An Exercise in Dealing with 9/11 - Essay Example

? Topic An Exercise in Dealing with 9/11 The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001 have resulted in the concentration of strong focus by President Bush’s administration on combating to eradicate terrorism. During the 10 days since the attack, many prominent figures in the government including President Bush have stated over and over again that eliminating terrorism is their objective for the long term. They intend to accomplish this goal by catching and killing the terrorists through organized operations, taking measures to destroy their infrastructure and the channels that support these terrorists and lastly, taking retaliatory measures against nations who have been and will continue to help and provide a haven for these terrorists. Terrorism, though not such a strong focus in past U.S governments, has never been d totally sidelined. At the beginning of the Reagan administration, the Secretary of State made it known that, for this administration the fight against terrorism would be the main agenda for promoting human rights around the world. Even though the issues never became primary focus of past governments like it is for the current administration, considerable attention was paid to the issue. Terrorism has been the subject of many Defense Department Directives, executive orders and the topic of many Presidential speeches. The CIA, FBI and the state department have remained focused on terrorists and their activities and several reports have been put in order by the General Accounting Office that evaluate the U.S’s ability to prevent and fight terrorist attacks. (The National Security Archive, 2001). Osama bin Laden has claimed responsibility of the September 11 attacks. He says these “attacks” on America have been in response to the American struggle against Islam. Terrorism is like punishment for America for its acts against Islam in the past and this is the only way to set things right. (Recent Statement by Osama bin Laden). In the circumstances created by the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 there are a handful of ways that the United States can precede in this scenario. They can choose to be largely dormant and not take any defensive action. In this scenario they will have to rely largely on any international pressure that they can generate and any economic sanctions and barriers that they can erect against Afghanistan until they yield to the demands of the United States. In this scenario, the United States requires that Afghanistan hand over Osama bin Laden and his main men so that they can be put in trial and duly punished for their crimes of terrorism. If the United States takes this option there are a few possible pros and cons. The bad part is that the United Nations is highly unlikely to take any action against Afghanistan. Also, Iraq has allied with Afghanistan and is willing to provide them with weapons because of previous sour relations with the United States and is thirsting for revenge for operation Desert Storm that the United States launched on it in 1991. (Memo from Director, CIA). Moreover, Al Qaeda has a strong presence in Afghanistan and it will be perilous to destabilize them enough to remove their presence from the area and any efforts to remove them from the area will result in a lot of violence. What makes it worse is that the Afghani government is controlled by the Taliban who are in effect supporters of the Al Qaeda. (Cable from U.S Ambassador to Karachi). Another way for the United States to tackle this issue will be that the United States takes a more aggressive stance towards the situation. In this scenario, the United States is expected to issue a formal ultimatum to Afghanistan stating that they should stop supporting and harboring the Al Qaeda and hand over Osama bin Laden and his comrades to the United States government for due trial and punishment for their terrorist activities. If the U.S is to take this approach then they come off a little more assertive than the previous option and it sends across the message that they are deeply against any terrorist groups and any nations or groups that consequently support them; namely Afghanistan and the Taliban. This will hopefully result in a more prompt and serious reaction from Afghanistan in the matter. A more assertive route would be for the American forces to invade Afghanistan backed by NATO and the Northern Alliance so that the American forces can find out and destroy all the Al Qaeda bases in Afghanistan and also with the intent of capturing or killing Osama bin Laden and his men. The invasion could also take place unilaterally, with the support of the Northern Alliance with the intent to destroy Al Qaeda’s presence in Afghanistan and killing or capturing Osama bin Laden and his men. There are pros and cons related to this scenario as well. If the invasion takes place the good part is that NATO has offered to support the U.S government if Afghanistan continues to harbor the Al Qaeda. Furthermore, the American forces are very well positioned with regards to Afghanistan and also the American satellites have confirmed the existence of Al Qaeda in Afghanistan due to their state of the art surveillance technology. (National Security Briefing Paper). Another point that will go in the U.S’s favor is the existence of a substantial group in Afghanistan called the Northern Alliance who are against the Taliban and Al Qaeda (Memo from Director CIA) and they will thus support the American invasion in Afghanistan against these groups. On the flip side, Saudi Arabia has been known to support in terms of funding about 15 out of the 19 hijackers for the September 11, 2001 attacks. Saudi Arabia has been involved in this practice as a method to buy off Islamic extremist groups so that they don’t get on offensive terms with them. However, America cannot do much to stop this because they are dependent on Saudi Arabia for oil. (Memo from Director CIA). Taking an offensive stand against Afghanistan and extremist Islamic groups like the Al Qaeda and Taliban may also end up causing problems between the U.S and Saudi Arabia. Based on this analysis, the most profitable method to approach this situation would be for the U.S to invade Afghanistan with the support of NATO and the Northern Alliance. There are certain risks involved in this approach. The first thing is that this move will be very costly for the U.S in terms of lives lost and funding required. Also, due to the volatility of the situation there is an inherent amount of uncertainty that cannot be avoided. The benefits however outweigh the potential costs of this maneuver. The Americans are in a good position financially and militarily to commence this attack. They have the support of NATO and the Northern Alliance and have good surveillance of the area as well as a very strong cause for attempting the invasion. Also, acts of terrorism like the one seen on September 11, is not only a threat to the U.S but the whole world. Although this measure is way more invasive than the others suggested, this situation is critical enough to require an extreme measure so that the Al Qaeda can be effectively eliminated. The elimination of Al Qaeda and similar terrorist groups will in fact be a service to the whole world. The Americans can have a mixed reaction to this approach. However, it is most probable that they will be supportive of it because they have been greatly traumatized by the recent events and will want to support a cause that helps eradicate extremist groups and prevent attacks like this one in the future. However other key nations may not be so welcome to the idea. Saudi Arabia as mentioned will not be in favor of this because they support and are known to sometimes finance these groups. (Memo from Director CIA). Pakistan’s government will support the invasion, but the people there will be against it based on sympathy for Islamic groups (Cable from the U.S Ambassador to Karachi). Also, Iraq will be against it because they support Afghanistan and the Taliban and are against the U.S (Memo from Director CIA). If however for any circumstances this move fails to provide the benefits that are anticipated of it, then the U.S can take another approach. They can pull out their forces from Afghanistan and seek to pressurize the nation through international forces and economic sanctions. This is a less aggressive measure, but if all else fails America can rely on soft power afforded to it by a superior economic and world position to try to coerce Afghanistan to bend to meet its demands. References: 1. Cable from the U.S Ambassador to Karachi, Pakistan 2. Memorandum from the Director, CIA 3. Statements made by Osama bin Laden 4. Briefing paper from National Security Council Meeting 5. The National Security Archive. September 21, 2001. The September 11th sourcebooks, Vol. 1, Terrorism and U.S Policy, Electronic Briefing Book No. 55. Read More