Objectives of the U.S. War against Terror [Archives:2001/52/Law & Diplomacy]
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December 24 2001
(Part 2 of 6) Ahmad M. Abdulghani Chairman of al-Jazeera & al-Khaleej Center for Studies
As the former USSR was the only powerful nation openly resisting the U.S. hegemony and its imperialistic plans in Asia, the latter has based its plans on the policy of confrontation and retaliation. Interestingly, the USA has attempted to convince the whole world that its confrontation with USSR and the Socialist Pact is mainly meant to contain the danger of Communism. The United States initially adopted the strategy of deterrent in 1946. This strategy basically depends on the approach of a fierce confrontation that permits the utilization of all the possible economic, political and military pressures originally meant to withstand the political variables of the Soviet Union. This has, in fact, given an excuse for the arm race strategy, which has been vigorously pursued by the USA till the present time. In March, 1947, the “Truman’s Principle” came to further develop the technologies related to deterrent strategy. Based on Truman Principle, the United States has proclaimed its right to intervene in the internal affairs of any country, particularly with regard to deploying U.S. forces near the oil-rich regions located in the Middle-East and the Far-East. Shortly after the creation of Warsaw Pact by the USSR and its satellites in 1949, the USA and its allies countered this move by creating different political and military groupings, particularly in West Asia as in the case of the Baghdad Pact. Then, the USA declared the “Eisenhower Principle,” which deemed the Middle-East as an important region, especially with regard to the U.S. interests there. The U.S. president vowed to use military forces to protect any nation that might come under attacks supported by the international communism. This principle factually gave a boost to the U.S. foreign policies, particularly in West Asia. Accordingly, the U.S. administration signed in March, 1959, bilateral military pacts with Turkey, Iran and Pakistan, authorizing the USA to have military presence in these respective countries. The SENTO Pact had principally focused on reorganizing and developing the military forces of Turkey, Iran and Pakistan. Similarly, the U.S., president John Kennedy, declared in January, 1961 that USA was completely ready to defend its interests in the world whatever the cost was. “The United Sates is also ready to overcome all difficulties and support any of its allies whatever the enemy is,” he added. In fact, these ideas developed later and were submitted in the Kennedy’s letter to the U.S. Congress on 28 March, 1961. President Kennedy affirmed the necessity to provide the U.S. forces with sophisticated non-nuclear weapons with the view of forming a U.S. rapid intervention forces to safeguard U.S. interests all over the world. After the assassination of president John Kennedy, president Johnson came to follow-up the former’s project to expand the U.S. geographical, political and military influence in Asia through directly intervening in the Vietnamese War, principally meant to show off the U.S. military power. The U.S. administration adopted this approach through providing the Israeli occupation forces with a great deal of military hardware, namely in 1967 as president Johnson openly declared the USA’s support for the aggressive Israeli polices against Syria and Egypt. Evidently, this support substantially enabled the Hebrew state to win the war of June, 1967. The Israeli forces occupied the West Bank, Gaza strip, Syna desert in Egypt, and the Golan Heights in Syria.
