2003: A year marked by war and WMD illusions [Archives:2003/698/Viewpoint]

This is the last issue of Yemen Times published in 2003. The next issue will come out at dawn of January 1st 2004. This is why I would like to bid farewell once and for all to 2003; a year that was full of miseries, violence, and disappointments. The 2003 witnessed the first ever war launched against a sovereign Arab state. It was the year one more Arab country fell into foreign occupation.
2003 was full of war and anti-war slogans. It was a year when determined warlords were able to enforce their views on the world and create a crack between the USA and Europe. It was the year when an Arab leader fell in the hands of the occupying forces.
It is also the year a 35-year-long dictatorship collapsed, and the year when millennia old historical monuments were robbed in the heart of once the capital of Arab pride and literature Baghdad.
This was the year when world citizens felt misled when the American administration emphasized once and again on the importance of ridding the world of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and limiting the threat of Saddam Hussein's regime to the 'free world'.
This is when Americans were dragged into believing that a war on Iraq is part of a war on terrorism as they were made to believe that there were links between the Iraqi regime in Baghdad and al-Qaeda network in Afghanistan.
This is the year when the world was supposed to be a more secure place, but which witnessed bombings in countries that were once believed not to be targets of terrorist organizations such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and others.
This is the year when Arabs felt hopeless in preventing the war that will have consequences for many years to come.
This is the year when the sole superpower of the world, the United States, has succeeded in its attempt to start the first step in changing the Middle East map once and for all.
As if those were not enough, natural disasters struck heavily in this year, adding another dimension to the suffering of human beings on this lonely planet.
Last week's devastating earthquake in Iran was of severe impact that resulted in killing almost a quarter of the historical city of Bam.
The Middle East turmoil continued for another year as violence continued between Palestinians and Israelis with no light seen at the end of the tunnel.
There is no doubt that the year 2003 was full of miseries and sufferings. It was loaded with blood baths and massacres. But nevertheless, an end to this year could signal a beginning, and this beginning could be the emerging beam that would light our path to a brighter and new future.
Let us pray this beginning could be signaled in 2004.
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