A protracted war
Britain’s Tony Blair stepped down and the Republicans lost the US Congress as the war on terror became defined for many people by the mess in Iraq. Meanwhile, as the sixth anniversary of the terror attacks in the United States approached, the world’s most wanted man again appeared in a videotaped message, hinting at more mass murders.The appearance of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in a new video was a grim reminder that the global war on terror, dramatically sparked by the suicide attacks in New York and Washington on Sept. 11, 2001, is going to be a protracted one. While Bin Laden’s continued existence is seen by many as one of the biggest failures of the US-led war, it also serves as a warning to the world against the perils of complacency.
The atrocity of 9/11 was hatched years in advance. To this day the motives that drove the men who actually perpetrated those crimes against humanity remain incomprehensible to much of the civilized world. Six years after 9/11, governments are still responding to the deadly threat through trial and error, balancing the requirements of national security with civil liberties. Around the globe the balancing act is not easy. The Philippines is not the only country where citizens are debating how much privacy and freedom they are willing to give up in exchange for public safety.
Since 9/11, al-Qaeda has launched a major attack or attempted one in different countries about once a year, hitting mostly civilian targets. This is a borderless conflict, where a faceless enemy knows how to bide its time and is not bound by international agreements on the conduct of war.
Governments have developed new weapons to fight the threat, including legal means to foil terror plots. Authorities have apparently scored some successes, or there would have been more attacks on the scale of 9/11, the 2002 nightclub bombings in Bali or the train bombing in Madrid. As Osama bin Laden has indicated to his disciples, however, they aren’t about to give up trying. There will be many grievous errors in this war, but the world cannot afford to stop fighting. Through development, education, dialogue, law enforcement, and yes, through a military response where needed, the world can prevent a repeat of the 9/11 atrocities.
