September 11. Five years later. We must remember the dead and their loved ones. They were from so many countries and territories. About 3000 souls lost. What grief!

Ground Zero, for America, redefined the war on terror. And for Osama bin Laden as well as his Al-Qaeda group (already an ubiquitous movement), the jihad continues. Deadlock!

Guess what? I have an idea: Why don't we ask the Pakistanis to help set up a UN Negotiation platform with the "insurgents" or "radicalist fighters" or "jihadist"???

Didn't the British do so with the IRA?

Did the Apatheid regime in South Africa not do so with the ANC?

Is Spain not doing so with ETA, now?

What about Sri Lanka?

And Nigeria's Niger Delta?

Ultimately, it shall be Dialogue! Dialogue!! DIALOGUE!!!

And, in case the hawks have forgotten, was the US not positively involved in some of the above?

Let Kofi Annan and President Musharraf take the lead. Five years, and with the current state of play, there is no question that no side is winning. Escalation cannot be in anyone's interest, and the cost of war is many times the cost of "making the world safer through poverty removal, regional equity and global justice. Then, we can all start spreading freedom, democracy and good governance with the dividends of peace".

If The US and USSR could bring the cold war to an end, through negotiation, then we can end this war through negotiation and international cooperation.

Let's bite the bullet.....for peace.