Hanif-ur-Rehman (PhD)
(Lecturer in H/9 College Islamabad, Pakistan)
Jamshed Khan
(Scholar in the Department of History Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan)
Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication Date: 9 November 2014
The attacks on World Trade Centre (WTC) and Pentagon on 11 September which killed around 3000 civilians and caused material loss of more than hundred billion dollars was simply tragic. The attacks brought about not only a "seismic shift in international relations" but also forced Pakistan to change its policy towards the Taliban regime and emerged as Front Line state in War against terrorism. The event of 9/11 brought the war-torn Afghanistan to the lime light of global politics. The US authorities were adamant to bring to justice the perpetrators of the heinous crime. In its 'crusade' against the mastermind of the terrorist attacks, the US President George W. Bush asked the world community that there couldn't be any neutral in the war against terrorism. Pakistan, due to its geographical location and its 'special relations' with the Taliban became the focus of US strategy to isolate al-Qaeda and Taliban in Afghanistan. The world in general and Pakistan in particular was given a choice by US authorities, "either to be with us or against us" in its fight against the Global War on Terror (GOWT). After Taliban and al-Qaeda rout in Afghanistan in the wake of US-led operation, most of them fled to Pakistan's Tribal Area. In the wake of 9/11 and the subsequent US-led Operation Endurance Freedom by the US led coalition against the Taliban regime, FATA was catapulted to the center stage of world politics.... Read more
