Nine years after 9/11 the 'war on terror' still rages-? unlike the
battle for Muslim hearts and minds
Mehdi Hasan
Saturday September 11 2010
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/sep/10/obama-muslim-hearts-and-minds
In the US, a crackpot pastor who claims "Islam is of the devil"
threatens to burn copies of the Qur'an [http://www.guardian.co.uk/
world/2010/sep/10/pastor-terry-jones-quran-burning" title="] and puts
his plans "on hold" only after appeals from the president, the
secretary general of the UN, and Angelina Jolie. In Afghanistan, five
US soldiers are charged with murdering civilians [http://
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/09/us-soldiers-afghan-civilians-fingers"
title="] at random and collecting their fingers as souvenirs, while
Nato troops open fire on protests against the pastor's plans [http://
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/10/quran-burning-nato-troops-shoot"
title="].
In Britain the normally hawkish International Institute for Strategic
Studies says the threat from al-Qaida [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/
2010/sep/07/al-qaida-taliban-threat-afghanistan" title="] and the
Taliban has been exaggerated, and warns that the war in Afghanistan
risks becoming a "long, drawn-out disaster". Meanwhile, Tony Blair
cancels two appearances in London to publicise his memoirs after anti-
war protesters pelt him with eggs and shoes in Dublin.
Welcome to the world of the "war on terror", on the ninth anniversary
of 9/11. It is a world more divided, fearful and conflict-ridden than
a decade ago. "We need to win not just the military action, but to win
people's minds," Tony Blair told CNN in November 2001, at the height
of the Anglo-American bombing of Afghanistan. But the struggle for
Muslim hearts and minds was allowed to morph into a seeming war on
Muslims. The "war on terror" has resulted only in more war and more
terror.
It all seemed so different in 2001. The mayor of Tehran called his
counterpart in New York to offer his condolences, as Iranians held
candle-lit vigils in solidarity with grieving Americans. Palestinians
lined up to donate blood to the survivors of the attacks. Islamic
scholars and clerics across the Middle East denounced the murderous
barbarism of al-Qaida. Polls showed that vast numbers of hearts, minds
and souls in the Muslim world were with the west.
But along came Guantánamo Bay, the catastrophic and illegal invasion
of Iraq in 2003, photos of prisoner abuse in Abu Ghraib in 2004, and
allegations of torture and murder at the US air base in Bagram,
Afghanistan, in 2005. By 2006 Muslims across the globe were horrified
and radicalised by the Israeli bombardment of Lebanon, conducted with
the blessing of Blair and his partner in crime, George Bush.
The "hearts and minds" brigade had to beat a humiliating retreat.
Hopes were raised again in 2008, with the election of Barack Obama,
with a Muslim middle name and an African heritage. In his first six
months in office, Obama declared that "the US is not and will never be
at war with Islam"; in a speech in Cairo [http://www.guardian.co.uk/
world/2009/jun/04/barack-obama-keynote-speech-egypt" title="] he
symbolically "reset" relations with Muslim communities.
But Guantánamo is still open for business, and the president's demand
that the Israelis "freeze" illegal settlements has fallen on deaf
ears. The war on terror has been ramped up in Afghanistan, Pakistan,
Yemen, and the Horn of Africa. The deaths of US soldiers in
Afghanistan and Pakistani civilians in US air strikes have increased
on Obama's watch.
On Thursday the US president said Pastor Jones's plans to burn the
Qur'an would be a "recruiting bonanza" for al-Qaida. Yet he fails to
recognise how the west's war in Afghanistan provides a similar boost
to extremists - on both sides. The "enemy" in Afghanistan, concluded
the IISS report released on Tuesday, is "incentivised by the presence
of foreign forces". And inside the US the likes of Jones and rightwing
Republican bigots, frothing at the mouth over the "Ground Zero mosque
[http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/aug/12/ground-zero-mosque-
islamophobia" title="]" take their cue from aggressive leaders like
Blair, Bush and Obama - who send more and more troops to fight and die
abroad, in faraway Muslim countries, while denying any link between
Islamic militancy and western foreign policies.
Whether the swivel-eyed priest goes ahead with his plan to immolate
Islam's holiest book is, ultimately, irrelevant. The battle for hearts
and minds was lost long ago.
guardian.co.uk Copyright (c) Guardian News and Media Limited. 2010
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