Hours before a failed assassination attempt at Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan in
front of the residence of the governor of the southwestern Kandahar province, Kabul, the
capital, about 300 miles to the north east, had jolted at its heart by sanguinary
explosions. A bomb thrown from a bicycle was followed by a huge explosion of a car
bomb that claimed over 26 innocent lives and injured more than 150 Kabul citizens who
were out to do their Friday morning shopping. Friday is the weekly day off in Afghan
calendar.

The terror act of immense power left many Kabulis dazed. It shattered also their hopes
for the return of peace to their country that has suffered war and insecurity for more than
a quarter of a century.

According to an Associated Press report from Kabul, Dul Aqa a Kabul Police
spokesperson blamed the explosion on Al-Qaeda and a former Afghan warlord
Gulbuddin Hikmatyar whose whereabouts are not known after he was asked to leave
Iran where he lived in self imposed exile until last year. Recently he has reportedly called
for Jihad against the United States forces in Afghanistan and has called Hamid Karzai an
American puppet.

Although so far no connection has been established between the attempt on the life of
the Afghan president and the explosions in Kabul, a pattern could be seen developing
against the establishment of a peaceful Afghanistan. First , foreign elements expelled
from their own countries found a foothold in Afghanistan which was a country at war.
These elements led by the Saudi millionaire Osama, built an infrastructure for training
and planning for revenge against their own governments and the Western supporters of
those governments. Al-Qaeda , their organization, gained strength and organized
structure under Taleban administration in Afghanistan who treated them as guests. The
guests fooled Afghans by using their soil for their own nefarious purposes.

But terrorist attacks of epic proportions against the United States last September
prompted the US to take decisive action against terror that allegedly arose from action of
the so called Arab guests in the land of the Afghans. Today, as the US, helped by the
government of Afghanistan and other US allies, is nearing its objective of complete
annihilation of Al-Qaeda and Taleban elements in Afghanistan, anti-American sentiments
among some extremist movements seem to align thems with the terrorist ideology of
Al-Qaeda. While Al-Qaeda may have been fully defeated in Afghanistan, unfortunately it
harbors support among a number of extremist movements in Pakistan and in tribal lands
between Afghanistan and Pakistan which, tradionally, has been called no mans land.
Some aspects of the US military conduct has also been blamed for the developing of
such sentiments.

On the other hand, those warlords in Afghanistan that did not win favors with the US and
did not remain as independent kings in the so called historical kingdom of Afghanistan
cannot accept defeat. Some see in Afghanistan today many kings ruling over portions of
the land with little deference to the central government. The failed warlords may
therefore want to reclaim some power for themselves. This they may do by opposing
establishment of a peaceful Afghanistan ruled by law. So in a desparate move they may
align to make anti-government movements and or to resort to terror.

Terror, however, as evidenced by history, does not help in achievement of permanent
solutions to temporary problems. Terror in itself is injurious not only to the terrorist
themselves but also to their ideologies and objectives. For example, acts of terror
committed against the US last September drove away sympathy with Islamic causes
and further strengthened the resolve of the international community to take a united
stand against what the terrorists would call their objectives. These acts blackened the
name of Islam- although Islam itself had nothing to do with them- and downgraded the
cause of the Arabs and resulted in a loss of sympathy even with the just cause of the
Palestinian nation. That is why the act and actors of terror of last September did not find
any support among Moslems and Moslem nations of the world.

The Afghans, who had not committed any act of terror even during the long years of
Russian occupation of their land looked upon terror as acts of cowardice. And when
they felt its brunt two days before September 11, 2001, in the ugly assassination of one
of their famous sons namely Ahmad Shah Masoud by two Arab suicidal terrorists,
presumably in the employ of Al-Qaeda, they did not hesitate to express abhorance.

And today, when they see terrorism hit them in their homes, in the capital city of their
country they pause and ponder over the fact whether to let terrorists fool them twice?
Many do believe that if they were fooled twice then the shame's on them. 9/6/02