Just a few decades ago, during cold war, Communism was projected as Enemy Number One by United States and its minions. US policies aimed at conquering the World economically, politically and also militarily where possible. Socialist block was a big obstacle for US ambition. Around this time Russian army occupies Afghanistan, and supports Afghan Communist regimes' efforts to bring in land reforms.

The Russian move brings in a reaction in the form of US promoting a radical version of Islam. That was incidentally also the time when the US army was demoralized due to its defeat at the hands of Vietnamese people struggling to establish their own nationalism. To counter the Soviet presence in the area, US played a clever political trick. It resorted to encouraging and supporting the militant version of Islam. US-CIA helped set up Madrassas in Pakistan through the ISI. These Madrassas distorted the Islamic words Jihad and Kafir. A syllabus was developed in Washington to brainwash the Asian Muslim youth on to the path of terrorism. Osama, a Saudi Arabian Civil engineer was supported to take the lead of Al Qaeda and rest is by now too well known.

While we know the doings of Al Qaeda, its terror acts in the region, Pakistan, India both, not much is thought of the fact that at a time it was US and its alliance with Pakistan army and ISI that the cancerous seeds of this terrorist organization were sowed. An arrangement was struck whereby weapons were brought in the ships, which were not to be checked at the ports, and straight given to the Al Qaeda, which was in the good books of US at that time.

One recalls an interesting statement by the one of the previous US Presidents, Ronald Reagan. While introducing the elements from Al Qaeda, who were on a visit to the White house in 1985, Regan told the puzzled media persons that the strange looking persons; gentlemen "... are the moral equivalents of America's founding fathers." (Ronald Regan while introducing the Mujahedeen leaders to media on the White house lawns. (1985). It was a time when these characters were fighting the US war in Afghanistan, the US war for balance of power and for the hegemony in the oil rich area.

After the gulf war 1991, in which Iraq was cornered by US, and after many other Muslim countries were mauled by US, the Al Qaeda outfits turned against its own creator, the United States. They started calling it 'The Great Satan" and poured venom against the US. Meanwhile Pakistan was under the grip of military dictatorship of different Generals, who were thick as thieves with the Maulanas and were constantly being guided by US through its Ambassador based in Pakistan. Pakistan Military and ISI, for a price, played the role of an assistant cum errand boy for the US policies in the area. The situation starting changing after 9/11, when the World Trade Center was attacked and nearly 3000 people from different countries and belonging to too many religions were killed. After this US media manufactured a new word in the dictionary of terrorism. US media linked Islam with terrorism and word Islamic-Terrorism was coined which became the buzz word picked by the media all over the World. With this came the theory of 'Clash of Civilizations', the guiding principle of US foreign policy.

This theory in nutshell stated that the 'backward Islamic civilization' is out to attack the advanced Western Civilization. Gorge W. Bush used the word Crusade as his cover for attacking Afghanistan and outlined this thesis of Clash of Civilization in simple words, "Americans are asking: why do they hate us? They hate our freedoms-our freedom of religion, our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other."(George W. Bush, in his speech in US Congress in the aftermath of 9/11, 2001)

This thesis demonized the Muslims of the World to no end. With the efforts for democratic revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt and other Arab countries, many a biases created deliberately against Islam and Muslims are collapsing. US now wants to change the slogan which can continue its project to hegemonize the World. 'Exporting Democracy' may be one such slogan, which will give the legitimiacy to its global military domination. Pakistan military regime which served the US interests so compliantly for so many years has been partly overtaken by civilian Government in Pakistan, which in turn is trying to bring semblance of democracy, trying to release the Pakistani society from the shackles of Military-Mullah complex. This is coinciding with the change in US policy. Now probably US no longer needs the services of Pakistan Military ISI, so an open criticism of Pakistan after promoting it for decades. Pakistan leadership needs to introspect about the future of the people, as to how to escape the vice like grip of US domination and develop the nation in alliance with regional forces. US-Pakistan relations should be a lesson to others also.

How the US is capable of using the regimes and then abandoning them after depleting them of their self respect, is abundantly clear in this story. Other nations trying to dine in White House need a relook at the suicidal path being adopted by them.

Obama, Osama & Politics Of Oil Hunger