My remarks on remembering 9/11 sparked two of my readers, Gaston Groisman [gaston@magnets.com.ar] from Argentina and Peraphon Sophatsathit [peraphon@sc.chula.ac.th] from Thailand, to write to me and conduct a fairly extensive and thoughtful dialogue. Here are some excerpts, reprinted with their permission: To distinguish between who wrote what, my remarks are in Arial blue, and my readers are in Times Roman and black.
David:
I have been reading your column for many years now. I like the way you write and I think you are an intelligent person. It amazes me that, though you seem to be honestly searching for an answer you don't once mention the thousands of civilians that have been hurt by Americans all these years.
And until you do you will not find any answers. This is much like the so American 12 steps. You must begin by standing up and saying "I am an American and I hurt people."
If you take the 9/11 events so personally, you must take American actions around the world just as personally.
I could speak of many classic scenarios of American intervention but I will briefly mention only one. I live in Argentina and in the 70's we suffered a terrible military dictatorship that killed over 30.000 people. Nobody today argues the role the US played in training out military (in the famous School of the Americas in Panama) and in supporting them during their reign of terror.
So a friend of yours died? I have many friends and relatives (all civilians) who died during those years. And nothing has changed. The School in Panama is now closed, but I see American "smart bombs" diving into schools on CNN. Or the crew of that carrier celebrating shooting down an Iraqi (or was it Iranian) plane, only to go quiet when they realize they made a mistake and shot down an airliner filled with mothers, sisters, grandparents, etc.
Do you even wonder how the friends and relatives of those people felt then and feel today? Do they ride bicycles and raise money to help the relatives of the victims? Probably they do, don't they?
My impression is that you (and most other Americans) don't think about these things. You are overwhelmed by 9/11 and you own patriotic propaganda and that doesn't let you search for answers. The proof is in the actions America took after 9/11. More violence and no change at all in its foreign policy.
Maybe I am totally wrong, but let me tell you that today the States are not transmitting an image of true concern and willingness to improve thing so this doesn't happen again. And that concerns me. I worry for the future that await yours and my children since this course of action will lead to more pain on both sides of the American border.
-- Gaston
I think there is one big difference between what happened on 9/11 and what we are doing elsewhere around the world. The people who flew those planes were NOT part of any government or country. They weren't accountable for their actions to any people. It was a bunch of guys with lots of money who were and still are angry with us. It saddens me that so many people die for no real reason, other than a dictator or someone in charge says, let's get rid of these people. I guess what it comes down to for me is that while our system here in the States isn't perfect, it is better than in many places. Yes, we have plenty of people who die in America each day too, and that bothers me as well. -- David
I think you are wrong.
These people are a DIRECT CONSEQUENCE of the actions taken by the US all these years. Though they were not part of any government they find shelter and money in countries that have been wronged by the states. In the case of Afghanistan you used them to fight the Russians and then left them to deal with the poverty and the aftermath of a war that wasn't useful to the States anymore. So once again these enemies of the States, like Saddam and so many others, were armed by the States. What is wrong with this picture?
And they are accountable to the people of the countries that shelter them. I don't know if people actually danced in the streets to celebrate the attack, but if you put yourself in the shoes of one of the victims we talked about, say the mother of a Nicaraguan kid killed by US backed Contras armed with guns from the CIA, wouldn't you be at least a little glad?
So the answer seems so simple it is scary. The actions taken by the US in foreign policy should not lead to the creation of these types of groups and should not create conditions in countries that allow their population to welcome them.
How to do it? I am no foreign policy expert but fancy names like Dessert Shield, Dessert Storm (how many were killed in that infamous road, do you remember?) Anaconda, etc are not the solution.
A few days ago I saw a documentary about Bob Geldorf and Band Aid, what a different concept!! Feed the hungry, don't bomb them.
I am glad to hear that you help the good causes. But I feel that is one of the big things with the US. They have lots of room for dissent but the bottom line never changes. That is, you as a citizen can vote a certain way, volunteer a certain way, but all you tax money goes to the wrong causes. And that doesn't change. And that should make you at least a little bit responsible for the deaths. You paid for them.
And I talk from experience, I lived in the US for 6 years, I even had my green card, and one day I got fed up, turned it in and left. Do you know many people who have returned their green card? After that I lived in Canada 6 years. America has so much to learn from them. Socialized medicine, a more humane atitude towards the needy. And now I am back home.
Since 9/11, I can't find a single American web site with a slightly open view of the facts. Everybody has rallied around the flag and adopted a very propagandistic attitude. We need a space to talk, think, and feel what others, what we all feel.
-- Gaston
Yes, we armed these people that we are now fighting against. That seems to be the pattern, and the US doesn't learn from past mistakes. Yes, we should feed the hungry rather than bomb them. But let's look at what has happened in Afghanistan since the Taliban was defeated. Women can now go to school. People are free to express their opinions in public. Yes, there is still much wrong with that country -- the level of crushing poverty and destruction is huge, and it will take decades to improve conditions. Most people have nothing, and yet we continue to act like the place is filled with gold and other resources -- which it isn't. -- David
Now the question is: Should Afghanistan bomb the US and demand that women get paid equal salaries as men for equal jobs? Must be tough being the world cop. I am far from being religious, I am Jewish by race and atheist by conviction but isn't there some saying about casting the first stone? The point is, the US should act alone by its own convictions and imposing into other countries, because most of the times what they impose doesn't agree with what they do.
But this is not limited to the US.
That is why we should have a TRUE United Nations or a similar body. A place where countries can act together. But this gets too philosophical.
My own country is in such a mess I haven't look much into international relief. As of last month my money that used to be worth 1 peso equal 1 dollar has fallen to 1/4th of that. That means a hard disk is now 4 times what it used to be. If one of mine crashed I am dead! -- Gaston
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Dear
Gaston, your story sounds so familiar to me: What have you done so far after
those tragedies? I must say I used to
share the same feelings years ago. But
now I am a different person because I learned from personal indescribable
sorrows and pains. I look at
super-power governments as business tycoons who have insatiable appetite to
gulp everything they could without any remorse. What can you and I do anything about them! Those governments are impersonal systems. You can't just point finger at one person and
blame him for his evil plans, the transgressions he inflicts on so many lives,
etc.
I am
not trying to be pedantic, but conveying an important message to you: "Stop
being a cry-baby." Don't point
finger to anybody but yourself. Hell
with these governments. Ask yourself
how you can make a difference to the people around you. David is doing the right thing. Instead of accusing the terrorists, he chose
to ride for a good cause (Tom and many brave souls), making a small difference
in his community. I don't have such a
big heart as he does. So I play my
supporting role with common goals: forgive, forget, and carry on. We don't want to resist the nature of human
memory that fades as time goes by. Does
anyone really remember what the Nazis did in the holocaust, Emperor Chin-zi's
massacre, the Killing Field in Cambodia, and so on? We learn from history not to repeat itself rather than to take revenge. There is no end to "an eye for an
eye" mindset. It must stop here --You
and me!
Being
an educator myself (which is very
lucky), I am making sure that my students know what is right, that they don't
grow up to be an a**h**e, that they will be good citizens. I am taking one step at a time to clean up
my own backyard. Hopefully one day, my house will be a better place to live.
So
why don't you begin with soul-searching to see how you can lend a helping hand
to your community. Make sure that those
who are touched by you will have a big heart as David. Once the backyard is tidy, your house will be
much more pleasant to live. -- Peraphon