Reflections on 9/11

Today is a horrible anniversary. The events of five years ago plunged the United States and its allies into a nationless “war on terror” against an invisible enemy. At that time the world was sympathetic and vengeance was swift. The terrorists’ Taliban harbourers were smart-bombed into hiding, while anyone carrying a suspicious passport was unceremoniously incarcerated in foreign jails that precluded the possibility of American style justice.

All of a sudden it was no longer possible to afford the prisoners of war the same rights America had demanded for its P.O.W. populations during previous conflicts. This war, we were told, was different. As much as America knew that torture was an ineffective method of gathering useful intelligence, as much as its citizens were horrified to think that Americans kidnapped by jihadists were suffering from similarly inhumane treatment, the American government was unrepentant in its use of such tactics.

The media glossed over all but the goriest and most obvious reports of mass misconduct and focused instead on how much the world had changed since that fateful day when four commercial jets were repurposed as deadly missiles. No perspective was ever offered on the loss of life compared to the staggering cost of the wars fought as a result. No one seemed too concerned about the amount of freedom that would be sacrificed in order to protect against unverifiable threats at every turn. That summer thousands more Americans died behind the wheel of an automobile, were murdered in gang violence, killed themselves for want of affordable psychiatric help. But America's government and its blood thirsty, lap-dog media saw only the need to feed the citizenry newsworthy threats of imminent terrorism, much as an arsonist might continue to douse an inferno with gasoline.

Our own media began to call us cowards and ostriches because we refused to recognize this new threat to our peace and security. They chided us for our anti-American sentiments, believing that we had let a hatred for Bush blind us to the virtues of his imperialistic assault on Baghdad. They urged us to act before a terrorist took out a Tim Horton’s in Oakville and really opened our eyes.

But I remain convinced that there is no practical way for these terrorists to destroy us. At most they can continue to develop plots that may kill several hundred, or if they are lucky, several thousand in a single shot. The more complex and ambitious the plot, the more likely it is to be discovered and foiled. They can never wage a conventional war against us, never take the soil from under our feet. Our best response isn’t to pretend nothing has happened, but nor is it to take up arms against unseen threats.

If we allow fear to guide the way we live, if we squander liberty for the occasional dramatic instance of violence, rather than maintaining our stoicism at the cost of a few innocent lives, then we are lost. What we must do is stand tall and face fear, not with vengeance in our hearts, not with the idea that we can rout out evil with enough weaponry, but with the belief that life goes on despite tragedy and despicable acts of hate. How can one possibly hope to stop a tide of suicide bombers with a show of force? Antagonizing terror only spurs terror. It is only in re-evaluating our actions, in showing that we are not afraid, that we can truly conquer the beast.

A war is what the billionaire industrialists want, for it reinforces the entitlement they feel to be lords of us all. A war is what the pockets of extremists in far away lands want, for it justifies their right to exist and to claim that their god is threatened by Western values. But a war doesn’t do much good for the average Canadian. It does not reverse the sentiment of a disenfranchised lot who may be plotting to blow-up Parlaiment; it does not give us hope that the valiant efforts of our Armed Forces will result in the victory of good over evil. It only serves to divide us and weaken our resolve.

The media and government can reprimand us for mistrusting our American allies, but they are wrong to attribute our wariness to some abstract concept of “us and them.” The point of anti-American sentiment is not that they are richer, more conservative or simply different from us. It is that their government and its power hungry supporters use their sense of moral superiority, their continuing belief in Manifest Destiny and the power of their arms and economy to dictate their terms to everyone else. Must we subscribe to a skewed world view in the name of trade and good business? Must we bow to bad ideas because it is the diplomatic thing to do? Need we let a misbegotten and highly politicized concept about what terrorism can achieve transform us into a nation of cowering sheep?

On this, the fifth anniversary of 9/11 what we need to do is to continue to voice our discontent, to say this "war" is not helping, that these ideas about terrorism do not present a useful and workable solution to the problem. Yes it is terrible that thousands of innocents have died, and it is terrible to contemplate the loss of thousands more. But what is even sadder is the idea of giving up our freedom and human rights to a ruling class that shows almost as little respect for its own citizens as it does for its enemies.