Hassan Tahsin It seems that the United States has recently noticed that it has not eradicated global terrorism yet as terrorism has emerged again to threaten Western interests and combat Islamic moderate political parties. The US announced its war on terrorism again, only this time it is a limited war. Once again, it is making the same mistake and leading the war without consulting its allies. Global terrorism has not emerged as a result of 9/11 tragic charade. No. It appeared over 25 years ago as a social problem threatening the safety and security of all peoples. It was Egypt which brought global attention to this problem and it was Egypt which specified its forms and said it would affect all the world, not only certain countries. For the record, the former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak said something very important during the speech he delivered in front of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly held on January 1, 1986 in Strasbourg. He drew the world's attention to the dangers of global terrorism and talked briefly about a proposed mechanism to fight global terrorism. Also, he called for holding a global conference to combat terrorism under the umbrella of the United Nations and according to particular regulations which aim to root out this menace. The former president stressed the importance of collective work of all countries and said all states should work together for the same purpose. This work should not be done by a certain country, regional group, or political party. His calls for such collective effort had been reiterated at several global events. It seemed that the former president had predicted the future and called upon major countries to understand the reality of global terrorism. Not only that, but he also warned European countries and the US against offering political asylum to terrorists and allow them to live on their soil. Particularly, he warned the United Kingdom and the United States against doing such thing. His words were clear when he said those terrorists would turn against the very countries that granted them asylum. Some countries were convinced by these calls; however, the United States and some other countries were not. Their reason was that holding such conferences and forming a global union to fight terrorism might affect the Palestinian-Israeli situation and divide the international community into two or three sides, each with different opinions. So, Mubarak's advice was not taken seriously. Some European countries said the Egyptian president had problems with terrorists and these problems won't affect European countries. But later, Mubarak's advice proved to be true as Tokyo, Paris, some German cities, London, and Spain all suffered from terrorist operations. With the world facing this dangerous problem, are we not supposed to agree on holding a global conference to study terrorism, its causes, and how to eradicate it? The current situation requires us to do so but the United States insists on refusing to hold such conference and insists on facing terrorism on its own. It wants to make its own decisions while at the same time threatens its allies and friends that anyone who does not listen to its orders will be regarded as a sympathizer to terrorism. This American arrogance prompted a search for the reasons behind such position. When we look into the reasons, we find that the US Administration wants to be the only one which makes decisions on fighting terrorism. Therefore, any organization the US deems terrorist should deserve to be attacked as long as such attack would serve US interests. The US wants to lead the war against terrorism under the international community's umbrella in order to restore its dignity which it lost when 9/11 took place. That is to say, holding a global conference on terrorism led by all countries will prevent the US from implementing its revengeful plan. The US wants to control new regions around the world and make advantage of 9/11 in order to attack Afghanistan and eventually occupy it militarily. There were many indications that the former US administration worked hard for seven years to achieve this goal. It even tried to hold agreement with the Taliban regime but many things happened suddenly around the world and prevented the US from accomplishing this goal. The US was ready to do anything to enter Central Asia because it wanted to put its hands on the Caspian Sea oil. The United States will continue to stay in the Central Asia to protect its interests just like it did when it stayed in the Gulf following the second Gulf war. Holding a global conference on terrorism would restrict the US movements and ambition to control the entire world. If held, this conference will define terrorism and identify terrorist organizations and will differentiate between terrorism and the liberal acts carried out by peoples who want to get their independence and free themselves from colonization. It will also prevent countries from allowing any terrorists to stay on their territory or opening military camps for that matter. Such conference will restrict the movement of terrorists from one country to another and will impose penalties on countries that violate any of these rules. It will protect the security and safety of the US against terrorist attacks. A global unified stance on terrorism will grant legitimacy to each country to combat terrorism. The US does not have any legitimacy in leading the war on terrorism.
