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“September 11 th : Afghanistan and Iraq” was the topic of the discussion at the Literary Guild in Lisbon, in which the future of the two countries was discussed in the light of the fighting still taking place there. One of the speakers, retired General José Loureiro dos Santos, characterized the two successive wars as “a direct result of the September 11 th attacks,” and then discussed the different phases of how the two conflicts unfolded. The first phase began with the launch of the war in Afghanistan, which was sanctioned by NATO (involving article 5 of the Washington Treaty), with 14 out of the 19 NATO allies sending armed troops. Though acknowledging America’s right to counter-attack after the strike on the US, the General admits that, “The will – and possibly the ability – weren’t there to mold the occupied country into something that conformed to the will and desires of the United States.” America also felt there was no need to send in more troops, since the affair has been resolved, and the Afghan army was already undergoing training. In 2003, the US invaded Iraq, claiming motives that later proved to be non-existent: the presence of weapons of mass destruction and alleged Iraqi ties to Al-Qaeda. The US’ main idea was to take up a more central position in the zone, thereby controlling the price of oil. The invasion ended up lacking political support, since it did not have serious NATO backing. 22 9/11 A decade later [ as told by Portuguese students of Journalism ] Afghanistan and iraq: a global war on terrorism The conference “September 11 th : Afghanistan and Iraq” showed how an American affair turned into a global war. By rAqueL uBAcH TrindAde* Three weeks later, Iraq’s regime toppled, and the insurrections began. The second phase began with the dispersion of the Taliban, primarily to Pakistan, and the establishment of a post-invasion political order. General Loureiro dos Santos stated that, “American forces got distracted by Iraq,” leaving no more forces to send to Afghanistan. The result was a return of the Taliban, who set a policy in motion to repossess territories and carry out terrorist strikes. Meanwhile, in Iraq, the newly-empowered Shiite militias gained formidable strength and, as Loureiro dos Santos explained, “The Iraqi security structure was totally ‘Shiite-ized’ ‘ General José Loureiro dos santos, characterized the two successive wars as “a direct result of the september 11th attacks”. ’ with members of the militia.” The situation changed radically; yet President Bush had no way of reinforcing troops. The third and fourth phases involved US withdrawal from the occupied countries and the end of the war. Both conflicts naturally weakened the US both militarily and economically. As dos Santos stated, “Currently, the US is spending 10 billion dollars a month on the wars.” At the end of his talk, he added that the solution to the Afghan debacle necessarily involves Pakistan. Carlos Gaspar, from the Portuguese Institute of International Relations (IPRI), centered his talk on four words: the Global war on terrorism. This was at the heart of the American policy that “during the last ten years has focused on somewhat secondary issues.” The country has paid dearly for its policy choice, which led to a transatlantic crisis and a legitimacy crisis, with allied democracies opposing American policy, all of which left the field open for the emergence of new international powers. Citing Philip H. Gordon, Gaspar said that America’s ensuing intervent i o n s a f t e r September 11 th could be described as “the right war and the wrong war.” The right war would be its response to the attacks on the American targets: the war against Al-Qaeda terrorism. The wrong war was the Iraqi conflict: a move to democratize the Middle East. These somewhat atypical years ended with the election of Barack Obama in 2008. Gaspar states that “Obama’s foreign Parallel no. 6 | FALL | WINTER 2011
RUI OChÔA ‘ The political demise of Al-qaeda and its separation from the Taliban leaves the way open for direct negotiations between the us and the Taliban. ’ policy is aimed at undoing everything his predecessor did.” Again citing Philip H. Gordon, Gaspar said that the withdrawal would have to take place one step at a time: first Iraq, then Afghanistan. The death of bin Laden has enabled a three-pronged negotiation process to take 9/11 A decade later place with Pakistan and Iran in talks with India (which has significant relations with the US and Iran), and then with China (Pakistan’s main ally). The political demise of Al-Qaeda and its separation from the Taliban leaves the way open for direct negotiations between the US and the Taliban. “It is always difficult for democracies to find democratic solutions for combating terrorism, which does not act democratically, “stated François Lafond, the third speaker of the day. LaFond stressed that what we are dealing with is neither a struggle between blocs, nor the attempt to conquer territories, but the implementation of the capitalist system. The responsibility for fighting terrorism does not belong to one country alone. He added that Sarkozy supports Obama, and follows the same line as the US president in the fight against international terrorism. Moderating the debate was FLAD deputy director Rui Vallera, who opened the floor to discussion after the talks, where issues were raised concerning the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. Former FLAD president Rui Machete, who chaired the session, capped off the debate saying that he was looking forward to the other upcoming conferences in the series. Both this session and the talks that followed certainly shed light on a global question that only now is slowly moving toward resolution. *Student in the undergraduate program in Social and Cultural Communications at the Catholic University of Portugal. (from left to right) carlos Gaspar of the portuguese institute for international relations, Gen. Loureiro dos santos, former FLAd president rui machete, François Lafond of the German marshall Fund, and rui vallêra from FLAd discuss the situation in Afghanistan and iraq. Parallel no. 6 | FALL | WINTER 2011 23
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