BY VIJAY PRASHAD 

All our emotions amount to cliché. There is little that can be said after one sees the image of the World Trade Towers crumble. We don’t know, and cannot fathom, the death toll. The chaos on the streets of Manhattan was matched, yesterday, by the anguish across the world. New York is a global city, and the grief was equally global.

Families from around the world tried to reach the small island, grasping for any news of relatives who work in the area — janitors, businessfolk, security guards, and so many others. From Trinidad, India, Egypt, England, Japan — there was not a country in the world which did not have its circuits to 011- busy all day, and into the night, and into today as well. This is an attack on US soil, but it is also an attack on people of all kinds, from all corners of the world.

The media and some politicians have already indicted Osama bin Laden, and taken images from the Shatila camp outside Beirut to show us that the Islamicists must be involved in this assault on the US. There is little hard evidence, but the jury seems to be out. Those arrested in Boston and Florida are only suspects we hear, but it seems that the country has moved toward a sense that the Middle East, as a disembodied place, is guilty of this heinous act. Unconfirmed reports say that people who look like Arabs have been assaulted in the New York area. A friend said that she has begun to feel very foreign as she walks the streets. By President Bush’s standard, we must seek revenge rather than justice, blood rather than the collective security of all on this planet.

We don’t as yet know who did this, and we should caution ourselves against a rush to judgment, one way or another. Certainly this was an act against the symbols of US imperialism, of the financial and military headquarters of neo-liberal globalization. The problem with abstract domination, however, is that there is no one enemy, there is no centre that can be easily identified as the hub of global woes, there is no baron’s castle or even industrialist’s factory to assault. Domination is silent and faceless, but its tentacles squander the dreams of most of us across the world. We don’t know why those who drove the planes to such terror did what they did, but perhaps they were in search of an enemy that made them feel less than human, that pushed them to squander their own ethics.

The attacks must be condemned without reservation. But we must be certain to recognize that these are probably the work of frustrated and alienated human beings hemmed in by forces that are anonymous and that could only be embodied by these structures. The people who work in them became the “collateral damage” that we hear so much about when our cruise missiles strike the Third World. Those who died are martyrs of this government’s insane policies, as well as martyrs of the insanity of neo-liberal globalization.

Random acts of terror do not change anything, indeed they increase the suffering of ordinary people. There are those thousands who died, but then there will be the others, those suspected of being terrorists only because they are Muslims or brown (and there are already several reported instances of such attacks and verbal assaults). And, in time, we can only hope that there will not be a legislative repeat of the post-Oklahoma City bombardment — the notorious 1996 anti-immigration and anti-terrorist laws. Anti-Islam is not only about Muslims, but in the United States it too frequently turns into anti-immigrants of color in general.

BY NOAM CHOMSKY 

Wednesday, Sept 12, 2001
Today’s attacks were major atrocities. In terms of number of victims they do not reach the level of many others. For example, Clinton’s bombing of the Sudan with no credible pretext, destroying half its pharmaceutical supplies and probably killing tens of thousands of people (no one knows, because the US blocked an inquiry at the UN and no one cares to pursue it). Not to speak of much worse cases, which easily come to mind. 

But that this was a horrendous crime is not in doubt. The primary victims, as usual, were working people: janitors, secretaries, firemen, etc. It is likely to prove to be a crushing blow to Palestinians and other poor and oppressed people. It is also likely to lead to harsh security controls, with many possible ramifications for undermining civil liberties and internal freedom.

The events reveal, dramatically, the foolishness of ideas about “missile defense.” As has been obvious all along, and pointed out repeatedly by strategic analysts, if anyone wants to cause immense damage in the US, including weapons of mass destruction, they are highly unlikely to launch a missile attack, thus guaranteeing their immediate destruction. There are innumerable easier ways that are basically unstoppable. But today’s events will, nonetheless, be used to increase the pressure to develop these systems and put them into place. 

“Defense” is a thin cover for plans for militarisation of space, and with good PR, even the flimsiest arguments will carry some weight among a frightened public. In short, the crime is a gift to the hard, jingoist right, those who hope to use force to control their domains. That is even putting aside the likely US actions, and what they will trigger — possibly more attacks like this one, or worse. The prospects ahead are even more ominous than they appeared to be before the latest atrocities. 

Wednesday, Sept 12, 2001
Dearest Friends,

More smoke as the last four floors of the south tower collapse and the area is still unsteady.  I sit and pray for those working on the rescue efforts.  There are no words to explain how I’m still unable to talk and function in a “normal” way (the phone lines are still quite messed up for those of you who’ve been unable to get through). 

I’ve heard about the anti-Arab/Muslim hysteria that’s slowly spreading and find myself so sickened at the idea of throwing blame on innocent folks living here. We are truly one people — all with the same blood pulsing through our veins. I’m sending this message out in the hope that the recovery and healing will take place only when we come together, share, love and pray...  

Tonight at 7:30 pm, people are gathering in Madison Square Park, at 23rd & Broadway/Fifth Avenue, to stand in unity and to recognize lives lost and lives living among the debris. Coming together, like the vigil tonight at the Capitol in DC, will reaffirm that the US is still a beacon of freedom and hope.  Please pass this email to anyone who might want to attend. The sun sets at 7:21 pm. Bring candles if you wish.

With blessings, much love and peace,
Geeta Citygirl Chopra
fax:  212.579.5537 
http://www.salaamtheatre.org
(SALAAM! is an acronym for 
the South Asian League of Artists in America)