NATIONAL8 (Spotlight Weekly]

Terror Of Terrorism

The devastating suicide attacks in New York and Washington underscore the weakness of the global security system in the fight against terrorism

By KESHAB POUDEL

The massive terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center twin towers in New York City and on the Pentagon, headquarters of the US military in Washington, killing what are believed to be thousands of innocent people, have sent shock waves across the world, including Nepal.

The shock experienced by the Nepalese people is understandable, as they have been facing a drastic upsurge in violent activities in recent years. If the world’s sole surviving superpower is not safe from terrorist attacks, can any country feel safe?

Those responsible for planning and executing the worst terrorist attacks on US soil on September 11 have demonstrated the extent of their network and coordination in breaching US intelligence system and attacking the heart of the US defense and financial centers.

The deadly lapses in the world’s best-equipped intelligence network and airport safety system will alter the way in which the international security debate will be discussed in the period ahead. US officials have compared Tuesday’s attacks with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, which drew the United States into the Second World War.

Nepal, which saw one hijacking in its five-decade-long aviation history, paid a heavy price for small lapses in its security. Indian Airlines suspended its flights to Kathmandu for six months, expressing serious concerns about security at Tribhuvan International Airport. The hijacking of four aircraft from such high-security airports in the United States proves that no country may be capable of providing fool-proof anti-terrorism mechanisms. This is the first time in US history that a suicide mission, widely suspected to have been led by a fundamentalist Islamic group, has wreaked such unrecoverable damage in a planned manner.

Till writing this story on Wednesday evening, no casualty figures have been made public, as officials are sifting through the wreckage and piecing together information available in bits in pieces. Nevertheless, thousands of people are believed to have been killed or injured in the three attacks. The modus operandi seems to have come straight out of a Tom Clancy novel: groups of people hijacked four aircraft from two different airports and used three of them to knock out the two World Trade Center towers in New York and a vital portion of the Pentagon.

As the investigation progresses and events play out over the days, people around the world will be asking a major question: How will the attacks change the international outlook and action against terrorism? "It will depend on how the United States will respond to the terrorist attacks. One thing is certain, there needs to be a global consensus to fight against terrorism," said Professor Panna Kazi Amatya of Tribhuvan University. "If the United States leads a crusade against international terrorism, all states will back Washington."

As US intelligence officials were piecing together information linking suspected terrorism mastermind Osama bin Laden, the Saudi billionaire said to be hiding in Afghanistan, with the heinous attacks, South Asia appeared set to come under sharper focus of the US anti-terrorism campaign. US President George W. Bush has declared that Washington will not make a distinction between those who carried out the attacks and those who harbor terrorists. The straight implication is that Washington will now act tougher against governments that it believes support international terrorist groups.

Apart from becoming a center for several groups suspected of spreading terror across the world, South Asia also is gripped by terrorism and insurgent activities within the region. Almost every country in the region is gripped in some kind of violent or terrorist activity. Top political leaders, including former Indian prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi and former Sri Lankan president Ranasinghe Premadasa, among other, have been assassinated by terrorist groups or people linked to them.

"After the attacks against the US targets, public opinion against international terrorism will drastically change. It may bring a new wave of action against terrorist activities including in South Asia," said a professor at Tribhuvan University. As Washington believes some "rogue" states are directly sponsoring terrorism, retaliatory strikes against these countries can be expected.

During the Cold War, the United States supported some of these movements to contain the expansion of communism. After the collapse of Soviet Union and communism, many of these same groups have turned their guns against the United States in the name of waging a holy war.

Tuesday’s attacks have underscored the urgency of collective global action in the fight against terrorism. The remarkable patience and fortitude shown by the American people in rallying behind their leaders provides a lesson for countries like Nepal that political leaders need to be strengthened, not weakened by opportunistic demands for resignation, during times of crisis