While our nation is going through the darkest and most trying times in its history, we need to pause for a while and re-evaluate our foreign policies that seem to be sowing the seeds for such horrendous crimes.

More than 15 years ago, America created a monster in the Taliban and Osama bin Laden, and this has come back to haunt us. We actively sponsored Afghan rebels, including bin Laden, to fight against the puppet regime in Kabul that was installed by the Soviet Union.

We conveniently termed them as “Islamic anti-communist” groups. We even offered military and technological support to Iraq in the Iran-Iraq war.

When we went to war against Iraq in order to save the oil that our gas-guzzling SUVs burn endlessly, the Taliban and other fundamentalist groups hated us for our hypocrisy.

Our deeds, whether right or wrong, have come back to haunt us. What we did in order to protect our interests as a nation, angered the common man in the streets of Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Palestine, Afghanistan and Iraq.

That is why we see them celebrating when our nation is going through the darkest periods of its history.

What must be done to win this war against terrorism? We need to not only wipe out every such terrorist, but we also need to re-evaluate our foreign policies in the Middle East.

The media makes such a big deal that the Taliban women are not allowed to drive.

Did you know that this is the same case with Saudi Arabia with whom we are so friendly?

Did you know that laws in Saudi Arabia discriminate against women in almost all aspects of life – decision-making, employment, education and family relationships?

Yet, our human rights activists never make it a big issue.

If there was anything of interest for us in Afghanistan, like vast oil resources, do you think we would even consider attacking Kabul?

Make no mistake. These terrorists must be each hunted down and eliminated.

But we must also make sure that we don’t repeat our mistakes and create many a seething terrorist.

Prasanna Padmanabhan

Graduate

Computer Science