We must be neither with the terrorists nor with the
U.S.
 

By Sitaram Yechury

The initial war hysteria and bellicose rhetoric of the
Bush Administration is giving way to monotonous
repetition of a ``long and protracted war''.
Apparently responding to the sentiments expressed by a
range of world leaders, including some of the closest
allies of the U.S., who asked for ``unquestionable
evidence'' before striking, the Bush Administration
has promised to release a White Paper detailing the
role of Osama bin Laden and his Al Qaeda. This was on
September 23. Nothing concrete has been made public so
far.

The celebrated investigative journalist, Mr. Bob
Woodward, writing on the front page of the
International Herald Tribune (24 September, 2001)
alongwith Mr. Walter Pincus notes that despite leads,
investigators struggle to establish links with the
hijackers. The report states: ``The members of the
Qaeda groups in the United States were in some cases
initially identified by the Central Intelligence
Agency through information gathered abroad that
connected specific individuals to Osama or the Qaeda
network. Under an agreement, the CIA passes this
information to the FBI, which then begins
investigations and surveillance within the U.S. Over
the last two years, the CIA has provided the FBI with
approximately 100 names of people associated with the
Qaeda network who have entered the country legally in
most cases. Over the years, some of the Qaeda members
and other identified associates of terrorist groups in
the U.S. have been subjects of investigation, but
their cases were closed because no crimes were
uncovered.''

This, surely, does not, in any manner, absolve the
suspicion. However, even without hard evidence being
established, the U.S. military machine has moved into
the Persian Gulf and taken positions. The U.S.'s
principal cheer-leader, Britain, has also pitched in
with its submarines. This will surely lead to the
entrenchment of U.S. military presence in many new
areas. Utilising this opportunity, the U.S. is seeking
to seal its total control of this oil rich region.

In the meanwhile, in the so-called battle of
democracies against terrorism, the U.S. is busy trying
to prop-up the Northern Alliance, which is battling
the Taliban in Afghanistan. Its immediate agenda
appears to be to replace the Taliban as the Government
in Afghanistan. The U.S. has indicated to bring back
the former Monarch, Zaheer Shah, who was overthrown in
1973 and a pro-Soviet socialist government came into
office. The ``battle of democracies'' is to be won by
restoring monarchy in Afghanistan!

It is such manoeuvres to advance U.S. strategic
interests that resulted in the creation of the Taliban
in the first place. This, in turn, became the breeding
ground for professional terrorists. How many such
nurseries will the U.S. go on creating jeopardising
the lives of innocent millions?

Much is known of the U.S. military interventions
during the second half of the 20th century when civil
liberties, human rights, freedom and dignity of
millions of people the world over were trampled upon.
During the last decade since the end of the Cold War,
U.S. hegemonic efforts intensified. Apart from its
known military interventions, it paid scant respect to
international opinion and agreements such as the Kyoto
Protocol, the United Nation's conference against
racism, the attempt to unilaterally abrogate the ABM
Treaty etc.

Such hegemonic efforts went to the extent that five
days prior to these horrendous attacks in New York and
Washington, the U.S. House of Representatives passed
what is known as `Vietnam Human Rights Act'. This
proposes to allocate $ 2 million for each year, 2002
and 2003, to ``provide assistance, through appropriate
non- governmental organisations, for the support of
individuals and organisations to promote human rights
and non-violent democratic change in Vietnam''. In
simple language, this financial assistance is for the
overthrow of socialism in Vietnam.

The proposed Act requires the U.S. Secretary of the
State to report every six months to the U.S. Congress
about ``efforts by the United States Government to
secure transmission sites for Radio Free Asia in
countries in close geographical proximity to
Vietnam''.

Elsewhere in Korea, the Bush Administration stopped
negotiations with North Korea unilaterally which had
begun under an agreed framework in 1994. This was
necessary to declare North Korea as a `rogue State' in
order to justify the U.S. nuclear missile defence
programme. As a result, the ongoing process for the
re- unification of the North and South have virtually
halted. The U.S. supported right-wing forces in South
Korea succeeded in forcing the resignation of a
Minister close to President, Mr. Kim Dae Jung, on
September 3.

Despite the official renewed declaration of ceasefire
between Israel and Palestinians on September 18,
widely seen as a result of U.S. efforts, Israel
continues to mount aggression on Palestinian
territories. Between September 23 and 25, the
ceasefire has been breached 24 times by Israel leading
to the death of one person and critical injuries to
25, including two children. That the U.S. turns a
blind eye to such developments speaks volumes of its
real intentions.

Such U.S. efforts to interfere in and control all
events across the globe earn for it the notoriety of
playing the role of world's policeman. It would be a
worse tragedy, if the U.S. Administration seeks to
utilise the September 11 human tragedy in a cynical
and a diabolic manner to strengthen its hegemonic
designs over the world. The U.S. attempts to use the
death of over 6,000 innocent lives to advance its
global interests must be resisted. The failure to do
so will lead to greater human tragedies.

In this context must be viewed the U.S. President, Mr.
George W. Bush's call to the world to be either with
the U.S. or with the terrorists. The answer must be
given: we are neither with the terrorists nor with the
U.S. Administration.