A world of enduring war

Five years ago this week, the Taleban's al Qaeda allies made final preparations for devastating attacks on America that would precipitate the "war on terror", the United States-led invasion of Afghanistan and the subsequent invasion of Iraq.

Far from ending terrorism, President George W. Bush's tactics of using overwhelming military might to fight extremism appear to have rebounded, spawning an epidemic of global terrorism that has claimed 72,265 lives since 2001, most of them Iraqi civilians.

The rest - 30,626, according to official US figures, have died in terror attacks or counter-insurgency actions by the US and its allies.

The figures were compiled by the US-based National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism.

The American-led invasion swept away the Taleban in a matter of weeks, and did the same to Saddam Hussein's Baath Party in 2003.

But instead of stability and democracy for Afghanistan and Iraq, the outcome has been constant warfare.

Yesterday hundreds of Nato troops, backed by warplanes and helicopter gunships, were involved in an offensive on the area southwest of Kandahar, Afghanistan, that has been a centre of Taleban resistance.

Nato said more than 200 Taleban fighters were killed in the fierce fighting in which four Canadian soldiers also died. Eighty Taleban fighters were captured.

The district where Taleban leader Mullah Omar was born is again under Taleban control, as are large parts of the south of the country.

The Government of Hamid Karzai clings on to the cities of the south, and Nato forces in Kandahar and Helmand are locked in an all-out war.

In the Punjwai and Jerai districts southwest of Kandahar, up to 1500 Taleban fighters have since May been holding off repeated attempts by Afghan and Canadian soldiers to dislodge them.

Their resistance has marked a new phase in the growing Taleban insurgency, an evolution from the hit-and-run raids by groups of eight to 15 fighters to large bodies of fighters taking and holding territory.

Operation Medusa, the latest attempt to dislodge them, began at the weekend and involves about 2000 troops.

Highway 1, which links Kandahar to Lashkargar, has been cut since June. Yesterday, Nato forces placed a ban on civilian movement along the road as helicopters, aircraft and artillery pounded suspected Taleban positions.

In Iraq, 3 1/2 years after the invasion, the situation remains equally dire and the number of Iraqi casualties - both civilians and security forces - has soared by 51 per cent in recent months, according to US figures.

About 3000 civilians are dying every month in Iraq, the Pentagon says.

Bush has changed his approach in an effort to shore up faltering public support at home for the war. No longer does he stress the benefits of securing peace in Iraq; rather, he is laying out the peril of failure.

Observers of the President say that in recent weeks his language has become increasingly grim as he details what he believes would be the consequences of an American withdrawal.

"We can allow the Middle East to continue on its course, on the course it was headed before September the 11th," he said in a speech last week.

"And a generation from now, our children will face a region dominated by terrorist states and radical dictators armed with nuclear weapons.

"Or we can stop that from happening, by rallying the world to confront the ideology of hate and give the people of the Middle East a future of hope."

Away from such rhetoric, the situation in Iraq appears to be getting worse.

A grim new assessment by the Pentagon says Iraqi civilians are increasingly suffering as a result of the violence and chaos.

The deaths are the result of an increase in sectarian clashes as well as an insurgency against the American and British occupation that remains "potent and viable".

The average number of attacks of all types is now about 800 a week.

"Although the overall number of attacks increased in all categories, the proportion of those attacks directed against civilians increased substantially," the Pentagon report said.

"Death squads and terrorists are locked in mutually reinforcing cycles of sectarian strife, with Sunni and Shiite extremists each portraying themselves as the defenders of their respective sectarian groups."

The report said that between the establishment of an Iraqi Government in mid-May and August 11, about 120 Iraqi civilian and security personnel a day were killed.

This is an increase from about 80 a day between mid-February and mid-May. Two years ago, the number was 30 a day.

Calculated over a year, the most recent rate of killings would equal more than 43,000 Iraqi casualties.

The Pentagon report, Measuring Security and Stability in Iraq, added: "The core conflict in Iraq changed into a struggle between Sunni and Shia extremists seeking to control key areas in Baghdad, create or protect sectarian enclaves, divert economic resources, and impose their own respective political and religious agendas."

While the Pentagon may seek to portray such sectarian violence as the biggest challenge, it admits that the anti-occupation insurgency remains strong.

Other figures, issued by the US military, suggested attacks against American and Iraqi forces had doubled since January.

The figures showed that in July, American forces encountered 2625 roadside bombs, of which 1666 exploded and 959 were disarmed.

In January, 1454 bombs exploded or were found.

The figures suggested that the insurgency had strengthened despite the killing of senior al Qaeda fighter, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in June.

Yesterday, Iraqi authorities announced the arrest of a man they say is the second-in-command of al Qaeda in Iraq.

Iraq's national security adviser, Mowaffaq al-Rubaie, said Hamed Jumaa Farid al-Saeedi, also known as Abu Humam or Abu Rana, was detained a few days ago.

Rubaie said the man was behind the bombing of a Shiite shrine in Samarra in February.

IRAQ

* 72,265 lives lost to terrorism since 2001, most of them civilians

* 3000 civilians now dying every month

* 120 civilian and security personnel dying each day

* 2625 roadside bombs found in July


AFGHANISTAN

* 200 Taleban fighters killed in fighting yesterday

* 40 Nato and Afghan artillery and air strikes. Four Canadian soldiers die

* 2000 people, most of them militants but including civilians, Afghan troops, aid workers and foreign soldiers, killed in fighting this year

* 130 foreign troops killed in all of last year


- INDEPENDENT