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'War On Terror'
Has Become Bingo
By Simon Tisdall
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How
goes the 'war on terror'? President George Bush, America's
commander-in-chief, is in no doubt that it is going swimmingly
- and will have said so on July 4. “Our fine servicemen
and women are fighting and winning the war on terror,"
Bush proclaimed in his Independence Day address. "They
deserve the gratitude of all people who cherish freedom."
Gratitude will come hard to the relatives of the 40 Afghan
civilians "liberated" from the Taliban yoke only
to be killed by the US air force north of Kandahar. A Pentagon
spokesman admitted a bomb had gone astray. But "it's
unclear whether those (Afghan) casualties were the result
of our errant bomb or from falling anti-aircraft artillery
rounds," he said. In other words, the Afghans may have
bombed themselves. Defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld has meanwhile
flatly declined to offer an apology.
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Such cold-hearted prevarication will be familiar
to the relatives of four Canadian soldiers killed by US forces
in April in another "friendly fire" incident. The
Pentagon finally admitted in late June that this "sad event"
was caused by "the failure of two pilots to exercise appropriate
flight discipline which resulted in an inappropriate use of
lethal force." These two incidents, like several similar
tragedies in Afghanistan, are routinely attributed to the fortunes
of war. In time of strife, it is said, accidents happen. But
if the US were to stop throwing its weight around in an increasingly
(and literally) aimless way, such horrors might be avoided.
Many wonder what the US military thinks its objective is. After
last winter's Tora Bora and Operation Anaconda failures, it
must be clear even to them that all the Al Qaeda and Taliban
fugitives who matter have long since absconded. With the Afghan
front stalemated, the Pentagon's attempts to extend its "global"
war into new theatres have proved problematic. US troops on
the Basilan island in the Philippines appear only to have precipitated
a shootout that ended in a long-held American hostage being
killed. On the other hand, there have been telling civilian
intelligence coups in Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Italy against
Al Qaeda.
So should the US military in Afghanistan pack up and go home,
leaving the anti-terror campaign to the spooks and Afghanistan
to the peacekeepers? That is a difficult proposition for Bush.
The Afghan campaign has become a showcase for his administration's
post-Sept 11 international coalition. As the US is attacked
on all sides for arrogant unilateralism, the coalition represents
the White House's one attempt at multilateralism. US-dominated,
deeply unequal, arm-twisting multilateralism perhaps, yet multilateralism
all the same. But as Britain withdraws its combat troops from
Afghanistan for want of anything meaningful to do, Washington's
need to demonstrate global support is verging on the desperate.
A recent Pentagon "fact sheet" noted with pride that
Bulgaria had made available "two heavy mechanized bridges,
two bulldozers and six Zil trucks." Plucky Estonia has
unleashed "two explosive-detection dog teams" and
France has come up with a "deployable weather bureau."
The German contingent is paying special attention to "Afghan
war widows" while Norway's contributions include "personal
items" for a 700-man battalion.
"Malaysia has provided access to Malaysian intelligence,"
the Pentagon reports mysteriously. While Italy's war effort
includes a forklift and some road-menders, Russia has chipped
in with some second-hand vehicles - one careful Red Army lady
owner, low mileage, taxed and tested, it's all yours in the
cause of international solidarity, comrade. Canada's navy, meanwhile,
has distinguished itself by seizing 2,000 kilograms of hashish
in the North Arabian sea valued at $60 million. Little has since
been heard of the jolly mates of the HMCS Toronto. Looking through
the Pentagon "fact sheet," it becomes ever clearer
that the war on terror in Afghanistan is turning into something
quite different from the tough, bloody struggle initially envisaged.
It is becoming a quasi-permanent, multinational military jamboree.
Afghanistan is the Pentagon's new playing field and parade ground,
and everybody who calls himself a friend is joining in. Quite
what President Hamid Karzai makes of all this, sitting impotently
in Kabul, is anybody's guess. But who's asking him anyway? In
effect, the "Great Game" of old empire days has entered
a new round, more akin to bingo than diplomacy. Everybody has
a hand to play; all want a stake. Post-Taliban Afghanistan is
a fun outing for military top brass. Fun, that is, until "errant
bombs" fall unannounced from a clear night sky and Bush's
heroes get bored or frightened and suddenly let fly. Then Afghanistan
is something quite different. Then it is once again an occupied
country that, as before, may one day turn against its occupiers.
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Needle
Relief
In
a study coordinated by Australia’s Adelaide University,
researchers and doctors found
acupuncture to be an effective treatment for morning
sickness. A trial of almost 600 women showed that
one 20-min. session per week for one month significantly
reduced the symptoms of nausea and vomiting.
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