9/11: A day for introspection

In the recorded history no non-state actor changed the world so dramatically as did Osama bin Laden, and even when he is gone his legacy refuses to die, spawning multifarious implications for the world peace and progress. True to President George W. Bush's prophesy the world has changed forever in the wake of 9/11 terrorist attacks - in that, according to popular opinion in this country, not only the much-feared 'clash of civilisations' is in the making, the world is held hostage to unremitting incidence of terrorism.
Iraq, Afghanistan and now Pakistan are the worst victims of international terrorism, much of which is the direct consequence of the wars that the US-led coalition has been waging in this part of the world. Though American public doesn't think these wars have in any substantive way added to their security (according to a recent Washington Post poll), the US sentiment for war overseas remains strong, thanks to the unquenchable thirst for more war by the powerful arms manufacturing lobbies.
Tens of thousands perished in these wars being fought in the name of securing the United States, and there is some success; except for the Times Square incident no mentionable act of terrorism has taken place since the 9/11 in that country. Afghanistan was invaded under a questionable UN mandate in blatant violation of the fact that none of the 9/11 attackers hailed from that country.
The Taliban government was accused of hosting Osama bin Laden and vigorously attacked - utterly disregarding the fact that he was there as a guest who in line with the Pushtun culture couldn't be handed over to the Americans. The question now is who is still pushing the Obama administration to keep fighting in Afghanistan when the much-dreaded al Qaeda chief is buried deep in watery grave of the Arabian Sea (?)
Even if the US popularity graph with the Pakistani public touches quite low there is no support whatsoever for the perpetrators of the 9/11 tragedy. From day one the act has been condemned as brutal and absolutely unjustified by our people. But as to why the Americans invaded Afghanistan and dislodged the Taliban regime there has been a variety of views, often sharply clashing. Pakistan was one of the three countries who had accorded recognition to the Taliban government and Islamabad was the only world capital to host a Taliban embassy.
The rationale behind this special treatment was Pakistan's strategic interests in maintaining warm relationship with the new Afghan rulers who were seen to be turning the page on a bitter past. Equally important incentive for Pakistan to stitch close relationship with the Taliban setup was the peace and order they had brought to Afghanistan following a long spell of tumult and anarchy, fuelled first by the Soviet invasion and then the intra-Mujahideen civil war. But things were made to stand on their head with General Musharraf taking a huge U-turn, perhaps not as much to dislodge the pro-Pakistan Taliban as to win American acquiescence in his illegal military takeover.
As the war gained momentum in Afghanistan, Pakistan began receiving Afghans, quite a few of them being part of the Taliban militia, adding to the ranks of some three million Afghan refugees that had earlier come following the Soviet invasion. But, as said you can start a war but cannot fix its direction the US-led invasion soon ran into tough resistance joined by the local Afghans and their supporters across the border in Pakistan. As an aftermath of the Afghan imbroglio, Pakistan's entire western border region is in turmoil, and as for its comradeship with international coalition, it is also regularly bombed by the CIA-operated drones. Isn't it ironic?
Osama bin Laden has gone from this world but his mission to create an ever-widening rift between the Muslim world and the Christian West remains alive and at times is quite vibrant. Ten years on the threat of 9/11 repetition is almost ubiquitous. Not a day passes when some incident of terrorism attributed to/claimed by al Qaeda somewhere in the world doesn't take place.
May be Washington looks at these incidents as an obvious sequel to the 9/11 events. But among the Muslim world, the thinking tends to prevail that the post-9/11 handling by the US government was irrational and irresponsible, triggering a wave of international terrorism.
Instead of going for a professional investigation into the massive crime of targeting the American landmarks 9/11 the Bush administration is believed to have used the attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon to justify a series of aggressions in other countries in pursuance of its promise to change the world. But what we have as a result is a totally shattered Iraq, a profoundly devastated Afghanistan and politically instable and economically crippled Pakistan. As to what the Obama administration has in mind nothing is as yet clear for its option ranges between complete military pullout to a symbolic presence as "strategic partner" in Afghanistan.
However, the way forward for Pakistan has to be its own, independent of the American stakes in the region. Military operations, as we have seen in Swat and elsewhere, have only limited impact. In order to obtain conditions of lasting peace and order there has to be multifaceted steps, including a comprehensive and constructive dialogue with the Taliban. Now the question is whether the 10th anniversary of 9/11 should serve us as a day for introspection.