By Akash Pal:
Many years ago when the USSR realised that their interests would be met by conquering the land of extremely sweet potential, Afghanistan, little did they know that it would lead the way to what today is globally connected, extremely well-funded network of terrorism that has gripped fear amongst the masses across borders and continents of the world. When the Unites States realised that the formation of Communist government in Afghanistan could be a great problem to serve their interests as a global power, they looked at an indirect way to bruise the Russians.
They realised that the locals in Afghanistan were against the conquest attempts by the Russians and they were ready to give up their lives to protect the land has been theirs since millennia. The Americans realised that what stopped them was the lack of military equipment. So after many years of lobbying, sourcing connections and understanding the brevity of the situation, the Americans funded the warriors of Afghanistan who called themselves the ‘mujahideen’ which meant ‘strugglers’ or ‘survivors’.
They fought hard and were finally successful in evicting the Russians from their lands. At the same time, a rich and pious Saudi named Osama Bin Laden and the head of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad organization, Ayman Al Zawahiri recruited people for the war efforts who would form the members of the organisation named Al Qaeda. With their extreme interpretations of the Quran they made a network of assassins who were ready to give up their lives for the cause and were made to believe that the West was the enemy. Now the Americans, dominantly a capitalist nation, cared less about what was happening to other nations as long as their interests were being met. However at this extreme juncture, the American nation was the target of an assault by this outfit that was etched down as one of the darkest times in the history of the great nation.
The Americans made an enemy out of the an investment they had made to solve a global domination issue. Osama was a creation of the USA and now their ally in the war efforts in Afghanistan seemed to have switched loyalties. Washington realised that this would go on to be a threat that would hinder their plans for global domination and attain fealty from smaller dependent nation through control of natural resources of prime importance such as crude oil and lithium. Most of our gadgets today run on batteries made from lithium and surprisingly Afghanistan has one of the largest lithium reserves in the world. The militants, now called the Taliban had established their own government which had toppled a previous government supported by the USA.
Their laws were extreme and made the common man live in a constant tenure of fear and pained silence. Corruption seemed to a smaller issue as terrorism was inadvertently being cultivated and supported in the Afghan lands. They now recruited people from all walks of life and nations regardless of their nationality or their religious beliefs. They were strategically setting up a network that would become so vast that tracking down and eliminating one would give rise to hundreds of alternatives. This seemed as a plague so well circulated, it seemed almost impossible to terminate.
The Americans along with many of their allies decided to attack and demolish the military capabilities of these organisations. Thus, began a war issued by the Bush administration named Operation- Enduring Freedom that went on to become a war with no end. At first, the American people felt proud at the step taken by their leaders. Then the economy crumbled. Jobs were lost and the value of houses dropped so badly that their mortgages were at a higher value than the price of their house in the current market. So if they decided to sell their greatest assets, they would be selling at a very steep loss. Families seemed to be distraught as the incomes dropped and jobs were lost. Fear conquered the common man and the government was bailing out so many corporations from bankruptcy. The banking system was on the verge of shattering down. This meltdown had a global impact and stock markets crashed when people started selling in the fear that their stock would lose their value.
Amongst all this social turmoil and evident economic meltdown, many people lost a lot of their wealth embedded as vital investments in many affected markets. The American population was terrified. If they did not have the guarantee of earning a fixed income, how could they possibly live the American dream. Then came the shockers of war strewn Afghanistan and Iraq. The media was extensively covering the war and terrible consequences of losing American and allied soldiers on foreign lands in the promise to eliminate the destructive network of terrorism. Unfortunately, the people realised that this promise was no longer met when there were terror strikes in the Great Britain and multiple locations in Europe and India.
These attacks were claimed by various terror organisations and threatened the West to repent their appalling treatment to the Muslim community. The world was in strife of terrible mishaps. There were extreme religious tensions and people were losing faith in the war. It seemed as if the Americans and their allies were interested more in the efforts to sustain their reign over the global market. The war no longer held the same value and morality that it seemed to hold not very long ago. The Americans were spending a mind boggling sum of 10 billion dollars of the tax-payers money each month in the war efforts in Afghanistan. This infuriated a lot of people considering that the money could be used to widen the spectrum of jobs available and could help relief the tensions created due to the fall in the economy and stiff dollar values which affected global markets and foreign investments. A lot of people don’t realise this, but Afghanistan is important to the Americans because it is a mineral rich country. It has a lot of liquid gold a.k.a crude oil.
It has a very high reserve of lithium. Most of the gadgets available in today’s markets run on batteries using lithium. Strategically, the location of Afghanistan on the global front is very important for any country aiming for global domination and constant fealty from smaller and weaker nations. Not only do the Americans have an economic advantage, they want to eliminate a problem that was initially promoted by them. The Bush administration led the American economy go down a steep slope that caused shocking tremors not only to the American population but to billions across the globe.
The Chinese may outsmart the West with its illusionary Communist administration, but it is taking very strong steps to outdo America as the most powerful nation. For many years Americans have been proud of their nation and the steps taken by it to bring to Americans the ‘better life’, however times seemed to have changed. The American nation is now openly warning other nations of its interest to take over the oil markets, etc. There is enough turmoil and disruption of peace, the people are worried and have started to judge the decisions of the great nation.