Deep scars from terror war

It is important to look at the war of terror through the prism of humanitarian costs because that is only when we can truly begin to assess and understand how grave, widespread and destructive the 17-year-long war has been. Up to 500,000 people have been killed and many more maimed in this unending war that has turned the lives of hundreds of civilians in Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan and Pakistan upside down. One of the most unfortunate aspects of the conflict: there is little recognition that unarmed civilian populations have been exposed to the horrors of war through the use of drone technology.

The number of fatalities does not include those who have indirectly died as a result of the war, putting the actual toll much higher. Such enormous loss of lives is not only shocking but demands serious soul-searching from the US and its Western allies.

Pakistan is already paying the price as it struggles to mainstream refugees and accommodate hundreds of the displaced, along with the many challenges that it faced after their arrival (terrorism, drug trafficking are to name a few). Iraq too struggles to rehabilitate itself back from the status of a war-torn country, while the likes of Syria and Yemen are still embroiled in this infernal and bloody war.

Today the number of fatalities caused in the War on Terror is ten times higher than those lost in the 9/11 attacks — 2,977. This is not to say that those lives do not matter but the intensity of terror war puts the responsibilities of these on the US. Not only should it be held responsible to pay for the financial cost of it but should also be asked to share what it plans to achieve after 17 years of this brutal and relentless war.

And as much as the perpetrators of the war claim that they tried to limit harm to non-combatants and civilian infrastructure they have done the opposite and much more. There has been little effort to restore public services or repair devastated infrastructure. Affected parts of the world continue to suffer silently and in tears.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 10^th, 2018.

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