Reacting to terrorism
Editor - I agree with last month's editorial by Douglas Holdstock on terrorism.1 The attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon are one of the most horrific acts ever carried out by mankind and the terrorists behind these acts must be brought to justice. It is understandable that the people of the United States want swift retribution, but this is not a problem that can be solved by military aggression.
The current military action on Afghanistan is not certain to succeed in its objectives and will in all likelihood fail to solve the problem of terrorism. In fact, it might even make it worse. With every passing day, the likelihood of capturing Osama bin Laden is falling and the resolve of the Taliban is increasing. Moreover, the civilian casualties continue to rise and it is apparent that far too little humanitarian aid is reaching the Afghan people. Afghanistan is being forced into an even greater state of poverty than it was in before the war.
The war is also dangerously destabilising the region, and in particular the already tense relationship between India and Pakistan. By attacking another country in order to capture a criminal housed in that nation, Western nations are setting a dangerous precedent for other countries to follow.
Furthermore, the continued bombings of Afghanistan are also alienating many Islamic nations and spurring young Muslims from across the globe to join the jihad against the Western nations. Such actions will lead only to the formation of more terrorist groups leading to more terrorist acts. It would be much wiser to pressurise the Taliban into releasing bin Laden by using the United Nations and various Islamic nations as allies. This would, I hope, lead to the peaceful settlement of the turmoil. Very few countries are doubting the culpability of the al.Qaida network but they are questioning the means being used to bring the militants to justice.
Is it really wise to spend hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers' money on a war that is likely to do more harm than good? This war will only increase the determination of the terrorists to strike back at the West. Unless the cycle of violence started on 11 September is broken soon, that date might become the first of many such black days in human history.
Shankar Sikri, fourth year medical student, Imperial College School of Medicine
Email: shankar.sikri@ic.ac.uk
studentBMJ 2001;09:443-486 December ISSN 0966-6494
- Holdstock D. Reacting to terrorism. studentBMJ 2001;9: 401.2. (November.)
