Hello mehrzee, Wednesday, September 12, 2001, 12:33:10 PM, you wrote: mvn> Reeta Sinha mvn> 'It's not the US they want to destroy. It's our arrogance' mvn> During winters when I was little, the boys on my block played a game called mvn> King of the Hill. After storms, snowplows clearing the streets would leave mvn> behind huge hills of dense, packed snow hills 15 to 20 feet high. The game mvn> was simple. The one who reached the top of the hill and kept everyone else mvn> off it was the King of the Hill. Boys would scramble up the hill, shoving mvn> and pushing each other, sometimes sending a playmate tumbling to the ground. mvn> It was a rough game and usually it was the bully who made it to the top. The mvn> biggest, loudest, meanest kid on the block became the King of the Hill. The mvn> others -- smaller and weaker -- tumbled down quickly or were thrown off by mvn> the King, if they got close to the top of the hill. mvn> Standing a safe distance away, I would watch the boys who were knocked off mvn> the hill over and over again. They never looked defeated. With their chins mvn> set, they would get up from the ground, brush the snow off their clothes mvn> and, after grabbing handfuls of snow, climb up the hill again, determined to mvn> topple the King. What they lacked in bulk and height, they made up for with mvn> creativity (icy snow shoved inside a shirt pretty much paralyzes any bully). mvn> Inevitably, the bully's arrogance was his downfall. Confident that he, the mvn> King, was the biggest, the strongest, the best and so certain that the mvn> others were puny and dumb, the bully usually didn't see the boy sneaking up mvn> behind him. The one who, with one shove, sent the former King sliding mvn> headfirst down the hill. mvn> The smaller boys didn't really care who was the King of the Hill. That snowy mvn> kingdom would be gone come spring. It was the bully's attitude, his mvn> assumption that he deserved to be King that made the boys so determined. mvn> Without treaties or negotiation, they would band together and attack the mvn> King, just to see him take a fall. mvn> Bullies, kings, dictators, meanies don't seem to get it, do they? The more mvn> they push, the more they shove, the more they flex their muscles, the more mvn> determined it makes those they ridicule and bully. mvn> The world has seen this human drama played out time and time again mvn> throughout history, sometimes by individuals, sometimes with entire peoples mvn> with uprisings. In fact and fiction, those who are pushed frequently and far mvn> enough, always push back. mvn> It happened again on September 11, 2001. When terrorists crashed passenger mvn> planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon building in the US, mvn> someone, some group of people, was pushing back. The message seems pretty mvn> clear: the wealthy, powerful king had to be knocked off the hill. mvn> Perhaps this is not the time to criticize a country that has suffered such mvn> great loss of life. But, as I have listened to news reports and watched the mvn> horrific images for the past several hours, the most recent showing a second mvn> plane aiming directly for the World Trade Center, crashing through a tower mvn> as onlookers scream, I can't help but wonder. What would drive some people mvn> to take such extreme measures? Why would anyone go to these lengths to hurt mvn> the United States? mvn> I can come up with only one answer. It's not us they hate. It's not the US mvn> they want to destroy. It's our arrogance. mvn> 'America under attack.' That's how the media is describing it. Unaware of mvn> the morning's events, I listened to cryptic voicemail messages about my home mvn> office in Chicago being shut down due to the 'crisis' and my father asking mvn> me to call. I had left my California hotel room for a conference session mvn> without listening to the news hours earlier. Confused by the messages, I mvn> turned on the television immediately. The caption on my muted television mvn> screen alarmed me. Were we being invaded? Had the government been overthrown? mvn> But it isn't the US these terrorists want. They don't want our land, our mvn> buildings, our wealth, our leaders or our people. I think they are just sick mvn> and tired of being pushed around. As I write this, I don't know who 'they' mvn> are. It doesn't matter whether these terrorists came from outside the US or mvn> from within. As we saw with the Oklahoma bombing a few years ago, there are mvn> many inside the US who feel pushed around, who feel they are not included mvn> when US leaders tell the world, 'we are the best, we are the smartest, we mvn> are the most powerful, we are No.1.' mvn> The US likes to rub it in whenever it can, whether it is true or not. It mvn> boasts of being the greatest democracy in the world, the leader of all free mvn> people and if that were not enough, it seems to think it can dictate to the mvn> world what is morally right and wrong. mvn> This attitude came through even as news of the terrorist attacks broke. mvn> President Bush declared that our freedom, our democracy had been attacked. mvn> As people jumped out of the World Trade Center, as passengers were slammed mvn> through steel and concrete, do you think freedom and democracy were on their mvn> minds? Do you think the terrorists were envious or even cared about the US' mvn> obsession with these values? Only a country, or more accurately, the leaders mvn> of a country, so focused with its own greatness would think so. mvn> Yet, in a matter of minutes, a series of almost perfectly choreographed mvn> events destroyed two of the tallest buildings in the world in one city and mvn> critically damaged one of the most impenetrable structures in another. New mvn> York's World Trade Center crumbled -- the target was a symbol of US wealth; mvn> in Washington, DC, the Pentagon, the military nerve center of the US was mvn> directly hit. mvn> While the bully was thumping his chest, claiming victory, the smaller boy mvn> crept up behind him and knocked him off his feet. mvn> The question is being asked repeatedly by media analysts: how did the US mvn> miss such a sophisticated attack? In my opinion, the answer is simple. The mvn> US arrogantly underestimated its perceived and known enemies. mvn> How many times has the US been the target of terrorism in the past 30 years mvn> alone? The US media harps on the worst, the first, the most violent, but the mvn> fact is that the US has experienced terrorism for decades. US airlines have mvn> been hijacked many times, scores of US army personnel have been killed in mvn> bombings and US embassies around the world have been hit more than once, US mvn> citizens have been taken hostage for months at a time. Within the US, a mvn> federal building has been bombed, killing hundreds and and the World Trade mvn> Center was a terrorist target less than 10 years ago. How could the US mvn> believe that the World Trade Center was not still vulnerable? That any mvn> person or structure associated with the US could not some day be a target? mvn> Other countries in the world would learn from such incidents, such real mvn> threats, and they have. But, it seems the US hasn't. Why not? mvn> Because we're No 1. They are scum, they are evil, they're cowards, and they mvn> are stupid. How could 'they' ever get us? White extremists or Arab mvn> terrorists, we're better, we're smarter, we're ready. We have stealth mvn> bombers and space-age missile defense systems, we can land on the moon and mvn> go to Mars. We're rich, we're invincible. We're America. mvn> The reality is we're so full of it and now, thousands of innocent people mvn> have paid the price for the arrogance of some in the US. mvn> It doesn't take much to realize just how well organized and clever these mvn> terrorists were. While the US and its allies talk of arsenals filled with mvn> expensive high-tech weapons to combat biological warfare and fight star mvn> wars, a group of people using nothing more than knives and combined brain mvn> power brought the US to a halt. Consider the following: mvn> Four commercial planes with huge quantities of fuel simultaneously hijacked mvn> from four metro US airports mvn> Four sets of hijackers who knew how to pilot the jets (unlike many previous mvn> hijackings in the world) mvn> Two strategically critical targets selected mvn> Two successful strikes to the World Trade Center towers where the buildings mvn> were structurally most vulnerable mvn> No US media outlets affected, ensuring maximum visibility to these attacks mvn> To this point, no evidence available to determine who is responsible, mvn> leaving the US powerless to retaliate mvn> These terrorists have made a mockery of the CIA (Central Intelligence mvn> Agency) who seems to have no clue that an attack of such magnitude was even mvn> possible, let alone imminent. They have put the FAA (Federal Aviation mvn> Authority) to shame, as its radar screens showed four flights veering mvn> off-course and, apparently, with no indication the planes had been hijacked. mvn> Airport security has been deemed lax for years, yet there have been no mvn> noticeable improvements. The terrorists have left US leaders virtually mvn> powerless -- they can only repeat the now almost meaningless words claiming mvn> US greatness, strength and its resolve to hold other countries responsible, mvn> never once recognizing its own weaknesses and faults. mvn> President Bush briefly addressed the nation, after being whisked away to mvn> safety earlier in the day, while the rest of the nation, strangely, remained mvn> vulnerable. In his speech, the world heard the same arrogance as the mvn> President said the US was chosen as a target because "we're the brightest mvn> beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world." World leaders, primarily mvn> those from the western, predominantly white hemisphere, have joined in with mvn> equally superior rhetoric. The British Prime Minister said the acts were mvn> "perpetrated by fanatics who are utterly indifferent to the sanctity of mvn> life." Israel's Sharon felt the US' pain and said the country was in mvn> mourning with the US. mvn> The theme is clear and already you know whom these leaders blame for the mvn> attacks. The disdain for 'them' is so evident. The world is slowly dividing mvn> itself, us against 'them.' Not against terrorists or acts of terror, in mvn> general, but for a particular group of terrorists, a specific kind of mvn> terrorism. Slavery and colonialism -- and their legacies, it seems, were not mvn> attacks on freedom and democracy; political assassinations do not constitute mvn> terrorism -- these barely warrant acknowledgement even, as the world has mvn> recently seen. mvn> Is it possible that it is this very attitude that so drives some to bring mvn> the US down? The idea that one group of people is allowed to declare that mvn> another does not count, that another group of people does not deserve to be mvn> considered human? When will the US learn it has to co-exist with all the mvn> peoples of the world, not just those who serve the US' interests? Hate mvn> begets hate. Labeling people of this world as evil produces evil. The US and mvn> others have experienced this many times, yet they continue in the same vein. mvn> There's no mistaking that terrorism is a threat, as it always has been. mvn> There is also no disputing that those responsible for such acts in any way, mvn> shape or form must be held accountable. To be sure, prosecute those who are mvn> responsible, but do not turn the process into a media circus, as was the mvn> case with the execution of Timothy McVeigh convicted for the Oklahoma mvn> bombing. Do not use the process to humiliate a people, as the US sought to mvn> do when it prosecuted those who bombed the World Trade Center before. mvn> Grandstanding, seeking to teach Osama bin Laden and his followers a lesson, mvn> the US government did nothing more than reaffirm its role as an arrogant mvn> world bully. mvn> As calls for retaliation (against whom?) grow, as news analyses continue mvn> into the early hours of the morning after, I doubt it matters -- all this mvn> talk of US superiority and freedom. Imagine for a moment you are sitting in mvn> those planes, facing certain death, or in an office in the Pentagon or the mvn> World Trade Center, unaware just how close death is. Terrorism is about mvn> people. Perhaps one day the world's leader will realize this. Nice rhetoric and I still don't get your point, but it's not sounding like the way I feel about this tradgedy - please keep this crap off this list. -- Best regards, Perry mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=19673&t=19673 -------------------------------------------------- FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
