Losing the plot over five years

The US ought to have realised that its ?war on terror? has only generated resentment.

Five years after September 11, 2001, it is clear that President George W. Bush and the US have lost their way. The war has had its successes. The Taliban, which sheltered al-Qaeda, have been toppled; key personnel have been killed or captured; the Saudi monarchy continues to rule; and US forces remain in West Asia. But the failures are more manifest and widespread. After 9/11, the entire world stood with the US and supported its goal of eliminating terrorism. But today, that grand coalition is badly fragmented. Core members like Spain and Italy have abandoned it, and the embattled British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, is hanging on by the skin of his teeth. The principal reason for this is America’s self-goals a needless war on Iraq that was compounded by incompetence and insensitivity. Images of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo and stories about torture and renditions have badly dented America’s image.

Earlier this week, buffeted by domestic and foreign critics, and with an election imminent, Mr Bush has tried to seize the initiative once again. He side-stepped European unhappiness over secret CIA prisons by acknowledging their existence, even while declaring that they would be emptied and their inmates transferred to Guantanamo to stand trial. But this has not mollified his domestic critics, including members of his own party who feel that the hard-nosed US tactics are undermining what the US stands for — the rule of law and human rights. There is alarm over his demand that the US Congress pass a law for trying Guantanamo detainees through special commissions.

What Mr Bush proposes is a draconian military justice system that increasingly looks like a kangaroo court. Under his proposal, the jury will comprise military officers and the presiding officer — that is, the judge — would be another military man. Worse, the prosecutors would be permitted to bring in evidence — including hearsay and evidence obtained through coercion — but the accused or their lawyers will not be allowed access to it. This latter procedure is probably unprecedented in the jurisprudence of the civilised world.

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By now, the US ought to have realised that its ‘war on terror’ has generated great pockets of resentment around the world. Dealing with terrorism is not easy, especially since terrorists use some or the other genuine or imagined grievance to gain a measure of popular support. So the key attribute of counter-terrorism is the need to deal with some of these grievances, as well as to separate terrorists from their real and potential sympathisers. But this requires both precision and sensitivity in operations. As of now, to America’s detriment, both these attributes are wanting.