By ZainabChalisa, Los Angeles, CA
I am not a politician or a noted leader - I am an ordinary citizen of Pakistan who has made America my adopted country for the past ten years and these are my views on the US led terror campaign against Afghanistan. I think it is ignorance to think it anything but as is the case for the most common public opinion in America today. But when a nation’s point of view is based solely on the propaganda campaigns of its government, what else can we expect. This is a common fault amongst nations, and it allows hatred, biases and discrimination to breed.
Every day I see images of Afghanistan being bombed and I think to myself “What exactly are they bombing?” All I see is a barren, desolate landscape which, nevertheless is home to millions of impoverished people. Where are the beautifully landscaped residential communities, the majestic skyscrapers, the ski resorts and the casinos - what exactly is the US trying to destroy with its expensive toys?
They don’t stop there - they have the audacity to ‘humanize’ it by dropping pop tarts and peanut butter sandwiches with instructions on how to use a fork and knife. Let me think? Should I be grateful for the pop tarts or should I just try the bombs today?
As further proof of US bullying tactics here’s a list of the countries that the U.S. has bombed since the end of World War II, compiled by historian William Blum:
China 1945-46, Korea 1950-53, China 1950-53, Guatemala 1954, Indonesia 1958, Cuba 1959-60, Guatemala 1960, Congo 1964, Peru 1965, Laos 1964-73, Vietnam 1961-73, Cambodia 1969-70, Guatemala 1967-69, Grenada 1983, Libya 1986, El Salvador 1980s, Nicaragua 1980s, Panama 1989, Iraq 1991-99, Sudan 1998, Afghanistan 1998, Yugoslavia 1999. And In how many of these instances did a democratic government, respectful of human rights, occur as a direct result? None!
What also amuses me to no end is how fast the check books come out when these superpowers need help. Pakistan has been in America’s black books for years and now as an idiom in Urdu suggests: ‘The donkey becomes the horse’. Today, Blair and Bush play gracious hosts to Musharraf and reward him handsomely for his country’s ‘cooperation’ - and what if he hadn’t cooperated - then would Pakistan be a target of American wrath as well?
Having said that, I think we all know who the real victims of this war are. The ‘terrorizing Taliban’ are in their safe havens and Osama has probably fled Afghanistan; left behind however are the poor, homeless refugees who still have to dodge the bombs and missiles. These are men, women and children who have nothing to lose but their lives and those too are not being spared as they are the innocent bystanders of a fight between the rich bullies and the fundamentalist street gangs - and the world watches.
I started with a commentary on ignorance, because to me the attitude of most of the Americans towards this war is one of ignorance. They refuse to look at the cause and effect phenomenon; they refuse to accept the fact that the monster they see in the Taliban is created by their own government; they refuse to see the absurdity of dropping pop tarts and bombs alongside each other and they refuse to see that there is nothing left in Afghanistan to bomb but innocent people and their humble dwellings. Although this war isn’t being fought with the people of Afghanistan but their errant government, the Afghanis are the unwitting recipients of this ‘infinite justice’ being doled out by the US.
Maybe this bombing will satisfy the bruised egos of the American government at being unable to protect its citizens or maybe it will satiate the anger it feels that the brunt of its actions in world politics had to be borne by its own citizens. But one thing it will not do is bring back the people that perished on September 11th, 2001 - it will just create more graves, more misery and more terrorists. It would be ignorance to think otherwise, in my opinion.