IT was far beyond Ali al-Saadi’s imagination that the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which happened in a place far away from his hometown Iraq, would have brought about the most terrifying experience to him and his family. As part of its efforts to unleash a global war on terrorism in response to the attacks, the United States invaded Iraq, leaving hundreds of thousands of people killed and towns and cities devastated, including the northern city of Mosul, al-Saadi's home. “My house was destroyed, and I have a child who was disabled during the bombardment when my house fell on us,” he said. The bombardment carried out by the U.S.-led coalition in 2016 and 2017 left the old city completely destroyed. Al-Saadi is just one of the millions of people in the Middle East whose life has been turned into one tragedy after another following the so-called “War on Terror,” which started 20 years ago. During the past two decades, the wars and military actions carried out by the United States and its allies have unsettled much of the world, particularly the Middle East. A Brown University study found at least 800,000 people have died in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria and Yemen since the United States launched the war. That number only includes lives directly lost “through bombs and bullets” in major hotspots. In Iraq alone, 184,382 to 207,156 civilians were directly killed in war-related violence between the start of the U.S. invasion in March 2003 and October 2019, the study said. At the same time, U.S. forces allegedly used rounds of depleted uranium in their battles across Iraq, posing hazards to the health of local people. Moreover, the war has also turned tens of millions into refugees. According to the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, over 5.6 million people have fled Syria since 2011 while millions of others are displaced inside the country. Instead of bringing about stability and reducing the levels of terrorism as promised, the war thrust the Middle East into greater violence, chaos and insecurity. In Syria, the U.S. intervention was launched under the pretext of fighting radical groups such as the Islamic State. However, Syrian political expert Imad Salem said the U.S. existence in the region only brought about “destruction and catastrophes.” Muhammad Omari, another Syrian political expert, said terrorist threats still exist in Syria and terrorist groups are “covered by foreign powers,” which constantly provide them with arms and gear to prolong their existence and further destabilize the country. Omari said the frequency of terrorism and extremism was much lower before U.S. forces entered Syria than after. Hashim al-Shamma, a researcher in politics at the Iraqi Center for Legal Development, said the United States created “a failed and conflicting state” in Iraq and its “democracy banner” had not achieved anything positive. Mostafa Amin, a researcher at Egypt’s Rosa El Youssef newspaper, said the U.S. had a role in “creating a state of massive chaos in the Middle East region” following the 9/11 attacks. “The beginning was Afghanistan, then the chaos was transferred to Iraq, then Syria and then the rest of the Arab states in what was later called ‘the Arab Spring,’” he said, adding that the results were the fall of governments and serious repercussions in the economic, political and social conditions inside those countries. (Xinhua) | 