The voice of the youth is the voice of future. An overwhelming majority of them now believe the 'war on terror' is already lost. At least in their minds, the real battleground!
The BBC World Service hired a research agency to conduct a survey. 300 or more youngsters aged 15 - 17 were interviewed October this year in ten cities of the world: New York, Nairobi, Cairo, Lagos, Rio de Janeiro, Baghdad, Delhi, Jakarta, Moscow and London.
71% of respondents said the US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were making the world not a safer place. Only 14% of said they were. The remaining 15% did not know or declined to answer.
Negative views of the "war on terror" were strongest in Baghdad (98%) and Rio (92%). Nobody asked Afghanis or Pakistanis.
Had Lahore, Karachi or any other Pakistani city been included in this list I don't think the result would have been different.
The writing on the wall is very clear for anyone willing and able to see. But the lucre-blinded military junta in Pakistan, the 'proud' but forced partner of the aggressors, cannot see.
The war is already lost. The resistance in America against this unnecessary war is growing every day. Even the most adamant proponents and supporters of this war are slowly but steadily crumbling. Rumsfeld left for Bush a 'cut and run' memo only one day before he resigned. The neo-cons, the sires of this foolish war, who had pushed Bush towards this hell are now hastily scurrying of this sinking ship and are turning on Bush. Kennedy was right when he said victory has many fathers but defeat is an orphan.
Kofi Annan is saying that the life for ordinary Iraqis is now more dangerous than it was under Saddam Hussein and the country has descended into violence "much worse" than civil war.
How long will it take for Musharraf and his partners in crime to realize that they will be standing with losers once the fog of war evaporates? Or, are they already pulling their hand out gingerly by giving mixed signals to NATO to make deals with Taliban and htting hard on Madrassahs?
