The real scam

Another 9/11 has come and gone. I didn't mean to add to the blog noise about it, but I find I'm too angry to resist. Maybe now those of us who were fortunate enough to not lose family and friends in those attacks can let the next few anniversaries pass in relative calm until the 10th. I doubt it, though.

Underplaying the importance of that day should be impossible, but there should also be an element of discussion, even shame in American sentiments. Around 3000 people dead, and what do they do? Clumsily topple an evil, oppressive regime in Afghanistan that had already been evil and oppressive for years by arming corrupt, heroin-pushing, evil, oppressive warlords to the teeth? Kill thousands and thousands more who had nothing to do with it in Iraq? And not learn a goddamn thing about how the world works? I have never heard so many conspiracy theories about the attacks get bandied around as I have this year, but it's as though Americans are completely incapable of seeing the real scam; they've bought hook, line and sinker that Muslims are by nature America's enemies, and that Muslims somehow have it in their power to make up for or be punished for those attacks.

Americans saw dancing Iranians and Palestinians after the attacks and found it easier to believe they were dancing because Muslims hate the United States than because of very immediate reasons that have more to do with living standards than religion. They rant at Muslims for not having spoken out louder against the attacks, never having worked out lots of Muslims did, and that the real reason they didn't hear them is because it wasn't attention-grabbing enough or newsworthy enough. "Global Jihad" and warring civilizations sell more newspapers.

I remember back in the fall of 2001, though, being confused by the apologies of all those clerics and Muslims off the streets. I wondered, how can one Muslim apologize for the actions of another? Muslims as a group didn't plan and certainly didn't benefit from 9/11. The Qu'ran isn't a peaceful book, but that sort of mass murder is contrary to it. So why should they apologize as a group? Did Christians apologize when the Branch Davidians set themselves on fire? Did mainstream conservatives apologize when that building in Oklahoma got bombed? Did all the British tourists in Brazil apologize for Menezes's head getting blown off in London because he was wearing a jacket on a warm day?

What the fuck do they want from the Muslims of the world? How can Muslims help Americans deal with the pain of that attack? And why should they when most of them live in countries with their own horrible problems? How can Americans whine about Muslims "sheltering terrorists" when post-colonial Muslim countries are in such fucking messes that people getting blown up on the other side of the world are the least of a common person's worries?

Think about the Taliban. The population of Afghanistan was miserably oppressed under them. The fact that it gave amnesty to Bin Laden was the least of a typical Afghan's worries, not least because there'd be no reason for him to know. But the Taliban were able to keep power for a long time because they had enough guns and men to keep the country stable after years of civil war sponsored by Pakistan, the Soviet Union and the United States. People pay high prices for stability. Bush won the election in 2004 after the snatch that was the 2000 election because people wanted stability during uncertain times, right? And Americans didn't even have a civil war, territorial encroachment or heroin-cultivating warlords to worry about.

I've had enough. I'm sad this has become an anniversary of useless, spurious, propogandized finger-pointing. I'm horrified Al Quaeda's aim of setting us on a course to a clash of civilisations has worked so well so far. I don't understand how the fact more people worldwide care about the murderous after-effects of 9/11 than about those poor 3000 people who were killed on the day hasn't taught America a lesson about its place in the world. Or even fucking empathy. I wonder how many Americans actually read the article instead of glancing at the headline about the same number dying in Bangladesh every year because the government is too impoverished and corrupt to fix flood barriers. I wonder how many moments of silence dead Iraqi children get at Lockheed Martin. Jesus, it's frustrating.