Introduction 9-11 and Afghanistan

Content, 9-11 and Afghanistan

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President George W. Bush first called his war against the terrorists, a "Crusade for Freedom". This did not please the pro-western Arab Nations. The word "Crusade" reminds these countries, and their people, of unfortunate wars against them, organised and patronised by the Catholic Church to regain possession of the Holy Land in the 11th and 12th centuries. In these wars a large number of Muslims were murdered, together with many Jews, and a great number of Christians.

He had to change the name and he chose to call it "Operation Enduring Freedom". Not much better, but politically correct and acceptable.

There is no doubt that the attacks on the USA on September 11, 2001, as well as the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq later on have brought changes, good and bad, in all the world. Hopefully, they will make the world safer, but we will have to "wait and see" a few years before the final consequences are known. Some limited positive effects are already noticeable: Libya has decided to scrap its military nuclear, chemical, and biological programmes; Syria is softening its image and ready to pull back its soldiers from Lebanon; Iran, and even North Korea, are becoming more open and ready to talk about their nuclear weapons programmes; India and Pakistan are trying to resolve their problems over Kashmir and their nuclear capabilities by negotiation, not war. But there are negative aspects too: an anti-American attitude in most of the world and even a general anti-western feelings in the Arab world; the loss of the people trust in their governments in countries such as Britain, Italy and Spain (until the change in government in March 2004) where the governments decided to participate in the war against the wishes of the majority of the population; the division among the European countries in their attitude towards the war in Iraq.