by Eze Eluchie,
Almost 15
years to the day Islamist Terror visited America, United States authorities (at
least the Congress) have finally begun genuine effort to address the root cause
of the dastardly attacks of 9th September 2001. By its passage of a
Bill which identified Saudi Arabia as the origin of the 9-11 attacks and making
it possible for victims of the 9-11 attacks to sue the Government of the Kingdom
of Saudi Arabia for losses suffered therefrom, common sense and good judgement appears
to be finally taking root in US response to terror.
The initial knee-jerk
reaction of attacking, overthrowing and eventually killing President Saddam
Hussein of Iraq had been based on a near-childish resolve of then President
George Bush to ‘finish off the job his father had not finished’ and well
orchestrated lies and deceit that the Iraqi authorities were acquiring Weapons
of Mass Destruction which they will use to hurt US interests. This reaction has
irreversibly destabilized the Middle East, institutionalized extremist Islamist
terrorism as a fad and preferred option for thousands of misguided Muslim
youths across the world, and unfortunately served to garner and deepen enmity
against Western values by survivors of the atrocities unleashed against the
Middle East.
The rush to
vilify and condemn what was obviously one of the most liberal regimes in the
Middle East (in terms of its ability to be all inclusive, allowing some level
of equity amongst religious sects and appreciative of all genders) has since
proved to be one of the most unwise steps ever taken in the anal of human
history. Blinded by pecuniary interests
in the Black gold and a felt need to continue the maintenance of a suspect
friendship with a most repressive dictatorial regime, the US had in its initial
response to 9-11, incredulously opted to dispense with critical evidence that
linked the perpetrators of 9-11 to the Saudi regime and mysteriously focused its
arsenal on the Saddam regime that loathed Al Qeida to its core, a regime that
should have served as a ready and willing partner in efforts to contain Osama bin
Laden and his followers.
Will properly
identifying the enemy 15 years down the line serve any useful purpose? Considering
the damage already occasioned to the entire region resulting from the wrongs of
the past 15 years: inclusive of the horrendous fatalities in Iraq, continuing
bleeding of Libya, Saudi involvement in the civil war in Yemen, and of course
the devastation Syria has now become, it will be extremely difficult to expect
a mere token, the recognition of where guilt rightly laid for 9-11 attacks, to
make much impact in the process – one cannot even refer to it as the ‘healing
process’ or corrections as the expectations of the US Congress in declaring the
Saudi Government culpable for 9-11 losses is again focused on pecuniary issues
and in no way related towards addressing underlying issues.
The recognition
of the culpability of the Saudi Government is however a step forward as it, in
the very least, recognizes truth, a critical element in the healing process for
any hurts. Yet another timeless historically error will be made if the recognition
of the Saudi Governments culpability in 9-11 is viewed only in terms of the pecuniary
rewards litigants may extort from the Kingdom. The US Congress Bill should,
when passed into law, serve as a pedestal upon which genuine reconciliation may
begin, starting obviously with apologies and redress (the damages done to these
peoples is far and above what can be compensated for) to peoples whose
countries and psyche has been destroyed in some instances, irreparably,
particularly the Iraqis.
With the commencement
of the processes of such reconciliation and redress, it will then be possible
to come together and extinguish the vermin of extremist Islamist terrorism
which is principally founded on the perception of the perpetuation of wrongs.
Picture: Members of Saudi Royalty with the burning
twin-towers in the backdrop.
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