Tomorrow is the third anniversary of the 911 tragedy, a tragedy that literally changed the whole world. 3000 innocent people were killed and we all feel terribly sorry for them as well as for their families. Given the scope and nature of the 911 tragedy that demands serious condemnation across the globe, it also invites all of us to analyze this tragedy from a philosophical standpoint. We at WA forum will try to achieve this goal by analyzing this tragedy.
We had a detailed discussion last week addressing the serious implications for Muslims of increasing terrorist activities by Muslim terrorists across the globe. The discussion was quite productive with a general consensus among participants that all Muslims should condemn and take practical steps to curb such terrorist activities unconditionally. There was a clear understanding among most of the participants that there is a thin line between terrorism and jihad and by attacking poor and innocent people and children, these so-called mujahids finally crossed that thin line and entered into the land of terrorism. Good news is that Muslims across the globe are realizing that if all the enemies of Islam united together and decided to harm it, they wouldn’t have ruined and harmed its image as much as the sons of Islam have done by their stupidity, miscalculations, and misunderstanding of the nature of this age.
While Muslims are willing to shake hands with rest of the world to extend the war on terrorism, one may question the success of this war against the cancer named terrorism by not addressing the second half of the this puzzle – what exactly caused this cancer? Having said that please make sure that I am not trying to justify terrorism based on root causes. I have already stated that all efforts should be made to fight a war against this cancer. However, on a parallel basis, it is extremely important to identify the causes of a disease to be able to cure it effectively. Not to mention, the magnitude and the nature of this disaster is unique in mankind’s history. Therefore, a discussion related to identifying those events that triggered this disaster is of an extreme significance.
After 911, on numerous occasions, I was involved in several debates with my American friends, at university of Chicago and at my job. I always used to pledge them to have a broader look at this tragedy. I found out that by nature, Americans are not a very introspective people, nor do they dwell too long or often on foreign affairs (remember that emphasis is on foreign affairs.) For them, their vast nation is world enough.
We, on the other hand, are obsessed with national and international politics. This difference in outlook explains why the average American cannot equate his government’s policies overseas with the hatred many foreigners feel for his country. To him, they are envious of the prosperity and freedom he enjoys as a citizen of the richest and most powerful country in the world. Many American leaders from President Bush downwards have described September 11 suicide bombings as “attacks on liberty and democracy”, naively or deliberately missing the connection between cause and effect.
In my opinion, such a denial, naively or deliberately, would have disastrous consequences in the long run for American people particularly. .
As the US-led army attacked Afghanistan and invaded Iraq, there is a real danger that the lessons to be drawn from 911 tragedy will be overlooked in the rush of events. As much as we condemn the 911 tragedy, don’t you guys think it is equally important that we ask ourselves why 19 seemingly educated, perfectly ordinary young middle-class Arabs killed themselves and thousands of innocent people on September 11? According to reports, several of them drank alcohol, had girlfriends or families, and led outwardly normal lives. Hardly the profile of fanatical suicide bombers….So why did they decide to board passenger aircraft one morning and fly them into the Pentagon and the World Trade Center?
Although President Bush has vowed to “rid our children and our children’s children of the scourge of terrorism”, I fear that unless he and the international community are prepared to find out why this cancer is born and flourishes, future generations will continue to face it.
Unless we are prepared to look at the motivation underlying their resolve, we cannot prevent similar horrors from visiting us in the future. Even if terrorist groups are broken up, their leaders killed and their banks accounts frozen, what is to stop individuals from driving a truck into a petrol station, or sinking a hijacked cruise ship? Not much training or resources are needed to carry out such random terror attacks. The truth is that it is virtually impossible to stop a person from committing mayhem if he is willing to die in the attempt.