We Must All 'Walk Alongside America'

FIVE years have passed since the destruction of the World Trade Center in New York, one of the worst terrorist attacks in world history. Although since that fateful day the United States has been able to rein in and halt terror’s advance, it has yet to succeed in rooting out terrorism once and for all.

The fact is that in the aftermath of 9-11, terrorists have proven their ability to improvise, which has enabled them to continue their operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. This requires us to point out that the mission of fighting terrorism must not rest with the United States alone. To be more precise, the United States is not the only front in the war against the terrorists, so it should not be the only party concerned with fighting them.

If the battle against terrorism is to reach a positive conclusion, it will take an international coalition and international coordination, because this terrorism threatens all nations, including Arab and Islamic and the Western nations of Europe. If that an attack is prevented in one country, the terrorist regroup and attack again, which has occurred in Spain and Britain. This terrorism which has such a diverse array of targets should not be considered an enemy of any particular country, but an enemy of the entire global community and every nation in it.

Five years after the destruction of the Twin Towers in New York, the terrorists have proven their ability to attack not only the United States, but any country at any moment. Perhaps in acknowledgement of this, President Bush has said that America’s domestic security and military operations abroad must be improved, so as to confront this enemy and prevent them from “establishing an empire based on an ideology of hate.”

Based on these facts, it should be clear that the way to pass from fighting terrorism to defeating it remains the same: there are difficult days ahead for everyone, not only the United States, which as President Bush has said, knows that she can win if she applies real determination to the task.

The area of terrorist operations span the entire globe, and therefore its targets span every nation on the globe, western and eastern, northern and southern, Arab and Islamic. A key part of the danger is that terrorist groups have diverse nationalities and ethnicities, and it is feared that this array of groups might coordinate with one another, sharing the risks and the rewards. If these sources coordinate and open several fronts at the same time, the situation will become far more dangerous.

The terrorists who are active in Afghanistan and Iraq have also attacked Egypt and Saudi Arabia, besides creating turmoil in India and Pakistan.

The realities of modern terror require the establishment of an international alliance, which would coordinate the fight in more effective manner, and overcome disputes centered on the definition of terrorism. The effect of these disputes is that when one country says it is fighting terrorism, there is always another country criticizing the action. This highlights the need to differentiate between terrorism and national resistance movements.

There must be a unified global effort to combat terrorism of any kind, regardless of its source, whether it be Arabic, Islamic, Buddhist or separatist, such as those in the Basque country of Northern Spain or the French island of Corsica.

The United States alone cannot achieve the ultimate goal. What is required is that entire world walk alongside America in order to fully uproot this terrible menace, and to achieve victory over death, sabotage and the hatred of life itself.