In the name of Allah most gracious most merciful
Assalaamu alaykum wa rahmatuallahi wa barakatahu
 

History repeats itself

   By  Sharique Naeem

In May-June 1970 bombing raids were carried out by USA in Cambodia, which killed thousands of innocent civilians. The then National Security Advisor, Henry Kissinger, cunningly oblivious of the carnage, justified the bombings by saying: “We are not bombing Cambodia; we are bombing the North Vietnamese in Cambodia.”

A similar justification was given by Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense, at the start of Iraq war on March 21, 2003. After nearly 500 cruise missiles had been fired onto Iraq. The Defense secretary, justifying the US stance stated: “It is not an attack on the country of Iraq; it is an attack on the Hussein regime.”

The striking similarity in the harsh US foreign policy necessitates, that the Muslim world contemplate on the core cause of the abyss of dismay that they live in today. While only in a recent past, we were the Ummah, once known so well.

 

Also published as:  “The 'not quite' bombings”-The Nation (4^th Feb. 2006); “History repeats”-The Post (1^st Feb. 2006)

 The Frontier Post (2^nd Feb. 2006)