Days before the 5th anniversary of 9/11 terrorism attack on the US , President George Bush released a document called “National Strategy for Combating Terrorism” portrayed as “unclassified version” of US approach to dealing with terrorism. In this document, Bush promised to persist in tracking down terrorists and vowed to fight tyrants running “outlaw regimes” by denying them weapons of mass destruction.
Significantly, Bush refers to the proliferation network run by disgraced renegade nuclear scientist A Q Khan as the “most dangerous nuclear trading cartel” and congratulated his regime for “working with Great Britain and Pakistan and other nations” to shut it down. While acknowledging
that this cartel had “supplied Iran and Libya and North Korea with equipment and know-how that advanced their efforts to obtain nuclear weapons,” Bush does not hold Pakistan responsible for collusion, providing facilitative assistance to, or sheltering this network.
Bush says that his country “did not seek this global struggle” but were required to answer “history's call with confidence and a clear strategy” to deny terror footholds in any nation or terror networks getting support of so-called outlaw nations. Decrying the “hateful ideology” of terrorists, he said the US will spread the hope of freedom by spreading the hope of freedom across West Asia and this can happen only if the US settles nothing less than a “complete victory.” Pointing out that the US is “a nation at war” and that his nation and “allies are fighting this war with relentless determination across the world.” On behalf of the US and “coalition partners” he claimed several successes. Bush says that “Together with our coalition partners, we’ve removed terrorist sanctuaries, disrupted their finances, killed and captured key operatives, broken up terrorist cells in America and other nations, and stopped new attacks before they're carried out.”
The US sees the terrorists of 9/11 as “men without conscience” and “not mad men” who “kill in the name of a clear and focused ideology, a set of beliefs that are evil but not insane.” Bush says that the terrorists “are driven by a radical and perverted vision of Islam that rejects tolerance, crushes all dissent, and justifies the murder of innocent men, women and children in the pursuit of political power.”
Addressing the Military Officers Association of America, Bush says that the US was “taking the fight to the enemy” to prevent attacks before they actually take place and ensuring that the “enemy is living under constant pressure.” The strategy he says is to keep the “terrorists spend their days working to avoid death or capture” so it makes it harder for them to plan and execute new attacks.”
On the face of it, Bush’s speech is one trying to drum up sagging support for
the war on terror resulting from increasing number of body bags coming back from
Iraq, unending war in Afghanistan, threat of war against Iran, rising crude
prices, rising interest rates, and spiraling deficits. While it claims many
successes, it skirts major holes in this war. For example, there is no clear
legal framework to try captured suspected terrorists, there are increasing
incidents of extra-judicial abduction and interrogation of suspects, no demands
for performance and delivery of remnant Taliban and al Qaeda elements in
Pakistan, no ways to restrict activities of other terrorist groups such as
Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed, and inconsistency in definition of terrorism and applying the principles across the world.
Journal of Terrorism and India
Journal of Indo-US Relations
