September 17, 2001

• This is what I've been trying to say in my posts and comments since the 11th.
  
  AlterNet -- Dangerous Times for U.S. Foreign Policy by Stephen Zunes, an associate professor of politics, chairperson of the Peace & Justice Studies Program at the University of San Francisco, and a senior analyst and the Middle East and North Africa editor at Foreign Policy In Focus.
  
  I am wholeheartedly for hunting down the terrorists. I go a bit farther than most of the militants whose posts I've read: I want all terrorists hunted down and stopped for good whether or not they were the specific ones who brought the sky down on September 11. But as Zunes says, "It appears there is bipartisan support for dramatically-increased military spending, despite the fact that most of the proposed increases have nothing to do with counter-terrorism. Indeed, it is questionable whether large-scale military responses can even have much impact on a loose network of terrorist cells." (Emphasis mine.)
  
  I have the recurring vision of an army of Redcoats marching out gloriously to confront the American militia. Do we remember how that one came out? Do we remember also being on the other side of army-versus-guerillas once already?
  
  I don't think we should do nothing. I think we should do the correct thing. And that means putting counter-terrorists in charge of this effort, not military.
  
  I also repeat, we have to acknowledge our own wrongs and correct them. "Today, in the Middle East, the U.S. backs an occupying Israeli army as well as corrupt Arab dictatorships, which kill innocent civilians using weapons provided by the United States... The more the U.S. militarizes the Middle East, the less secure we have become. All the sophisticated weaponry, all the brave fighting men and women, and all the talented military leadership we may possess will not stop terrorism as long as our policies cause millions of people to hate us." See U.S. Won't Invoke Law Against Israel.
  
  Zunes summarizes -- and I totally agree -- "Instead of focusing on further militarization, we need to focus upon improved intelligence and interdiction. Instead of lashing out against perceived hostile communities, we need to re-evaluate policies which lead to such anger and resentment. Instead of continuing the cycle of violence, we need to recognize that America's greatest strength is not in our weapons of destruction, but in the fortitude, the caring and the noble values of its people."
  
  

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  From framaz's site I got a ribbon symbolizing the international nature of this tragedy. I also got the peace candle in my header. Click on it to light a candle or peace.
  
  Many people from other countries lost their lives in the attack of September 11, also, and over a thousand Muslims and Arabs who lived in New York. Terrorists are the enemies of all humanity, not just the enemies of the United States.
  
  An Afghan-American speaks: '... when you think "the people of Afghanistan" think "the Jews in the concentration camps." It's not only that the Afghan people had nothing to do with this atrocity. They were the first victims of the perpetrators.'
  
  

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  Links to reactions in the Muslim countries, information sources and background.
  
  I strongly recommend this study of fundamentalism for additional persepctive on the clash of cultures not only in Islam vs the West, but within our own country. (e.g. Falwell and Robertson with their attitude that "the ACLU brought this doom upon us.") To quote from the study, "When a group in society perceives itself as having its power and authority usurped in the course of social change, the group comes to blame both internal and external causes for its fall from power."
  
  

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  I do hope that the wave of anger-driven revenge talk I've heard, on Xanga and elsewhere, will subside into thoughtful action. But as reassured as I was by Colin Powell's speech a few days ago that we were going after "the terrorists and the leaders of the Taliban" only, all the headlines keep quoting Bush talking about "war." While I hear the Americans on the street, including the Virtual Street, cooling down, I hear the rhetoric of the administration heating up.
  
  

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  News from Life

  StreetWrites is a workshop of homeless and low-income writers that I began and facilitate here in Seattle. We meet for writing workshop Tuesday and Thursday night and we have an Open Mic on Sunday afternoons.
  

  Have I stepped into an alternate universe? Post-apocalyptic science fiction? Or Has our shell been broken and, blinking in our shock, We tumble out into the real world?

  Today was the first session since Tuesday morning in which we discussed anything except Tuesday morning. I wrote my first poem in a week last night, but it was still about September 11. But two people actually read poems that didn't have anything to do with it! Yee-hah!

  We also talked for at least half the session (in our version of an Open Mic, everyone discusses the readings and the issues brought up) about an interesting question a new member brought in. "How can I refer to God in a way that not only doesn't imply a gender, but immediately lets everybody know that I'm not limiting God to my definition?"

  Anybody else want to play with that one?

  • 8:35 am
  • 6 Comments