The powerful bomb explosions at the US embassies at Nairobi (Kenya) and Dar-e-Salam (Tanzania), claiming the lives of over 163 persons, have a clear message: after the demise of its super power adversary, the Soviet Union, America is faced with a new and quite serious challenge posed by forces working to curb its growing influence in Asia and Africa. That they have adopted terrorism combined with fundamentalism as their methodology is what comes easily to a mind bent upon destroying the interests of an enemy as strong as a super power. Such terrorist groups always use the name of religion (Islam in the present case) to gain the sympathy of the guillible public in the areas of their operation. The group that issued statements to the Al-Jazira satellite channel of Qatar called its two "operations" as "Holy Kaba" and " Al-Aqsa Mosque", though it did not divulge its own name. May be, it is the same organisation that announced its name as the "Liberation Army of Islamic Sanctuaries", claiming responsibility for the blasts, in telephonic conversation with a Cairo office representative of London's Al-Hayat Arabic daily. It is not surprising that it has not been known to exist previously. Perhaps terrorist groups have devised a new strategy of not operating with a known name to avoid easy identification. This is what happened when four oil company officials of the USA in Karachi were gunned down in November, 1997. The outfit that claimed to have carried out this retaliatory killing gave its name as the Islami Inquilabi Council, which was never in the knowledge of even the mighty CIA of America. It was an act of revenge for the conviction of Mir Aimal Khasi of Pakistan for having gunned down certain CIA officials in January, 1993. The Pakistan government then declared that it suspected the hand of Kashmir-based Harkat-ul-Ansar, which was later on included by the USA in its list of terrorist organisations and its assets were frozen.

So far as the latest terrorist operations against the USA are concerned, the name that is being mentioned prominently is that of an expatriate Saudi businessman, Osama bin Ladin, who has a history of providing monetary support to Muslim terrorist outfits. That he has close links with Mohammed Al-Masari, head of a London-based Saudi opposition group, provides a clue to why America has emerged as the primary target of Arab terrorist groups. Osama was the brain behind the November, 1996, attack on the Saudi National Guards building, resulting in the death of 19 American airmen, and another such incident in which seven US nationals were done to death. President Bill Clinton had then declared that the terrorists would be finished off wherever they were, as he is thundering now. But he could do or did nothing despite knowing well that the most wanted man for the USA was hiding somewhere in Afghanistan's Jalalabad. This time Osama's men (if it is true that the powerful blasts in the two African cities were his handiwork) chose their targets in the countries which had never experienced terrorist attacks despite their prolonged struggle for self-rule. This is how terrorists function. Their activities deserve condemnation in the strongest words. But the tragedy with the USA is that it reacts differently when its own citizens are not among the victims or when there is no threat to its own interests. It immediately raises the question of human rights and whatever else fits in its scheme of things. The USA must shun this double standard if it is seriously interested in tackling the fast-spreading disease of terrorism throughout the world. Terrorism, irrespective of its hue and targets, must be fought with the combined might and support of the civilised world. The countries extending support to such activities must be singled out and punished, even if this hurts the American interests. Is the USA ready for it?

DISCLAIMER:

The views expressed in the Article above are Author’s personal views and kashmiribhatta.in is not responsible for the opinions expressed in the above article.

Courtesy: The Tribune: 10 August,   1998