THOUGHTS

(My so-called life)

Flag-waving rhetoric

26th September 2001

Let's first ask a question.

How is the bombing of the World Trade Center, allegedly an act of 'holy war', any different than America taking military action for or against a country or group of people in the name of 'freedom' or what-have-you?

We all know the joke, terrorists or freedom-fighters, depending on whose side you're on. So through all the flag-waving rhetoric, we have to get to the bottom of the problem.

Don't get me wrong. Rudy Guiliani handled the New York situation well, my hat off to him. The firefighters and policemen who lost their lives did so as true heroes, nothing less. And then we have the n-thousands working in the towers, and the hundreds in the planes and the Pentagon.

America is collectively shitting itself. To think of ideas such as no-fly-zones within three miles of outdoor events (including varsity sort of things), the deal with the crop-dusters. And to top it all off, the house wanted to put through a bill which would allow them to detain any foreign person on a mere suspicion, with no length or restriction on the detainment period. Quite rightly the civil liberties people are screaming, as it would otherwise simply side-step the whole justice system. How about it? No arrest, no trial, no judge, no jury, just sling you in this jail until we feel like doing otherwise. Because we think you might look like a terrorist.
That was a typically knee-jerk reaction that, luckily, has been tossed out on it's ear. But the fact that such a radical bill was even proposed shows how shit scared they are.
And hey, you might not want to fly right now, but you can't take the bus either...

The most shocking thing, it wasn't some far-off land. It was the middle of Manhattan, and the Pentagon. It couldn't be much 'closer to home' if it had destroyed the White House itself.

I feel for those who lost their lives. But, them aside, the bigger picture is thus:

• The Americans are being brainwashed.
  On the one hand, we have the name Osama Bin Laden popping up. The right-dishonourable chicken-shit President says that this is not a war against the muslims, it is a war against terrorism (you gotta hand it to him though, nice spin).
  But, on the other hand, you hear interviews with government officials referring to the muslims as "teacloth wearers" and the news quoting extracts from a supposedly-muslim book describing what should be done, with extracts like (from memory):
  • Overthrow the godless regimes and install a muslim regime
  • Bomb the bridges and tunnels into large cities
  • Bomb places of amusement, recreation, centres of commerce
  It goes on, it is scary stuff. But, do you suppose the average muslim on the street feels that America should be razed?
  We have to understand a distinction, a difference, between the fundamentalists and those who are 'ordinary' believers in the faith; lest we not forget the Branch Davidians (Waco) were 'christians', but not the sort of christians that most other christians would care to be associated with.
   
  
• It is their own fault.
  America has a long history in getting involved in military actions of some form or other in order to satisfy some sort of twisted political concept.
  Are the American people even aware that the Americans financed the Taliban's weapons years ago (ie, Reagan, Bush Sr...) in the fight against the commies in Afghanistan?
  Take a look at history, find out when the state of Israel was created. Figure out who created it, and why. And then, you might have an explanation as to the troubles there.
  America, the superpower, seems to have gone through recent history doing things with impunity, as it is a 'superpower'. Well, now, the piper has come for his wads of cash.

It is a tragic thing that has happened. An action waged, we believe (or are led to believe), by one man. The question we should ask is "are several thousand dead people enough?".
We, in the West, can wage war against the East. Hell, go all Irish and claim it is in the name of religion and not some messed up political system. I am hoping and trusting that our leaders won't be that stupid. Because, guys, if World War III should erupt from this, it won't be Blair and Bush fighting in the war. It'll be us.
And we won't be on the beaches and on the streets with our tommy guns. If this does go to a war, I rather suspect that we won't even make it to Afghanistan before we're hit with waves of noxious chemical cocktails.
Remember, we are not dealing with a mouthy political leader. Whoever orchestrated this did so by crashing two fuel-laden planes into each of the World Trade Centers (killing more than just Americans, people of many nationalities worked within), and another plane into the Pentagon. If he/they have the balls to pull that kind of thing, do you think he/they would back down from utilising other nasties if pressed to?

There are no easy answers. Sure, there are solutions, but somebody comes out a loser. The US can invade Afghanistan and risk sparking off a holy war; or they can cut their losses and apologise for doing some of the things they maybe should not have done. There are obvious benefits and equally obvious problems with either solution. That's why I'm just Joe-Sixpack with an opinion, and not the schmuck in office. But then, I don't have to try to answer for my past.

This all leads to the final point. Who is right?

I'm sure the average Westerner would disapprove of the way that Saudi's regard their women. I will restrain from using words like "oppressed", for the reason that I'm sure a Saudi person would wonder what kind of society could produce televisual content such as "Temptation Island", and the whole Ibiza culture; and I feel that, to them, watching Britney Spears on stage is nothing short of horrific. How could she possibly get away with wearing that little in front of thousands of adoring fans who are likely to try to emulate her?

It is easy, as a Westerner, to say we are right, that them there backward Arabs are, well, backward.

But are they? For what it is worth, I don't, personally, feel that either side is 'right'. As I already mentioned, much of our 'freedom' is an illusion (aside: so what are the Americans standing up for, exactly?).

It is worth thinking about. Western society is being slowly trained to live in horror of some kind of Islamic invasion (the commies for the 21st century?). But is their desire to install their beliefs in us any worse than us trying to instill our beliefs in them?

Je ne croire pas.

Revised: 8th October.