Where did America go wrong?

The aim of the war on terror is defeated, as now the threat of terrorism is more widespread as compared to 2001.

In 1995 a Sudani national, Jamal alFazal, acted as a business agent of Osama bin Laden in Sudan. He had taken part in the Afghan jihad against the Soviets. As per his statement, he was part of the group who formed al Qaeda in August 1988. Allegedly, Jamal had embezzled $110,000 from the organisation and once caught, he defected. The CIA had some information about Osama’s intentions of targeting US facilities, but had little knowledge about al Qaeda. In January 1996, the CIA opened the ‘Bin Laden Cell’ to monitor Osama’s activities. AlFazal contacted the CIA in Eriteria. The profile of al Qaeda was, generally, based on the information provided by Jamal alFazal. In 1995, Philippine security agencies unearthed the Bojinka plot — Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, Ramzi Yousaf, Amin Sha and Murad planned to assassinate the Pope and blow up 11 US-bound flights. Murad, during interrogation, confessed that he had a plan to crash an aircraft into the CIA Headquarters. Using an aircraft as a weapon was not taken seriously and US security agencies did not take suitable steps to prevent such an eventuality.

In the aftermath of 9/11, the Americans assumed that securing Kabul and installing an Afghan government would solve the problem of terrorism. They outsourced the capture of Osama to local Afghan warlords. The Isaf took no steps to approach the lower tier of Taliban leaders and foot soldiers and reintegrate them into society. They did not take the Taliban as a serious threat and assumed that the organisation had evaporated. By 2003, the Taliban regrouped, joined hand with other insurgent groups, and initiated an insurgency. It was in October 2003 that the UN Security Council authorised the expansion of the Isaf mission throughout Afghanistan.

The invasion of Iraq in 2003 was a blunder which directly affected the war on terror in Afghanistan. This invasion shifted the focus of the war on terror to Iraq, while Afghanistan was still not secured. The majority of the Muslim world did not react strongly to the invasion of Afghanistan, since the general perception about 9/11 was that the operation was planned and executed by the Afghan-based al Qaeda. However, the Iraq invasion created a negative perception about American intentions in the Muslim world. The invasion of Iraq was a major factor in the spread of terrorism to different parts of the world. The aim of the war on terror was defeated, as now the threat of terrorism is more widespread as compared to that in 2001.

American army commanders apparently did not take into account the threat perception and failed to calculate the requirement of forces to secure Afghanistan. They relied on provincial reconstruction teams for improving security outside Kabul. The Isaf took no serious steps to secure the Pashtun areas of the country. The Taliban and other insurgent groups took full advantage of this inactivity.

The Isaf has to achieve certain objectives to create a conducive security environment before the process of withdrawal of troops is initiated. The forces need to secure all areas now under control of the Taliban by launching major operations. They have to stay there to ensure that the Taliban influence is diluted and Afghan security forces and the civil administration is well established. The political administration may continue the process of peace talks with insurgent groups.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 27^th, 2010.