Basic HTML Version
DEFENDERS
12
Spr ing&Summer
2 0 1 5
institutions nor scholars
4
(which has produced
many issues in terms of the subjectivity of the
definition); there are however international laws
which legitimize the use of military force in
times of need. After 9/11 two resolutions were
passed by the Security Council, neither of which
authorized the use of force in Afghanistan. I
find Marjorie Cohn correct to argue that ‘’the
invasion of Afghanistan was not legitimate self-
defense under article 51 of the charter because
the attacks on 9/11 were criminal attacks, not
"armed attacks" by another country. Afghanistan
did not attack the United States. In fact, 15 of the
19 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia the greatest
allies of US.
5
It can be safely said then that 9/11 has been
used by Western militaries as a mean to justify
their ends in the region. Being present in region
for more than a decade gave US the required
power to control the oil industry of Iraq and the
mineral resources of Afghanistan. Some scholars
even went further and argued the ‘just war’ on
Afghanistan and Iraq, are to be considered as the
‘’ resources war’’.
6
Another words, the fact that
the United States has a long and torrid history of
backing terrorist groups will surprise only those
who watch the news and ignore history. Islamic
State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), is not an exception
from all this.
In addition, with respect to the discussion of
linking Muslims or Arabs to terrorism, as has
been mentioned above, due to the subjectivity
of the definition, media (particularly in West)
tends to cover the news in great depth when the
Muslims are found behind the gun rather than
in front of it. A 2014 study by University of
North Carolina found that since the 9/11 attacks,
Muslim-linked terrorism has claimed the lives
of 37 Americans. In that same time period, more
than 190,000 Americans were murdered due to
non-terrorist reasons.
7
Therefore, I would argue that terrorism has no
substantial solution unless aggression on the part
of western forces subsides. This, however, is not
to deny the importance of presence of health and
economic infrastructures in the both First and
Third World as preventing factors in radicalizing
groups with ideological leaning. Much of the
funding that is spent on so called war on terror,
if spent on infrastructures in the countries west
finds itself in war with, may in fact produce more
effect results in combating terrorism in the long
run.
It can be safely said then that 9/11
has been used by Western militaries
as a mean to justify their ends in
the region. Being present in region
for more than a decade gave US the
required power to control the oil
industry of Iraq and the mineral
resources of Afghanistan
1- Chengu, Garikai. “How the US Helped Creat Al Qaeda and
ISIS” (2014). Counter Punch. Retrieved: http://www.counterpunch.
org/2014/09/19/how-the-us-helped-create-al-qaeda-and-isis/
2- Ibid.
3- Wilson, Richard Ashby, ed. ‘’Human rights in the ‘War on Terror’’
(2005). Cambridge University Press. Pg. 37.
4- Lecture Slides, Terrorism: Definition of Terrorism.
5- Cohn, Marjorie. "Afghanistan: The Other Illegal War." AlterNet,
August 1 (2008).
6- Chossudovsky, Michel. ‘’The War is Worth Waging”: Afghanistan’s
Vast Reserves of Minerals and Natural Gas’’. Global Research, (2013).
Retrieved:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-war-is-worth-waging-
afghanistan-svast-reserves-of-minerals-and-natural-gas/19769
7- Kurzman, Charles. "Muslim-American terrorism: declining further."
Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security, February 1 (2013).
Pg.2.