The attack on the World Trade Center furthered the neo-conservative agenda. |
In
the wake of the shock and panic created by the
devastating attack on the World Trade Center,
the neo-conservatives reconstructed the radical
Islamists in the image of their last evil enemy,
the Soviet Union.
They created a sinister web of terror run by
Osama bin Laden from his lair in Afghanistan. And
they were able to convince George W. Bush to begin
a "War on Terror".
The war in Afghanistan removed bin Laden's main
source of recruits, but the U.S. military and the
Northern Alliance also captured and killed many
people in the Taliban camps that had nothing to
do with bin Laden's goal.
The story circulated that bin Laden and the core
of al-Qaeda had retreated to a complex in Tora
Bora, but an exhaustive search revealed no sign
of an underground fortress.
The arrests of various groups of suspected terrorists
in the U.S. following the September 11 attacks
failed to find any substantial evidence of terrorist
sleeper cells. Similarly, in the UK, arrests under
new terrorism laws have resulted in only three
convictions of Islamists, all for fundraising or
posessing Islamist literature.
President George Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair stand behind a photo
of enemy - Osama bin Laden. |
Much of the media coverage of potential terrorist
attacks also became highly speculative and sensational.
There were reports that al-Qaeda was poised to
use a radiological weapon, referred to as a "dirty
bomb", which would kill thousands of people. But
nuclear scientists argued that this was a false
threat. They said that a "dirty bomb" wouldn't
kill many people from fallout because the radioactive
material would be spread thinly by any explosion.
Still, the neo-conservatives had found they could
use the threat of Islamist terrorism and claimed
that they had found hidden links between al-Qaeda
and their old enemy, Saddam Hussein. Iraq became
an important enemy against which to unite the U.S.,
and other politicians such as Tony Blair who wanted
to play an important role in protecting their countries
from attack.
Politicians and counter-terrorist agents have
decided that they must be pro-active in imagining
the worst possible attacks and in stopping those
who seem likely to carry out attacks. They are
convinced that it's the only way to save the world
from a looming catastrophe.
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