
committing ground forces and instead look for mercenaries from within and
around Afghanistan to do the dirty work for them. To
salvage their battered and bruised ego, they have started carpet bombing of
Afghan villages and cities. Their 'elite troops' fear
direct encounter with the Mujahideen and therefore they are 'operating' from
behind the lines of Northern bandits.
The Americans must confess that they have lost the first round of the war
not only morally and politically but also in the
battlefield. Today and particularly after the attack on Afghanistan, the
American hypocrisy and double standards with regard to
freedom and human rights have been clearly exposed. The American threat to
the whole world that either they follow them or be
ready to be dubbed as terrorists proved them to be the biggest terrorists in
the world intimidating nations to fall in line or get
punished by the international terrorist. Many of those who sided with the
Americans confessed to have done so under the
dangling American sword. The huge demonstrations in the Western and Islamic
countries against the American war mongering
have clearly shown that the freedom loving people of the world are tired of
American terrorism.
Saner voices and respectable writers have declared the American attack on
Afghanistan as terrorism. Michael Mandel a
professor of law in Toronto wrote: "The bombing of Afghanistan is the legal
and moral equivalent of what was done to the
Americans on Sept 11. We may come to remember that day, not for its human
tragedy, but for the beginning of a headlong
plunge into a violent, lawless world,"
George Galloway, a British MP, spoke on the double standards of the West and
discrimination against the Muslims where one
American life is valued as those of ten Europeans and hundreds of Asians and
Muslims. Many others called for a sincere
rethinking of the American policies in the Muslim world and demanded an end
to their criminal support to the terrorist government
of Israel.
It is in the interest of these imperialists to learn a few lessons from the
history. They should immediately cease their terrorist
activities in the region and pack up before they are forced to leave in
disgust and complete humility. It is high time that they see
the writing on the wall and desist from provoking the Muslim Ummah further,
otherwise they will have to taste their own medicine
sooner or later.
We are sure that the Americans will gain one thing in Afghanistan-they will
certainly learn a few lessons very much beneficial for
their future generations.
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