President Bush’s war on Iraq triggered a dilemma in the top political echelons of India, because the relations between India and Iraq had been cordial and Saddam Hussein, despite being head of a Muslim state, had always been supportive of the Indian stand on Kashmir. This made it difficult for the government and even some other rightist polity of the country to support the war on Iraq. Moreover, the Government of India has gone by the principle that the Bush administration had gone against international law by ordering its forces to forcibly change the regime of another sovereign country—a most disturbing aspect of a bad precedent. Still, by all means, the reaction of the government as well as of the BJP, the ruling party, have not been that severe and overbearing. Moreover, by and large, most of the people in the streets of India praised the U. S. strong retaliation against the 9/11 terrorists attack on the WTC as compared to India’s feeble reaction against the rampant cross-border terrorism unleashed by Pakistan since 1989. Notwithstanding India’s stand on this issue, it is imperative also to grasp the American viewpoint as to why Capitol Hill is aggressively retaliating against the rising forces of terrorism. America is a strong country, which is unrivalled in protecting her economic and strategic interests. The cornerstone of U. S. policy has been to ruthlessly guard these dual interests. The 9/11 terrorist attack not only devastated the economy of the country, but also created terror in the minds of the people: daily listening to the warnings of the Attorney-General about the possibility of similar attacks on public and government institutions. And then the terrorists attack did not target only the WTC, but there was also a desperate bid to destroy the White House and the Pentagon, the most powerful and sacred institutions of the country. With further threats daily emanating from Osama bin Laden, the U. S. A. took it as an act of aggression and a grave threat to the very foundation of her system of governance. The tactics of the terrorists to slowly bleed America as has been happening with India for the last more than a decade could not be tolerated by a strong country like the
U. S. A.. It is a country which puts a million dollar reward on the head of the killer of any one of her nationals on duty. It is not a pacifist but a dynamic country, which relentlessly targets her enemies until she decimates them to uphold her strong image as the most powerful country of the world.

After destroying the Taliban regime in Afghanistan, the U. S. A. has been seriously looking to target other flash spots which could be of danger to the country. Saddam Hussein, being a bitter enemy of the U. S. A., could form an important base similar to that of Afghanistan in harbouring and clandestinely supporting terrorist forces against America. Most probably, the CIA had already acquired considerable evidence to that account. On top of this, Saddam Hussein had been playing devious games and was not honestly following the sanctions slapped on Iraq by the U. N.. Though it is difficult to justify the attack launched by the U. S. A. and its allies on Iraq without the sanction of the
U. N., it is also impossible to justify Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait in 1991. Saddam committed an unprovoked invasion on a smaller country and perpetuated unknown brutalities against the people of Kuwait, compelling the U. S. A. to intervene with the full support of the free world. It was easy for the U. S. A. at that time to walk into Iraq and change the regime then and there. But America stopped short of slapping some sanctions on Iraq under the aegis of the U. N., which Saddam Hussein never honestly complied with. According to knowledgeable reports, U. S. troops in Iraq have recently found 11 mobile labs buried south of Baghdad capable of biological and chemical uses.

On top of this, Saddam’s regime was totally authoritarian and there was no place for any freedom of speech or semblance of public participation. It was a country ruled by Saddam and his two sons at their will. Colin Powell’s recent talk to focus on Kashmir, after handling Iraq, should not be misconstrued by India. The U. S. A. is fully aware that Pakistan is today the epicentre of terrorism, where Osama bin Laden and thousands of Al Qaeda fighters are hiding.

Beating the summer 250 years ago