9/11, the trigger that set the world at war and my world on fire. A date that explains globalization in a way no other definition can. There I was a single mother of three; a development professional working with the Swiss government in Pakistan for poverty alleviation. Like others in my field and those who were social activists, I had my views, some were to the right of the political spectrum and others to the left. I believed in democracy, I thought the US foreign policy was naive to say the least, I thought that it wasn’t nice the way the Jewish community was targeted, in short I was quite moderate. A staunch practicing Muslim but tolerant towards the West and the Jewish State. 10 years after 9/11, I think that the US and Israel are the biggest global terrorists, I think the EU should be more globally responsible and the British should stop giving asylum to Pakistani thugs, I think the Saudis sold out on Islam, I think India was never our enemy it was always the white man and I think the Afghan Taliban are justified in what they do and I think that the Pakistani government needs to take its head out of Uncle Sam’s backside and be accountable to its people!
Post 9/11, post Afghan invasion, post my government selling me out, post CIA takeover in Pakistan, post my family members and friends dying in suicide attacks using the name of Islam and that having nothing to do with Islam, I am quite anti-American government and anti NATO. I do not respect any government authority in my country and worse still I can empathize with the Taliban (not Al Qaida but then I think that is an American creation) How sad is this?!. I believe that the West is anti-Islam and they are out to destroy my country and my people, i.e. the Pukhtuns. Forgive me, this is my pain speaking, my loss, my collective humiliation as a Pakistani and my pride as a Pukhtun.
I live in the capital of the country, Islamabad and my daughter nearly died not once but twice. Once she had a near miss when driving home on a main city street and a suicide attacker struck at a polic check post. The second time a suicide attack in the cafeteria of the University she goes to killed several of her friends but she survived. For the first 2-3 years I learned how the people in Beirut and Palestine felt. I was always afraid for my children in Islamabad and my eldest son working in London and my parents in Peshawar. And my crime was…..?? ten years after 9/11, and my children’s crime was……???????. A few thousand died in the US twin tower attack, a super power with the greatest technology and intelligence was taken by surprise by a group of Arab terrorists on September 11. Since then Pukhtuns in Pakistan and Afghanistan are being killed, men women and children because they believe in the Shariah? Or because the Taliban tell women to wear burkas, is that the business of the US government or CIA or NATO forces? I still do not know why hundreds and thousands of innocent Pakistani in rural Pakistan are dying, that is what 9/11 means to me now 10 years later an excuse to kill innocent Muslim women and children in an ideological state that stands for Islam.
We never said anything to anyone, we never hurt anyone, we think that 9/11 was a tragedy just like all the senseless bombings, killings and terrorist attacks around the world are. My country is not the leading arms manufacturing country. We don’t produce and sell arms to developing countries, why? Why after 10 years do I have less purchasing power, due to global economic recession, or security issues that threatens my country’s economy. Why do my sons have less education and job opportunities and cannot travel simply because they are Pakistani. Why can my daughter not even travel in her own country because she is a girl and the post 9/11 radicalization of the country creates mobility and security issues even in Islamabad and urban Pakistan.
My thoughts post 9/11 are: Why does the US Govt always support corrupt governments in Pakistan? Why does it interfere so much, what have they achieved after 10 years on my country’s borders and in my hometown in the North. Post 9/11 and 10 years later what are American vehicles driving after midnight in Peshawar and not answering to our local authorities in my homeland in Peshawar. It was the Arabs who blew up the Towers why have millions of Pukhtuns, Afghans and Pakistani families been devastated directly and indirectly through the decisions of the global powers. The funny thing is the Taliban hate people like me and the Westerners hate people like me because my views are in the middle, I do not hold with religious extremism and I don’t hold with Western extremism and the so called liberal agenda of anti Islam. So 9/11 has shown me, that I am hated because of my religious beliefs and my nationality and my ethnicity (being Pukhtun) both within my country and by the West. 9/11 has also taught me to hate not just the terrorists but also the Western governments who propagate this terror; I have not quite decided whether they do this inadvertently or deliberately.
I just don’t understand and although we can discuss many things academically and I can be right on some points and wrong on other points, I don’t want to talk about, it hurts too much still. I am just so sorry for all of us. All of us people around the world, us,human beings, ordinary family people who lost loved ones and lost our personal freedoms because of the poor decisions and greed of our governments. And mind you the greediest government with the biggest consumer appetite is good ol’ Uncle Sam in my humble opinion.
I am apologize in advance for offending anyone with my plain speaking. But 10 years after 9/11, my children and I are suffering because a handful of misguided, brainwashed Arabs crashed in the WTC and a few thousand innocent lives were lost. Now 10 years later my family members and friends and fellow countrymen are still being killed in hundreds and thousands by the Great American Nation and its Allies and now I forget why, I can only think because we are Pakistani and we are Muslims.