American political history - Essay Example

 American political history American political history has changed a lot after the 2001, 9/11 incident. Earlier, it was the cold war with former Soviet Union which caused headaches to America. The cold war was all about political conflicts, military tensions, proxy wars or economic competitions between America and Soviet Union during the period between 1947 to1991. The Cold War ended after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, giving an absolute victory to United States Michael Gorbachev, former Soviet communist president, contributed indirectly to American victory. Gorbachev’s policies like perestroika and glasnost not only succeeded in dividing Soviet Union into different sates, but also it helped some of the prominent communist countries in Europe to achieve freedom from the communist administration. In short, Gorbachev helped America in winning the cold war and also in democratizing some of the prominent states in Europe. America emerged as the sole global power after the collapse of Soviet Union. However, America did not succeed in enjoying the victory for a longer period. Osama Bin Laden succeeded in shaking America and the entire world when he successfully conducted an attack on America on 9/11/2001. This attack happened quiet unexpectedly and even the secret service agencies like CIA or FBI failed to gather any information about it prior to the attack. This attack helped America to realize the depth of the threats they are facing from the terrorists. They also realized that the honeymoon period after the cold war victory is over and the treats from the terrorists are far more dangerous and serious than anticipated. Former American President George Bush labeled Iran, Iraq and North Korea as the axis of evil. Bush suspected that these countries are helping terrorism and seeking weapons of mass destruction. In short, since 9/11, America shifted its focus from Europe to Middle Eastern countries and to some Asian countries. The Iraq war, war on terror in Afghanistan and Iraq, crisis with Iran and North Korea etc are some of the issues and politics developed after 9/11. This paper briefly analyses the post 9/11 American politics, focusing mainly on war on terror and conflicts with Iran War on Terror: Afghan War War on terror is one of the major outcomes of the 9/11 incident. It started from Afghanistan on October 7, 2001, immediately after the 9/11 incident. America believes that the major culprits behind 9/11 Osama and Mulla Omar (Taliban leader) are currently operating from the Afghan-Pakistan borders. In order to seize Laden and Mulla Omar and also to destroy Taliban from Afghanistan, America started the Afghan war immediately after the 9/11. It is widely known that the roots of contemporary terrorism originated in Afghanistan when United States sponsored Afghan mujahideen in their bid to repel Soviet Union which resulted in the formation of CIA trained terrorists united under the banner of Osama Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda” (Ahmed, 2005, p.3). Afghanistan is an uncivilized country and most of the people in Afghanistan are illiterate. Religious fundamentalism is at tits bests in Afghanistan because of the organizations like Taliban. Earlier during the cold war period, Soviet Union intruded into the Afghanistan territories and America did everything possible to remove soviet troops from Afghanistan. United States never thought that they will face the consequences of their action in future, when they cultivate religious fundamentalism in Afghanistan in order to expel Soviet troops. America deliberately cultivated strong patriotism and religious fundamentalism in the veins of the Afghan people during the Soviet regime in Afghanistan. America made the Afghan people aware of the evil effects of communism. They spread the propaganda that Soviet regime may destroy religion from Afghanistan so that the dominant Muslim population in Afghanistan may be forced to avoid their religious beliefs in future. In other words, America tried to exploit the religious beliefs and fundamentalism in Afghanistan as they calculated that the clash between religion and politics may succeed in expelling Soviet Union from Afghanistan. America’s calculations were partly right and partly wrong. Even though they succeeded in expelling Soviet Union from Afghanistan through playing religious cards, they failed to anticipate that the same card may cause problems for them also in future. War on Terror: The Iraq War On March 20, 2003 America with the help of its allies attacked Iraq, accusing Iraq for possessing weapons for mass destructions including chemical, biological and nuclear weapons. As mentioned earlier, America believed that the 9/11 incident was executed by Bin Laden with the help of the axis of evil. Bush believed that Saddam has given all the aids needed for Laden to execute 9/11 plot, successfully. Even after the execution of Saddam America failed to seize any serious weapons from Iraqi soil. In other words, the theory with respect to weapons of mass destruction was a curtain for attacking Iraq. Neutral political observers and analysts today believe that the reasons cited for attacking Iraq were incorrect. Some people argue that George Bush was taking revenge on Saddam for harassing his father Bush Sr. in an earlier encounter. Some others believe that Bush had eyes on Iraq’s oil resources and fresh water sources in order to solve the oil crisis and fresh water shortages in America. The number of Automobiles is increasing rapidly in America which needs petroleum resources. Iraq is blessed with immense sources of crude oil. Many people believe that in order to loot the oil resources of Iraq, America with the help of its allies attacked Iraq. In any case, America spent billions of dollars in Iraq for conducting the Iraq war. The following chart gives a rough idea about the expenditure of Iraq war. It is evident from the graph that the expenditure goes on increasing year after year even after the execution of Saddam. Many people are of the view that America is facing stiffer challenges in Iraq even after the Saddam era. (Cost of Iraq War and Nation Building, 2008) Iraq war created lot of problems not only in Iraq, but also in America as well. Economists are of the view that the huge expenditure made on Iraq war destroyed the backbone of American economy which is the reason for the current financial crisis in America. Majority of the American opposed the Iraq war from the beginning itself because of the illogical reasons cited by Bush for conducting war with Iraq (See Appendix). America got nothing out of the Iraq war even though they lost many of its resources and the lives of its military troops. In short, Iraq war is currently labeled as an unnecessary one not only in America, but also in the entire world. Conflicts with Iran Today, the political conflicts between America and Iran over Iran’s ambitions to become a nuclear power are causing big threats to the global peace efforts. Many people believe that America may force to open another war front in Iran, another member in the group of “axis of evils”. President Obama, who captured power after criticizing the policies of his predecessor George Bush, is struggling currently in handling the conflicts with Iran. Even if Obama succeeded in resolving the Iranian nuclear file, it is not necessary that America’s relationships with Iran may improve. The letter sent to former American president George Bush by the current Iranian president in 2006 clearly shows that the differences existing between America and Iran are not related to the nuclear issue alone. In fact the nuclear issue between America and Iran has not been mentioned in this letter. On the other hand, America’s efforts to baptize the entire world to Christianity, war on terror, foreign policies, stands on Middle East crisis etc are some of the major issues mentioned in this letter. In other words, Iran is trying to attach various dimensions to their conflicts with America. They are not ready to limit their issues with America on the nuclear issue alone. They wanted to give religious dimensions to their issues with America in order to gain more domestic and international support. The influence of religion on politics is visible in the letter sent to Bush by Mahmood Ahmadi-Najad. In this letter Mr. Najad tries to connect religious beliefs with politics. He has asked Bush to make clear that whether his activities are in line with the teachings of Jesus Christ or not. The following excerpts are taken from the letter. About Israel: Is support for this regime in line with the teachings of Jesus Christ (PBUH) or Moses (PBUH) or liberal values? About massacres against the prisoners: There are prisoners in Guantanamo Bay that have not been tried, have no legal representation, their families cannot see them and are obviously kept in a strange land outside their own country. There is no international monitoring of their conditions and fate. No one knows whether they are prisoners, POWs, accused or criminals. For that matter, I fail to understand how such actions correspond to the values outlined in the beginning of this letter, i.e. the teachings of Jesus Christ (PBUH), human rights and liberal values (Monde, 2006) In short, Mr. Najad tried to change the attention of the global public from their core issues with America. He did everything possible to attach religious dimensions rather than political dimensions to their issues with America. Mr. Najad sees a deliberate attempt by America to destroy the Muslim culture from the world behind their issues with America. He knows better than anybody that he can keep his popularity only if he is able to satisfy the religious leaders in Iran. Most of the Iranian society has strong belief in their religion and they always watch the actions against the Muslim world as an action against their religion. In the letter sent to Bush, Mr. Najad admitted that Saddam was a cruel administrator; at the same time he ridicules America’s hidden agenda in the Gulf war. He has labeled Iraq war and Afghan war as an attempt by America to destroy Islam rather than believing the American doctrine of war on terror. On the other hand, America is not ready to accept the claims of Iran. In their opinion, “Iran is ready to supply global terrorists with nuclear weapons, thus posing a risk to the United States, to Great Britain, and to the European Union” (Nuclear Armed Iran Vs. America – Whom Should The World Fear?, n. d). Americans are of the view that Iran may use the nuclear weapons against them either directly or indirectly. Not only America, even the muslim countries like United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia has strong differences with Iran in political matters. Christopher Hope (2010) has mentioned that “the king of Saudi Arabia privately urged the US to attack Iran to destroy its nuclear weapons program” (Hope, 2010). Iran’s ambitious nuclear projects are perceived as a threat not only by the Westerners and Israel, but even by the Middle East Muslim countries. Because of the close relationships with America, both UAE and Saudi Arabia were able to resist the Iranian challenges so far. However, America is playing a dual game in Middle East. They need the political support from countries like Saudi Arabia and UAE in order to interfere effectively in the Middle East’s political and economical matters. The enmity of UAE and Saudi Arabia with Iran is serving as a blessing for America. In the name of ensuring protection to UAE and Saudi Arabia like countries, America can keep a strong military force in this region in order to interfere in the Middle Eastern politics effectively. According to a Middle East political expert, Dr. Mordechai Kedar, Iran is beating America in the fight for leadership in the Middle East. “The coalition that Iran has created to fight American interests: Syria, Lebanon – particularly Hezbollah – Gaza, Turkey (supposedly a military partner of Israel!), Venezuela, Cuba and many other Third World countries is causing problems to America (Kedar, 2009). Conclusions The American politics after the 9/11 incident is rotating around war on terror. US have already opened two war fronts; one in Iraq and another in Afghanistan. The possibility of a third war front in Iran cannot be neglected. On the other hand, American economy is on the verge of destruction because of the current global financial crisis and the huge expenditure America suffers because of war on terror. Many people are of the view that America cannot sustain its war on terror in this manner for a longer period and in all the probabilities it might be forced to cease the war on terror before achieving its objectives. Moreover, many others believe that America should reassess its strategy from a realistic point of view to get out from the conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq to concentrate on the wider aspects of war on terrorism. References 1. Ahmed, N.M. (2005). The War on truth. 9/11, Disinformation, and the Anatomy of Terrorism. Publisher: Olive Branch Press; 1st edition (April 15, 2005) 2. CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll (2011). Retrieved from http://www.pollingreport.com/iraq.htm 3. Cost of Iraq War and Nation Building. (2008) Retrieved from http://zfacts.com/p/447.html 4. Hope, C. (2010). Wikileaks Sparks Diplomatic Crisis With New Revelations. Inpendent.ie. Monday, November 29, 2010. Retrieved from http://www.independent.ie/world-news/wikileaks-sparks-diplomatic-crisis-with-new-revelations-2440176.html 5. Kedar M. (2009). Iran vs. America. Jewish Times. Retrieved from http://www.jewishtimes-sj.com/news/2010-06-04/Columns/Kedar_Iran_vs_America.html 6. Monde L. (2006). The President of Iran's Letter To President Bush. Retrieved from http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article12984.htm 7. Nuclear Armed Iran Vs. America – Whom Should The World Fear? (n. d) Retrieved from http://www.cuttingedge.org/news/n2120.cfm Appendix Do you favor or oppose the U.S. war in Iraq?"   Favor Oppose Unsure   % % %   1/21-23/11 33 66 1   9/1-2/10 34 65 2   8/6-10/10 31 69 1   5/21-23/10 36 62 1   1/22-24/10 39 60 1   11/13-15/09 36 62 2   6/26-28/09 34 64 2   5/14-17/09 34 65 1     4/3-5/09 35 63 1     2/18-19/09 31 67 2     12/1-2/08 36 63 1     10/30 - 11/1/08 33 64 3     10/17-19/08 32 66 1     10/3-5/08 34 65 -     9/5-7/08 37 61 2     8/29-31/08 35 64 1     8/23-24/08 33 66 1     7/27-29/08 33 66 1     6/26-29/08 30 68 2     6/4-5/08 30 68 1     4/28-30/08 30 68 3     3/14-16/08 32 66 2     2/1-3/08 34 64 2     1/14-17/08 34 63 3     1/9-10/08 33 65 3     12/6-9/07 31 68 1     11/2-4/07 31 68 1     10/12-14/07 34 65 2     9/7-9/07 34 63 4     8/6-8/07 33 64 3     6/22-24/07 30 67 3     5/4-6/07 34 65 1     4/10-12/07 32 66 2     3/9-11/07 32 63 4     1/11/07 31 67 2     12/15-17/06 31 67 2     11/17-19/06 33 63 4     11/3-5/06 33 61 6     10/27-29/06 38 59 3     10/20-22/06 34 64 3     10/13-15/06 34 64 2     10/6-8/06 32 62 7     9/29 - 10/2/06 38 61 1     9/23-24/06 40 59 1     8/30 - 9/2/06 39 58 2     8/18-20/06 35 61 3     8/2-3/06 36 60 3     6/14-15/06 38 54 8   (CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll, 2011) Read More