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U.S. Must Address Root Cause of Terrorism: Malay NGO
KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Amid increasing calls for war in the United States in response to last week's terrorist attacks, a Malaysia-based non-governmental organization (NGO) has called on the U.S. to take a level-headed approach, cautioning that a vicious cycle of violence will reduce everyone and everything to ashes, news agencies reported Tuesday.
"Organizing an international coalition to hunt down terrorists and to destroy their sanctuaries is not a solution," said International Movement for a Just World president Chandra Muzaffar in a letter addressed to U.S. President George W. Bush, a copy of which was dispatched to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
"The terrorist bases and their networks will re-emerge as long as the root causes of the phenomenon have not been addressed," Chandra added, quoted by IRNA.
On Saturday, Bush launched "Operation Noble Eagle" and placed reservists and active-duty army personnel on high alert, effectively putting the superpower in war mode.
The U.S. considers Osama bin Laden, now hiding in Afghanistan, as the prime suspect in the attack. Any possible military action, according to the U.S. government, would be directed at Afghanistan for harboring him.
However, the Saudi-born bin Laden has already twice "categorically" denied any involvement in the hijacking of the two airliners that crashed into the World Trade Center's twin towers in New York, or the Pentagon - the U.S.'s defense center - in Washington D.C. Another hijacked plane crashed in a rural area of Pennsylvania, it was rumored to be headed for the White House in Washington D.C.
U.S. allies and many countries around the world have pledged their support for the war on terrorism, although some have warned against hasty military strikes.
Chandra, also deputy president of the opposition Keadilan Party in Malaysia, urged the U.S. to first understand the causes that give rise to terrorism before progressing to military action.
"The crying need of the hour is not cobbling together an international military alliance. It is understanding the causes and circumstances that facilitate the rise of terrorism," Chandra said, quoted by IRNA.
U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East over the past 50 years, Chandra said, was one of the main factors for the rise of terrorism against the country.
"Palestine, more than any other conflict, epitomizes this sense of hopelessness and helplessness and because of the U.S.' intimate relationship with Israel, Palestinians and Arabs are convinced that they cannot even expect a modicum of justice from your government," Chandra told Bush.
"Through much of the Middle East, a region which is of tremendous geo-economic and geo-political significance to the U.S., ordinary men and women, rightly or wrongly, perceive the U.S. as the primary cause of their misery and their deprivation," Chandra said.
Chandra also reminded the U.S. of its use of the atomic bomb during World War II and the setting up of repressive regimes in Indochina and Latin American countries in order to maintain its hegemony over the world.
"When a hegemonic global power centralizes power, wealth and knowledge in the hands of the minority, when there are few avenues to ensure accountability, the marginalization and alienation among the many can lead to disastrous results.
"While there is so much sympathy for the bereaving people of the U.S., there is a great deal of antipathy towards an arrogant superpower," Chandra said.
Chandra, a former academic, advised the U.S. to review its foreign policy and be guided by principles of justice as opposed to power.
"We pray that God will give you and your people the strength and the humility to discover the truth about America, and how it has used the enormous power it commands.
"When you have embraced that truth, the tyranny of terror and the ugliness of violence will be vanquished," Chandra said.
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