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Bombing will not end terrorismA student from Yemen condemned the hijackers, yet remained skeptical toward America's military action in Afghanistan.
When asked for his comment on the Sept. 11 events and the U.S. anti-terrorism action, Khalid, a first-year graduate student majoring in International Studies, answered, "I believe that bombing Afghanistan is no solution. Instead, it will increase and fuel terrorism."
Regarding the attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, Khalid said that it should be put in a broader context. International terrorism is neither new to America, nor to the rest of the world. The transnational terrorist organizations have been around for quite a long time and have posed a serious challenge to global society. To fight terrorism, one measure is to cut terrorists' income sources by tracking and stopping illegal money-laundering activities.
However, he said, it is very dangerous to jump to a quick solution without getting rid of the root of international terrorism. Anti-terrorism efforts require international cooperation. The United Nations may take a leading role, he said
Khalid came from the Republic of Yemen, where Muslims account for almost 100 percent of the population. He worked for a UN branch in Yemen for three years before coming to the University of Oregon.
He attributed the tension between the Arabic world and the United States to three main issues: the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, the sanctions against Iraq, and the U.S. military's dominance and presence in the Gulf region.
He believed that the U.S. campaign against Osama Bin Laden is not merely about retaliation but also about its own political and economic interests.
He showed no sympathy toward the hijackers, calling them "Arabic traitors" because they did not really care about the solution to the stalemate between Israel and Palestine and had their own agenda.
"Respecting life of others, whether they are Muslims or not, is one of the foundations of being a Muslim," he said.
Khalid was one of five students from Yemen to win the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship this year. When he came to Eugene two months ago, he was delighted to find that people in town were very nice. He spent two weeks with his American host family before he could move into University family housing at Westmoreland.
"Frankly speaking, I have never been harassed," he said. "I know people were angry. That's a natural reaction. If the same thing happens in other countries, it may get worse."
However, he felt uncomfortable with the way the U.S. media covered the Sept. 11 attack and the U.S. bombing Afghanistan. "They are one-sided and very pro-war," he said.
He was especially upset when the media frequently labeled the hijackers "Islamic fundamentalists." For example, some television programs showed footage of Muslims praying at mosques, then suddenly switched to the horrible scenery of the attack on the World Trade Center towers. Such a portrayal might lead to misconceptions about Islam and help little to build understanding across religions, he said.
Khalid put little trust in the Northern Alliance, the anti-Taliban force in Afghanistan that has sided with the United States and benefited from the U.S. bombing of the Taliban.
"The Northern Alliance is as bad as the Taliban. They do not represent the whole Afghanistan people," he said.
When talking about the future of U.S. military action in Afghanistan, Khalid said he believed that war would not solve every problem.
"The U.S. may win the war over Afghanistan." he said, "Yet I doubt that it will win the war over terrorism."
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