A strange anniversary

On that fateful day when the bells were about to strike nine, three human bombs in the shape of commercial jetliners hit the US in New York and Washington DC. The targets were well selected, in New York the two tallest buildings known as Twin Towers were hit whereas in Washington DC, the sprawling heart of the military power of the US, the Pentagon, was hit. Another aircraft presumably heading for the White House finally crashed in Pennsylvania.

This high drama was watched live on TV throughout the world in bated breath. The proud Twin Tower was turned into rubble and was instantly turned into wasteland. The loss of lives and property was colossal.

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The entire US administration led by President George W. Bush was stunned. As immediate response the internationally ostracised regime called Taleban of Afghanistan was picked up and fierce US bombardment was launched forcing the regime of Mollah Omar to flee.

For President Bush this was not satisfying enough. He picked on Saddam Hussein of Iraq. Like his father former President George Bush, he attempted to build a coalition and immediately ran into a snag. Minus the enthusiastic support of Tony Blair, the Prime Minister of Britain, there has not been any significant partner in the coalition.

Indeed the crisis has deepened. The matter has been fiercely debated within the Security

Council of the UN and a huge crack has appeared within the Western Alliance. Thus three Permanent members of the Security Council, France, Russia and China have split from the Anglo-American plans of invasion of Iraq. The argument of existence of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) in Iraq have been proved false. Tony Blair and to a lesser extent George Bush continue to be grilled within their countries. To make matters worse both the leaders are due to face their electorate in the near future.

The battleground of Iraq presents less than a rosy picture for President Bush. He declared the end of the war on 1 May last. Almost immediately Saddam's forces have mounted a successful guerilla campaign against the US forces. The body count is that, more US troops have lost their lives in guerilla action than during the war in March. As news of death of US soldiers reach home, anxiety grows. The US does not appear to get out of the rut created by her.

There is talk of a new US resolution to be presented to the Security Council. Naturally a great deal of horse trading can be expected. The sticking point appears to be that whereas the US as the 'victor' in Iraq wants a special position in the future of Iraq, the other members of the Security Council like France and Russia, would want to give the UN a larger role, through which they would operate. In this scheme of things the question of sending troops to Iraq to join the Anglo-American forces has receded in the background.

By his misadventure in Iraq President George W. Bush has unleashed a full blown crisis in the world. The most powerful country of the world finds herself stuck in Iraq and there are no sign of her extricating from the deepening crisis. She is suffering daily casualties and the price may become impossible to bear.

The attack on the Twin Tower was the first ever attack on the soil of US in her entire history of nearly three centuries. This single event has made her lose the superpower status which she enjoyed following the collapse of the Soviet Union a little over a decade ago. It is perhaps sensing this reality that the Western partners have decided to take their distance from the United States of America.

Arshad-uz-Zaman is a former Ambassador.