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CPL Europe

Friday, 14 September 2001 -
The World Has Changed Forever ? $comment_count ?>
I've been doing some thinking since the disaster on Tuesday about just what the lasting impact of everything happening surrounding the terrorist attack. The full scope has still not set in for most people as I think most of us are still in some disbeilef. Of course, we know that two buildings which served as the financial center for a good part of the world no longer exist, and with them the offices and executives of companies from almost every civilized country, not just American. We know there was selfless and heroic bravery, personifed most by 300 fireman and policeman which rushed to the scene to evacuate people and were crushed in the collapsing buildings (think - how many cities even have 210 firemen?), but also in the bravery of the people on the 4th plane who learned of the fate of the first 3 from their cell phones, and decided on the spot they were going to fight back, knowing they were deciding their own death but saving thousands of others. The cowboys won that one. One thing is for sure, no one better even THINK of hijacking an American flight in the next 20 years or so, the only thing they will get out of it is a disfigured face and multiple broken bones, bomb or no bomb. And in the face of the tragedy, Americans from Hillary to Helms are standing side by side, united in grief and a desire for quick and sweeping action.

What hasn't sunk in yet is that what happened is truly momentous, not just for the USA but for the world. America has fought in some nasty wars in the last century. In WWII we had military troops fighting a naval war in 2 oceans, and ground wars in Asia, North Africa, Italy and France all at the same time, and then of course there was Pearl Harbor itself and Vietnam, Korea, and the trench warfare of WWI. Yet through all that the war that took the greatest toll on life was the Civil War in the early 1860's. To put the loss of life (which isn't yet known) from the terrorist attacks Tuesday morning into perspective, the single greatest loss of life due to violence that the USA has ever faced was the Battle of Antietam during Lee's first campaign north with a death toll for the first day of 26,000 people. The attack this past Tueday could equal or exceed that when the final body count is finally added up. In that sense, there shouldn't be a doubt in anyone's mind, just as there isn't in any of our politician's voices, that this was most certainly an Act of War, and maybe the worst Act ever in our history. It only compounds the issue that the vast majority of the victims were civilians in peacetime.

But who to declare war on? Our President has said on "Terrorism," but terrorism isn't like any other foe anyone has faced. There is a terrorist Army, but it is spread all over the world, just under the surface as transplanted citizens sprinkled very thinly, but very wide, and probably in every western (and Middle East) country in the world, just preparing and waiting for their call. The concept is frightening, learning that the terrorists who planned the WTC Bombing 8 years ago, the terrorists who made the attack on Tuesday, and the ones who have been caught planning dozens of huge attacke in the US and all over the world in the meantime were for the most part described as quiet, ordinary citizens in their communities.

But they aren't ordinary. They are indoctrinated and brainwashed to beleive that if they kill themselves and take symbolic innocent lives with them, they are assured a place in their paradise if they answer the call. Some are trained in geurilla camps all over the Middle East and deployed to armed struggles from Chechnya, to Somalia, to China, and of course all over the Middle East. Much more dangerous than those are the ones that lie in wait. They seek to blend in to the social fabric, learning skills and gaining trust in preparation of answering a future call for martyrdom. To a man, they are people who are raised in a radically religious Islamic life which sees the world as a struggle between good and evil, and grow up learning that a real war between God and Satan (whose agents are the "Zionists") is happening right now.

This kind of thinking is not unique to Islam. On the contrary there are plenty of examples on any religion of fanatic cults of one or another, and although it seems that the US has more than its share of crazy Christian cults accumulating weapons for the Armegeddon happening next year (David Koresh and Waco come to mind) there are people like that in every country. Included are suicidal and psychopathic Marxists organizations, which although they claim to be athiests, are really more like a religious cult than they would like to think.

But there's a difference when it comes to Islam. Namely, there are Nations which claim to do things in the name of Islam, and whose entire legal structure is not built around law as the rest of the civilized world sees it, but built around their religious teachings. In their effort to promote Islam, and ensure that proper influences and behaviors are encouraged in their followers (and improper behaviors punished), they continually put out messages that their religion is superior, and that the most devout among them are close to God and speak in His name. And by the way, there is war between God and Satan happenign right now, and everyone who supports the state and its people are on the side of God, and everyone egainst is on the side of Satan. Even Marxist Russia never tried to inspire people to such lunacy. Since they are countries, even though they operate like cults they are accorded the same respect and rights as any other sovreign country, which is literally the ultimate protection something can have. That is what seprates them from the other fanatic groups.

If you have never been there, the Middle East Wire is a fascinating look into the materials which are distributed to the Arabic people by their governments. Despite the overwhelming evidence law enforcement has uncovered on 2 continents, there is a uniform denial that any one practicing Islam could do these deeds. And between bizarre theories that it was the Japanese Red Army or that "the operation can only be considered a full-scale war which indicates the beginning of an extensive move from inside the US against the bloodthirsty ruling system. " (my favorite) there is a uniform opinion that the US, the victims, bear the sole responsibilty for the tragedy. Realize these are not kooks, this is the official press of each country, in some cases the only press which is available to the people. Every country represented shares the opinion that the US brought this on themselves, and inside titles supposedly comdemning the attacks, there are thinly veiled warnings that this will happen again.

The scene the stories tell is really very scary when you look at the religious context they are all written in. Suicide bombers who blow themselves up at busstops and discos in Israel (2 a month for the past 2 years) are affectionately called "martyrs," and their is not a single word saying that such actions are deplorable, instead blame is assigned on the people killed and the people are told that in fact the bombers are now in heaven, just like a martyr should be. An attck that shows God you are striking at Satan justifies lies, deceit, maimin, and slaughter. And it justifies among leaders in a whole region that the Holocaust of WWII is irrelevant and does not deserved to be remembered in a UN condemnation on racism.

You may guess from my tone that maybe I am condemning all Muslims and declaring Islam an insincere religion. On the contrary, what I have learned in the last months about Islam leaves me very impressed. I have had the pleasure in that time to work with 2 Muslims. One, a web designer, is actually from Palestine, moved to the US about 5 years ago and still has most of his family living in the West Bank. The other which happens to be my Project Leader is from Iraq and escaped (his words) from there in the late 80's. Through them I have learned that Islam considers itself "the religion of Peace", and prides itself that there are Muslims all over the world, in every country, and the spread of the religion had ntohing to do with war. In fact, there are over 5 million Muslims in the US alone, and just like America, they are black, white, brown, red, and yellow. When you look at the facts no one could argue that Islam has done a great deal of good in alot of people's lives. I certainly don't think that every occupant of a rougue country is guilty of a crime either, but I certainly would argue their leaders and press are, and by controlling all the information anyone sees, it can be very difficult not to believe everything that is told to you. It's not like someone can pick up a Time magazine and think "oh, so that explains some things" - there simply is no other source of information allowed but what the government has produced.

I have also learned from them that there is a steady and vocal hate among Arabs against Israel. Israel as it exists (governed by Jews) is an illegitamate State formed out of thin air from some UN charter, and the Israelis proceeded to create their own version of the Holocaust killing and driving out men and women and children to make way for the Jews to take all their land and property. As such, anything and everything is permitted to attack back. And it just might be true that suicide bombers are in fact martyrs. At least they should never be talked about in a negative way.

I even developed some empathy for the Palestinians - for the past month or so, by sheer coincidece, I have been talking to a number of members of the Israeli gaming scene, which is quite a bit different than anywhere else. Among other things, virtually the entire scene is under 18, with no one older. Of course, the reason is that in Israel there is mandatory military service once you reach 18. Unlike some other countries with mandatory military service, in Israel it is taken quite a bit more seriously and there is virtually no free time for very long stretches. I also learned that there have been word of a few Lan Parties in Lebanon, but computer gaming is either outlawed or non existant everywhere else in the Middle East.In the words of one person I talked to "they do that stuff in reallife."

But my friendship with my work buddies made me think of something - what would Arabs think of Counter-Strike anyway? I would guess they would probably be pretty offended since all the terrorists are Arab models while the CTs are all controlled by Zionists.

Aside from that, my Arab friends shared the virulent anti-Israeli and pro-martyr opinion quite strongly - until Tuesday.

What they realized, and what became crystal clear Tuesday, is that pussyfooting and toeing the line with this kind of fanaticism, an "it's ok if it's for our side" attitude, has suddenly spawned into an incredibly evil monster. As is obvious in the Middle East Wire stories, there is a stuggle between making the same arguments they made Monday justifying smaller versions of this kind of violence, and of realizing that once this Beast is set loose, there may not be a way a way to get it back under control. A good example is Arafat, the leader of the in-limbo Palestinian State. He was gaining positive worldwide support for his positions, and the World looked the other waywhile he simultaneously insisted suicide bombings against civilians will only stop when all his demands are met, yet denying he has any control over them, and calling for peace talks in the US while he walks through the streets with a submachine gun over his shoulder. None of that double talk is going to fly now, especially when he claims the Palestinian people feel America's sorrow, while just outside his door they are celebrating in the streets. None of it carries any weight now - although the double talk works and is accepted amongst his peers in the Middle East, the rest of the world will no longer stand for it. You are either for peace, or you are against it.

And that is what this war is about. It is about realizing that the polical correctness towards extreme fanatics has no place in the civilized world. Some people have been playing with fire and have caused an inferno, and just like we arrest people for throwing out a lit cigarette into a national forest, the world has to stamp out terrorism whever it might pop up, and hold those accountable for advocating it. Pussyfooting with terrorists and treating with kid gloves scourges like bin Laden and Saddam Hussein can lead to this, and it can lead to much worse. Truly, the leaders of every country in the civilized world saw immediately that this could just as easily happen to the Eiffle Tower by French wackos, to Big Ben by English crazies, to the Kremlin by a Chenchnyan sympathizer, or to the Imperial City by some Chinese nostalgic for the Maoist past. This truly was an attack on the entire world's way of life. Either declare war on these extremists and agree as civilized people and demand that if bin Laden should camp out in Afghanistan or Sudan, that the respect for their sovereignty as a Nation, as was customary in the old world, will not hold quite the same weight any longer. To do anything less would create a world of fear and dread across every country. To deal with it the movement we take for granted would have to be ripped away, much more of our lives would have to be exposed to official scrutiny just to go on a vacation, and moving or getting a job would probably mean endless government paperwork and delayed "approval." The civilized world realizes that is not the vision we as human beings have for our future.

In that light, it really comes as no surprise that the President of Afghanistan's staunchest ally, Pakistan, made sure all the news cameras were on hand to hear him tell Colin Powell he is pledging his "unstinted support" for any effort to stamp out terrorism, and has closed the border with Afghanistan, stopped supplying fuel to the Taleban, and has opened Pakistani airspace and airfields to Any air attack which might need it at our request. Even he realizes as an ally of the Taleban that at any pont, the people they are protecting could decide that Pakistan was not living up to its potential and that thousands of Pakistani civilians must die. It could be at a whim, all that is needed is the word from God, spoken through a local prophet hiding in a cave, and the Pakistani Royal Palace could be rubble tommorrow. It's simple really. Allow the threat of thousands of civilians to die at any time, anywhere in the world, or not.

And so the world has pledged to end this once and for all, no matter how long it takes. Our leaders are building wide support for a fast and total solution once a guilty party is identified, and the American fighting machine is itching to be let loose, because they know they won't stop short of Baghdad if they enter Iraq again, and any other military mission they receive anywhere else won't be holding back to score political points. There is an acceptance that this will not be a short war either. If other threats to life in the 21st century should surface, I'm sure the world will stand just as firm against it. For the first time in history, NATO invoked Article 5 to say that the attack on America was an attack on 18 other countries also. The UN Security Council including Russia ans China have unanimously endorsed any action which might result from the wheels currently in motion. The world is putting alot of trust in America and setting aside politics to do it, and I have confidence we'll all be a stronger, safer, and closer world for it. If there is anything at all positive to come out of four jetairliners being hijacked and used as cruise missiles against cities, let that be it.