Mixed media: Making the world more dangerous

A mistake

Australian Opinion: The so-called war on terror is a mistake ... those we describe as terrorists are reacting through the use of processes that most in the western world dislike and yet those acts result from their interpretation of what they see as the western colonisation of the world, with America leading the charge.

Those others see that colonisation as impinging on their way of life and so while our thoughts trap us into thinking their behaviour is undeniably bad, their thinking also leads them down a similar dead-end alley and so they are unable to consider our behaviour as anything else other than bad.

* Rob Mclean in Shepparton News, Victoria

American Intellectual: Now is a good time for Americans to pause and consider our progress in what the Bush Administration calls the war on terror. Osama bin Laden remains at large three years after the attacks of September 11, the war in Iraq has reached a kind of stasis of escalating violence matched by an erosion of our ability to control events there, new crises loom with other members of the "axis of evil" defined by President Bush in January 2002, and the President's re-election rules out the likelihood of any sudden change in American policy.

The President insists that the war in Iraq is now the central front of the war on terror, and the insurgents' use of car bombs, kidnappings and beheadings certainly qualifies as terror. But defining our opponents as terrorists disguises the more important fact that most of them, probably in excess of 90 per cent, are Iraqis angry at Americans. This should not be hard for us to understand. Americans have invaded their country, have killed anywhere between 10,000 and 100,000 civilians, and have vowed to transform their country politically.

* Thomas Powers in New York Review of Books

African View: African governments have used the war on terror as an excuse to roll back democratic reforms and the west has diverted funds away from Africa to concentrate on fighting terrorism, African intellectuals said on Monday.

The continent had witnessed growing militarism following the attacks, said Eddy Maloka, executive director of the Africa Institute of South Africa.

"Africa is one of the main victims of the 9/11 attacks," he said. "Militarism and the celebration of war in the name of the fight against terror are the new dominant global values."

* News 24 website, South Africa

Scourge of violence

Indonesian Website: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono says all religions must wage war against the violent scourge. "In my opinion, terrorism is the enemy of all religions," he was quoted as saying by state news agency Antara.

* Laksamana website

London Newspaper: After talks during Musharraf's two-day visit to the UK, Tony Blair said: "Most sensible people looking at the world know that since September 11 we have to take every action we can to fight terrorism militarily. But we'd be foolish to ignore the causes upon which terrorism preys. That's why it's important to address those political disputes as well."

* The Guardian, London

American Commentator: They (critics of the war on terror) claim that our most vigorous anti-terrorist actions, notably in Iraq, have actually made things worse by killing large numbers of terrorists and destroying two tyrannical regimes that supported them. This, they say, rallies the faithful to support jihad. They want to go after the "root causes" of terrorism, usually identified as poverty, American support for corrupt regimes in the Middle East and support for Israel.

I'm all for withdrawing American support from corrupt regimes, but I doubt it will transform jihadists into buddies. It would be morally disgusting and geopolitically counterproductive to abandon Israel. America must support democratic societies, and we must convince those who share our values that they can count on us. That means killing terrorists and supporting freedom.

* Michael Ledeen in USA Today

German Newspaper: If terror were dependent on hunger and need, then Pakistan and Saudi Arabia wouldn't be hotbeds of terror, but rather Bangladesh. It is not poverty that turns people toward extremism. Saudi Arabia is on the right path. Its goal is the victory over terrorism.

* Die Welt