Vaya aquí
para la versión española
Approaching the Second Anniversary
of 9/11
by David Krieger, August 22, 2003
Readers Comments
As we approach the second anniversary of the terrorist
attacks of 9/11, it is important to take a hard look at the direction
our country has taken since these tragic events occurred.
The United States has attacked Afghanistan and
driven the Taliban regime from power. In the process, we killed
some 3,000 to 5,000 civilians, more than died at the World Trade
Center and Pentagon. The US has not been able to locate and capture
Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind of the 9/11 attacks.
Reports from Afghanistan are that the US-backed regime there controls
little more than the city of Kabul, and warlords are in control
of the rest of the country.
The United States has also attacked Iraq, but with
neither evidence of a link between Iraq and the 9/1l terrorists,
nor with the sanction of the United Nations. The US preventive
war against Iraq killed some 6,000 to 8,000 civilians, about twice
as many as died at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Since
this war, it has come to light that in making its case for war,
the Bush administration used false intelligence to inflate its
claim that Iraq posed an imminent threat of using weapons of mass
destruction against the United States.
The US has not been able to locate and capture
Saddam Hussein or the Taliban leader, Mullah Omar. Nor have any
of the purported weapons of mass destruction, which supposedly
made the Iraqi threat so imminent, been found. There is a strong
sense that the Iraqi people are opposed to US occupation of their
country, and American soldiers are being killed on an almost daily
basis. Most recently, saboteurs have also been attacking the Iraqi
oil pipelines.
In addition to the price in American and Iraqi
lives, the occupation of Iraq is costing US taxpayers nearly $4
billion each month, adding to the over $450 billion projected
deficit in the US budget this year. There is no clear plan for
US withdrawal from Iraq, and the administration will not predict
how long American troops are likely to remain or how much the
occupation is likely to cost in total. US corporations, with links
to the Bush administration, are being given lucrative contracts
to rebuild Iraq’s infrastructure and manage its oil production.
We still have no authoritative public report on
the intelligence failures that led to 9/11. No one has been dismissed
and no blame has been laid at the feet of the intelligence community.
The impression from the Bush administration is that the lead up
to 9/11 was just too difficult for the intelligence community
to handle, due to the paucity of communication within and between
agencies and the need to actually connect some dots. The families
of the 9/11 victims, along with the rest of the American people,
are still waiting for clearer and more complete answers to why
our intelligence failed so dramatically.
In a Congressional study related to intelligence
failures, much of the important information has been kept from
the American people by the Bush administration, including 28 pages
on the role of Saudi Arabia. The Saudi leadership and members
of Congress have pleaded that this information be released to
the American people, but to no avail. Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL),
former chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, stated, “My
judgment is 95 percent of that information could be declassified,
become uncensored so the American people would know.”
Since the war in Afghanistan, the United States
has held prisoners, including US citizens, in a manner that defies
the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of prisoners. The administration,
aided by the Congress, has instituted the USA Patriot Act, which
restricts the civil liberties of all Americans. The administration
has put forward further legislation that provides even more drastic
restrictions on our liberties.
The trends do not bode well for America. In two
years, the country has engaged in two wars, at least one of which
was clearly illegal under international law. The administration
has engaged in a clear pattern of deception. Our wars have killed
at least three times the number of innocent civilians as died
in the 9/11 attacks. The individual thought to be principally
responsible for 9/11 remains at liberty, while the liberties of
Americans have been restricted. The goodwill with which America
was held throughout the world in the aftermath of 9/11 has been
squandered. We are viewed by much of the international community
as bullies who use military force in defiance of international
law and make our own rules when it suits us.
Our soldiers continue to pay the ultimate price
for the arrogance of this administration. Mr. Bush, in the safety
of the White House, challenged the militants attacking American
troops in Iraq with the rash and taunting remark, “Bring
‘em on.” This remark drew many negative responses
from the troops stationed in Iraq and their families.
Two years after 9/11 Americans do not appear to
be safer from terrorist attacks than they were before 9/11. We
have a new bureaucracy, the Department of Homeland Security, and
a system of color-coded warnings, but these do not seem to be
effective barriers to terrorist threats. There is no reason to
believe that terrorists hate America because they envy our way
of life, as Mr. Bush says, and every reason to believe that terrorists
oppose our political and economic policies, particularly in the
Middle East.
To end the threat of terrorism, the United States
needs a return to decency and the values that make this country
strong. We need to reconsider the morality, legality and consequences
of our policies. This would require a major reversal of the Bush
administration policies that have cynically used 9/11 in seeking
to achieve its ideological goals of global military dominance,
control of oil, and financial gain for an elite few. On the positive
side of the ledger, there are increasing signs that Congress,
the media and the American people are awakening to the dangers
of these policies and vocally and actively opposing them. It is
none too soon to reassess and reverse the path we have taken since
9/11.
--David Krieger is president of the Nuclear Age Peace
Foundation (www.wagingpeace.org). He is the editor of Hope in
a Dark Time, Reflections on Humanity’s Future.
Readers' Comments
If you'd like to send us your comments please e-mail
us at: letters@napf.org
(Please include the name of the article in the subject line)
>
David, What a clear and courageous message. What I keep
reading is an immense encouragement to carry on. Greetings,
--Hans von Sponeck
>
Bravo on the 9/11 article. Your synopsis was articulate
and succinct. You covered a great deal of territory very well.
It seems that this tragedy has reached epic proportions with
no end in sight. People in the street were screaming for Arab
blood even before the dust settled, but one of my first instincts
as I stood there and watched the gaping holes burn was a sense
of mystification as to how two commercial airliners could strike
such an obvious target almost 20 minutes apart without being
intercepted. When I saw the NY Times timeline graphic of the
hijackings the next day, I became further intrigued. These planes
were off course almost from the beginning and it had to be clear
to the professionals doing their jobs that emergency procedures
were required. In taking the ensuing events into account, it
adds up but I doubt that many people will open their minds up
to the obvious. It doesn't’t take total participation
to gum up the works – only a few strategic delays. You
steered clear of conspiracy theories yet the implication of
what you write very much mirrors my thoughts and doubts…Regardless,
I appreciate reading incisive commentary such as yours.
--Monte, USA
>
Your write-up is apt as it clearly touches on a lot of
issues which have been brought to the fore ever since the Bush
administration came into being. It is rather worrisome to note
that if the administration carries on its foreign policies with
so much prevalent arrogance and deception,it will unwittingly
attract more international criticism and hatred,particularly
from the Arab world. The Bush administration must realize that
"might is not right" and embark on a total and immediate
review, if not reversal of its foreign policies. Gross violation
of international law by any state must not be permissible with
impunity.The US must allow the United Nations perform its responsibilities,as
it is the only authority vested with maintaining world peace
and security.The US must cease to be the "police of the
world",as the Bush administration has very demanding domestic
problems begging for attention. All states must recognize the
need and desirability for the existence, maintenance and sustainability
of a true world order where the rule of law,justice,moderation
and cooperation are the cardinal principles regulating state
actions.Acts of aggression, abuse and usurpation power must
be avoided if we are serious about addressing the problem of
terrorism and sustainability of global peace and security.
--Kadiri, Nigeria
|
