The terroristic attack on the World Trade Center happened last Sept. 11. In two days that would be exactly a month ago. The US took its time before taking any drastic action. But now, the period of negotiation is over and America has decided to wage war on the Taliban administration in Afghanistan. The most glaring fact about this war is that the whole operation will really be centered on the apprehension of a person who today is the most wanted war criminal – Osama bin Laden. It is hard enough to wage war on a territory like Afghanistan, but to locate a single individual in such a vast expanse of land almost sounds like Mission Impossible.
The only thing certain is that Taliban will regret not having turned bin Laden over to the Americans. One can imagine the damage that the US Armed Forces can inflict on Afghanistan’s military bases. Some people claim that with the help of satellites, modern surveillance technology can detect persons hiding in the jungles or isolated caves. We certainly hope so. The Americans had a very bad experience in Vietnam and Afghanistan was Russia’s Vietnam. The problem is still how to convince Taliban to turn bin Laden to the American authorities. By now, they know that the Americans will not hesitate to use the necessary force to capture bin Laden.
Afghanistan is a very poor and backward country. The last thing they need is to be at war with the most powerful nation in the world. The decision is up to them. No nation should be the haven of terrorists.
Peace, they say, can be achieved by the substitution of reason for force, right for might and law for war. Sounds simple but it is so difficult to implement. There was a time when the only threat to peace was war between nations.
Now, we have world terrorism to contend with. It is even more senseless than war. War generally is fought between two armies. Terrorism is aimed at the defenseless and the innocent.