Machination of History [Archives:2001/38/Law & Diplomacy]
September 17 2001
Editor-in-Chief of Al-Isbou
newspaper
I can hardly believe that there are normal people who feel happy with the terrorist attacks on some of the important centers in the US. No conscience will support such terrorist actions that caused heavy damage only because they took place in the US, the most powerful and arrogant country in the world. And no rational people will feel rejoiced with the killing of thousands of innocent people because they are American.
Conscience and rationalism dictate the condemnation of the attacks on the US, disregarding the bitterness we feel towards the country for its unfair policy, especially with the weakest nations. These attacks, at the same time, should force the US to be more careful when pointing fingers at Arabs and Muslims, as usual, because this can mislead those trying to find out the truth. It was natural for Arab and Islamic countries and organizations to hurry to condemn the incident and express their condolences with the American leadership and people. Their motivation has been more humanitarian than out of fear. But the US leaders go on accusing and threatening Arabs and Muslims. The media, which is greatly influenced and controlled by the Zionists, has been promoting hatred against Arabs, as a race and against Islam, as a religion. When the US president said attackers would be tracked down and tried, a renowned editor in the Washington Post wrote: “to war not to court.”
Interestingly, Israel has followed strict safety measures. For Britain and some other European countries it was predictable that they would take reasonable safety measures. But Israel has been doing exactly what the US is doing, such as closing airports, and its Prime Minister stated that Israel and America are equally facing terrorism. Following the Attack on New York and Washington, it intensified military operations in many Palestinian cities leaving behind heaps of ruins and bodies.
Israel is not located opposite the US like the European countries and it is not open for cosmopolitan people to expect what happened in America to happen in the occupied land. In other words, it has been trying to convince the world that the attacks on America were carried out by the people it everyday fights. Thus, its crimes against these people are legal, and peoples of the world are supposed to support it.
Apart from emotions, the attacks carry political indications that may help predict some changes in the world balances in the 21st century. The previous century was greatly dominated by the US, and it is believed that the following century will likely be the same.
The US successfully dominated the 20th century to be the first economic and military power in the world. Peoples of the world have different and contradictory images of this power. Its strong economy has been based on rich agricultural and mineral wealth, love of adventure, freedom of competition, etc. But it has also been built on eradication of its native people and exploitation of millions of people who were brought from Mid-Africa. It also exploits nations through its overseas companies. Its lust for wealth and economic power makes it vigorous in conspiring against countries and murdering its enemies in other countries. To effectively carry out such dirty missions, it set up the most powerful intelligence agency (CIA).
Its economic power, which has been enhanced by its military power, went beyond its borders during the World War I and II. During the World War II it used the atomic bomb against Japan. When it became addicted to killing outside its borders, it underwent the Vietnam complex. This complex was over by winning the Cold War, which was followed by wars against Iraq, Libya, Sudan Afghanistan, Kosovo, etc. This makes many people call it the Empire of Evil.
This empire was not a giant by its weaponry, but by its spirit as well. Most of the great scientific inventions and discoveries that carried man to the sky and converted the whole world into a global village were American. The most modern theories in politics, sociology, economics, science, arts, etc., come from America too. It is in the US that theater and cinema have flourished to the extent that it makes Hollywood an overwhelming example of shifting man from reality in a unique way that has never been done by myths or religious stories.
The US has also been the country of freedom and equal opportunities. It has undergone a very long war to free slaves and make them equal to the whites. Even visitors and homeless people are protected by law there. For these reasons the US has been the No. 1 power in the world, entering the 21st century with no rivals.
However, America, in which the president bows by force of law, has been hysterically playing with the international law. There have been strong counties playing the role of the advocate to weak people. These countries joined hands with the weak and wronged against the aggressors and unfair. The US has never played this noble role. It has rather been playing the role of a thug, supporting the strong against the weak. This is why it has been continuing its humiliating policy against Iraq, to an extent that does not agree with the concept of bravery and its hysterical support to Israel which kills unarmed children with the most sophisticated weaponry. Still,there are many stories to tell, the last of which has been its stance in the Durban conference, which shows the difference and contradiction between freedom, promotion of human rights, and abandoning all aspects of discrimination in its land on the one hand and the absolute rejection of compensation for slavery and treating Zionism as a racial movement on the other.
A few days later, New York and Washington were attacked. The scene seemed to be the most important one in the 21st century for the US. It might be a message for the Americans that this century may not be as the previous one. I may be exaggerating the aftermath of the incident, which, some will say, would not affect the American supremacy. This is partially true. But all supreme and powerful empires did not collapse suddenly, but rather fell down after a series of minor events, just like what happened to the towers of the world trade center as it was shown on TV.
Many may recall the surprise and amazement we had, when a young man managed to fly with a glider over Germany breaking into the USSR’s borders to land near the Kremlin. Many questioned the effectiveness of the radars and satellites that protect the second power in the world. The answer came within the following days that this was a herald of its collapse.
At the same time the US is busy with fighting intercontinental missiles, it is hit from inside with primitive means. Having only knives, the terrorists managed to destroy the Pentagon.
It is the trick of the angry or the adventurer – hijacking a plane and making it a weapon, frightening the most powerful country in the world.
The terrorists attacked the Pentagon, the symbol of the US military power, and the World Trade Center, the US symbol of economic power. The humility of the US power was further enhanced by the withdrawal of the American President to an unknown place for 12 hours. It is the trick of the angry, no matter whether he was right or wrong in his anger. It is also the machination of history.
The US can not threaten other countries under the pretext that they protect terrorists, because terrorists are available in its land as well. It may attack some countries and organizations which it believes hosts terrorists, but in the long run, rationalism will force it to reconsider its policies towards itself and the world.
If this does not happen, the mighty madness will lead to its destruction. It is the time for a battle between machination of history and man’s wisdom. Of course, the US needs wisdom more than power.
——
[archive-e:38-v:2001-y:2001-d:2001-09-17-p:./2001/iss38/l&d.htm]
