LONDON - The world is far less safe now than on September 11, 2001 due to US President George W. Bush’s reaction to the attacks, notably in Iraq, the general who led United Nations (UN) forces in Bosnia said today.
British General Sir Michael Rose praised the United States’ invasion of Afghanistan in the immediate wake of the terror attacks in Washington and New York, saying the war on terror got off to a "brilliant start."
"Instead of following up the military defeat of the Taliban with civil action and ensuring permanent security, President Bush, in his haste and ignorance, transferred his attentions to Iraq.
"The result is that the world is far less safe today than before he declared his war," he wrote in the Daily Mail, adding that Afghanistan remains unstable and the Taliban have regrouped.
Rose was in charge of the UN Protection Force (UNProfor) during the 1991-1995 war in Bosnia-Hercegovina, where US intervention under Bush’s predecessor Bill Clinton helped end a four-year conflict.
Meanwhile, a senior British lawmaker said that the US policy of extraordinary rendition of terror suspects will boost the risk of future terrorist attacks.
"The devastating terrorist attacks six years ago to this day shocked the world," said Conservative MP Andrew Tyrie, who heads an all-party committee on extraordinary rendition.
"But the battle against extremism can only be won from the moral high ground," he said, adding: "Kidnapping and torture corrode the very values that we are seeking to export and make future attacks more likely, not less."
In other comments on the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, a British engineering expert praised the designers of the World Trade Centre for creating buildings which stood up for as long as they did after being hit by planes.
"It is widely acknowledged that the impacts on September 11 were extraordinary, which led to consequences well in excess of the design capacity for the buildings," said Keith Seffen of Cambridge University.
"The original design of both towers must be praised for standing as long as they did, saving more lives than might have been expected."
AFP