9/11: Good War, Bad War, No War

Eight years have passed since the horrific events of September 11, 2001, and the U.S. government is still waiting to pay the $25 million reward it has offered to anyone who provides information leading to Osama bin Laden's capture.

Meanwhile, almost eight years have passed since the U.S. has launched Operation Enduring Freedom, less than a month after the attacks of 9/11, in order to destroy al-Qaeda and the Taliban government that harbored the group. It was supposed to be a swift and decisive victory until the U.S. botched an effort to nab bin Laden in late 2001 in Afghanistan's Tora Bora region. His trail has since gone cold, and everything has gone wrong.

George W. Bush shifted his attention to Iraq. We were told that the Land of the Two Rivers was ruled by a horrible man who was stockpiling WMDs and was bent on setting the region on fire. We were told that he also had something to do with 9/11. We found out that we were duped:

"Never mind," they said, " he is still a bad man." And Saddam was hung.

We were also told that democracy is contagious, and once we plant it in Iraq, it will spread all over the Middle East. They then showed us the "purple fingers," and we rejoiced. But now Iraq has become the "bad war"; it has been deemed a "war of choice." The "good war" we are told is in Afghanistan, "a war of necessity" in Obama's own words.

Today, America mourns the memory of those who perished eight years ago. But today America needs to reassess what has been done in the name of the victims of 9/11: two horrible and unwinnable wars. This is the reality of the situation.

No Afghans or Iraqis have been directly involved in the attacks of 9/11. All 19 hijackers were Arabs, mostly from Saudi Arabia, and their leader is in hiding. Exacting revenge for 9/11 was and still is a job most suited for the CIA, anti-terror units, and other international security agencies.

However, President Obama has already ordered the deployment of 21,000 additional troops to Afghanistan by the end of the year, bringing the U.S. total to 68,000 and the coalition total to 110,000. This is despite the fact that now, for the first time, a majority of respondents (51 percent) in a recent Washington Post-ABC poll said the war was not worth the fight.

This past August was the deadliest month for US troops since the start of the war in October 2001, according to the Pentagon. Taliban forces have gained ground, and coalition troop casualties have steadily risen; therefore, an increase in American troops on the ground in Afghanistan will only lead to more casualties. You do not have to be a military general to figure this out.

Meanwhile, the U.S. has done a mediocre job on the intelligence side in the hunt for bin Laden. According to a recent article in the Times Online "the fruitless search [for bin Laden] has essentially been outsourced by the U.S. to a network of Pashtun spies run by the Pakistani intelligence services."

One of the former CIA agents, called Mr. Keller, interviewed for this article "spoke no Middle Eastern languages, and was not an expert on al-Qaeda or Pakistan."

Now we know why the reward for bin Laden's head remains unclaimed!

There is no "good war" and "bad war" in the aftermath of 9/11...there is bad strategy...and it has been bad all along.

Follow Jamal Dajani on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jamaldajani

Comments

[mark mulligan]

All this talk is beside the point.

When Russia dropped out of the World Dominion game, that let all the air out of the American military-i­ndustrial-­congressio­nal balloon. Some other bogeyman had to be found to justify those ruinous yearly military budgets.

Look how hard it is to revise American health-care, with so many careers based on its mismanagement. This is nothing compared to the number of children whose college education is predicated on a robust American military empire. Just what do you expect their parents to do; solve all our military problems and quietly find another job? Get real.

Terrorism is America’s military-industrial replacement for Russia – at least until China can match the U.S.A.’s bloated military budget each year. Until then, do not expect the American military to do anything significant about terrorism except to help it fester and thus justify more military spending.

Everything we are doing in Afghanistan is GROWING world terrorism; not controlling it, not reducing it and definitely not eliminating it in any reasonable time frame. It is not incompetence or bad tactics, just self-interest at work overtime.

Anyone who thinks otherwise is living in a dream world.

[JDM73]

Amazing how easily we're led around by the nose, isn't it? No, there never was a "good" war...we now have two Vietnams on our hand, and a Democratic president (with both houses of Congress controlled by Democrats, too) who won't commit to ending our involvement in either of them. I am weary and disillusioned beyond words.

[mikebarden]

Again, I was an alternate-service concientious objector
but I kinda think stoppin' Hitler was good.

[cohen238765]

We can't just cut and run. Has anyone given this a thought?

[leonardox1]

Are you still quoting from Bush & Cheney? How many more dead civilians and US troops do you want to see?

[newsjunkie5]

We've already cut and ran from Iraq. These are unwinnable wars as stated in Mr. Dajani's article. Furthermore, the US is broke and we can no longer afford costly adventures overseas.

[marco01]

That's a tired old line used to beat on war opponents and nothing more. Its sole purpose is to prevent reasoned debate.

[stardust835]

And today the Senate Appropriations panel approved another $128 BiLLION for war in Iraq and Afghanistan and threw in a few billion for more war planes. Link to Reuters article. http://tiny.cc/m6JJM If you read to bottom of article you'll see it includes language that prevents the transfer of Gitmo detainees to the US, even for trial. (What are they so afraid of?) Recently read that (sorry no link) that there is movement to approve sale of F-22's. Israel & Japan are among the new customers.

We can't provide health care for Americans, but we can kill all over the world.

[leonardox1]

Can't agree more! Perhaps if Obama did not follow in Bush's footsteps and has not been building up our troops in Afghanistan he could have possibly explained the savings from the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan towards health care for everyone.

[alexa07]

Yes, how tragic. Does NOT bode well for anyone, not least of which is the American public. What fools we have in Congress. Not enough for health care, but plenty for war. Future Americans will not be very proud of our era. The world as a whole condemns us. No wonder.

[alexa07]

I miss Memory Alpha's comments. What happened?

[joz22]

Are we really interested in capturing Bin Laden?-- This is the question that most Americans should ask.

[stardust835]

I'm afraid Bin Laden is irrelevant. The blowback of our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq outweigh anything Bin Laden has done or can do.

[jad114]

Getting OBL is a psychological factor…like we won the war on terror.

[justice2008]

There are no good wars. All wars are bad. 3,000 people died because of 9/11 but America's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have killed more than a million innocent civilians. Is this worth it?

[newsjunkie5]

No it is not worth it. We should bring our troops home ASAP!