Open Writing

As another September 11th came around it is probably worthwhile to reflect on what happened on that day and if our lives and attitudes have really changed since those hours in 2001. It was a sad day for those innocent people who lost their lives and especially sad for those friends and loved ones left behind to grieve and wonder why.

Families still search for a reason to explain a barbaric act that struck at the very heart of human decency. Ten years ago we came face to face with a new form of terror. A terror that will remain with us for the rest of our lives. Initial responses of loss and grief naturally turned towards anger and revenge. For as humans we have a need to ascertain a reason for such an outrageous act or in its absence, apportion blame and seek revenge. Revenge assuages our helplessness. It’s a natural human response.

I see the act for what it was; brutal, senseless, callous and all those other words that seek to encapsulate the horror of the day. Notwithstanding that horror we need to retain a sense of perspective. What was the act itself? It was an attack at the heart of America, the target a city and buildings that represented all that is associated with the United States; freedom, vibrancy and economic and commercial superiority. From a terrorist perspective it was a target well chosen. Using commercial aircraft as a means of delivering that terror was new. Certainly in America. But American administrations are not unfamiliar with the use of terror.

We normally associate terror with fanatical extremists, religious fundamentalists or other pseudo-political groups intent on affecting change within their region. ‘We’ are never guilty of using terror as a weapon. But to believe that Al Qaeda has some sort of monopoly on the use of terror would be to ignore historical fact as America and its allies have a long record of using terror as a defacto arm of foreign policy. Maybe not directly or in a way that is either obvious or commonly reported, but used nevertheless. It could also be argued that in my own country, successive governments have for many years committed acts of terror against indigenous Australians.

During recent years the United States has intervened both covertly and overtly in the affairs and government of countries such as Sudan, Guatemala, Cuba, Venezuela, Iran, Afghanistan and more recently Iraq. They have supported and maintained, both financially and militarily, a number of repressive regimes who routinely employ terror to maintain the status quo. More recently in Afghanistan, the country has been bombed regularly, killing thousands of innocent civilians, on the pretext that the Taliban was giving protection to elements of Al Qaeda thought to be behind the September 11 attack.

In much the same way, Iraq was invaded on the pretext that the country had weapons of mass destruction which (presumably) could be deployed against the west and its allies at a moments notice. Now, based on what was at best flawed intelligence and at worst a construct designed to rationalise an illegal invasion, tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians are dead with a daily increase in the number of American dead and seriously injured. What infrastructure was in place before the invasion is now in ruins.

Whether we like it or not and despite assertions from the (then) Bush administration to the contrary, the attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq were seen by many throughout the Arab world as an attack on Islam. And whilst we might view the September 11th attack as reprehensible and without any moral justification, there are undoubtedly those Muslims who would view the attack as a legitimate part of their jihad against the west generally and the United States specifically. It is probably safe to say that the attacks on Afghanistan and Iraq have helped galvanise anti-American feeling among those more extreme Muslims who feel powerless and helpless. So, far from being a ‘just war’ to root and destroy terror around the world, the US actions may have in fact exacerbated the problem. Time will tell.

Of the thousands of images of the last 100 years, the footage of the towers collapsing will remain etched in history. And so it should. But there are also other human dramas unfolding throughout the world on a daily basis. It is unusual for a week to pass by without major loss of life due to either civil disorder or natural catastrophe somewhere in the world. And some countries seem to endure more than their fair share of tragedy. But if you had to describe the continent most beset by misery and despair, it would have to be Africa.

Civil unrest, ethnic cleansing, famine and poverty have claimed millions of lives while AIDS continues to be a major threat for generations to come. It seems sometimes that the problems of Africa are incapable of resolution. The serious risk we face is that we become desensitised due to the sheer volume of numbers. Although the image of a little girl laying in her mother’s arms or on a stretcher in a tent, waiting to die from malnutrition or disease always strikes home especially hard. Her eyes, surrounded by flies, are lifeless. There is no spark of excitement or curiosity and you know you are looking at the death of a child. No matter how many times I see a scene such as this, it remains, like the twin towers, etched in my mind forever. And it would be a mistake to see these little lives as any less tragic.

Or is it just another wasted life in another nameless refugee camp somewhere in Africa? Their families certainly wouldn’t grieve any the less. But perhaps in the eyes of some in the more affluent nations the impoverished black African who lives in squalor is of less import. And perhaps they don’t form any part of the dream of economic vibrancy that exists in other parts of the world. In terms of international politics, power blocs and globalisation, they will always remain a low priority. Aid agencies will battle to do what they can with what little they have and try to bring some sort of relief whilst battling politics and warring factions. It is palliative care, providing solace, reassuring words and relief from pain. Trying as they approach death to give them the dignity that eluded them during their short lives.

I hope we never see another September 11. But I’m sure we will. It was without doubt an act of madness and cruelty and I cannot conceive of any valid argument of justification for its commission. Or any terror for that matter. To use religion or a flawed interpretation of that religion is a sham. I suspect that the people who committed the act would have been criminals and murderers in any situation but were able to rationalise their actions under the cloak of fanaticism. A fanaticism that saw America as an aggressor bent on world domination. But terror is terror regardless of the perpetrators, the ideologies or their government’s rhetoric.

There is as much hatred around the world today as ever and the disparity between the rich and poor increases alarmingly with a corresponding increase in conflict. In pursuing the big picture I think we’ve sacrificed some of our values, some of our compassion for the people who populate the landscape of the smaller picture. Despite occasional aberrations, each human being is unique and wonderful in their own way and to argue against that because of such aberrations, is to devalue ourselves.

With the passing of another September 11 it is probably appropriate to remember that a life lost to indifference in any country or under any circumstance, is also a tragedy. And I wonder if in the light of all the mayhem, horror and ongoing retribution, that perhaps the greatest enemy we face in the beginning of the twenty first century, is selective caring.