File spoon-archives/postcolonial.archive/postcolonial_2001/postcolonial.0109, message 272


Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 10:19:02 -0700
From: Mimi Nguyen <slander13-AT-mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: TIM WISE ARTICLE


Where was this published?

Mimi

At 09:15 AM 9/19/01 -0700, you wrote:

> >Enemies, Both Foreign and Domestic: The Limits of Revenge and Rhetoric
> >By Tim Wise
> >
> >September 15, 2001
> >
> >
> >Well, it looks as if the good people of the rural U.S. should be breathing
> >a sigh of relief right about now. After all, with the President and most
> >Americans itching to bomb any place where terrorists might be hiding, one
> >can only imagine the kind of wrath that would have been brought down upon
> >the heads of folks in Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming or Mississippi had last
> >week's hijackersbeen white boys with crew-cuts, like Tim McVeigh.
> >
> >All this talk I keep hearing of "Kill the Arabs," "carpet bomb em back
> >into the stone age," or "get the ragheads" would have to have been replaced
> >with "Kill the Crackers," "bomb em back to the Dust Bowl," and "get the
> >trailer trash."
> >
> >But the fact is, we all know that such a scenario would never have
> >transpired, and not because white boys arent capable of inflicting mass
> >death. They certainly are. McVeigh proved that, if for some folks Hitler,
> >Stalin, Andrew Jackson, Lyndon Johnson and Dick Nixon werent sufficient to
> >make the case. But rather, because the folks who are so quick to
> >collectivize the responsibility and the payback when the perps are
> >dark-skinned or "foreign," are just as quick not to do so when white boys
> >are the ones committing mass murder or engaging in terroristic activities.
> >In the wake of Oklahoma City, none of the people who are now calling for
> >war against Afghanistan even suggested targeting white supremacist groups
> >and militias for destruction, let alone bombing the cornfields of "middle
> >America" in the hopes of taking out a few anti-government types.
> >
> >Bottom line: enemies who look different, speak a different language, or
> >practice a different religion are lots easier to view as the "other." As
> >somehow cutoff from the common humanity of which we consider ourselves a
> >part. And so we speak now of killing Arabs indiscriminately, of not
> >differentiating between the guilty and the innocent (ironically, the
> >precise mentality of whomever carried out last weeks attacks), and winning
> >a war, which we claim has been officially engaged. But we would have said
> >none of these things had the perpetrators been internal extremists. We said
> >none of these things about those who fit the descriptions of Tim McVeigh,
> >or Terry Nichols. We would never have heard columnists calling for
> >profiling of white men, the way that reactionary crank and wanna-be pin-up
> >girl of the right, Ann Coulter, called for the same against Arabs and
> >Muslims this week.
> >
> >Actually, that wasnt all she said: she also opined that it should be the
> >role of the United States to invade "their" countries, kill "their"
> >leaders, and "convert them to Christianity." If these were the words of an
> >Imam, calling for the forced conversion of Southern Baptists to Islam, we
> >would call them the fanatical ramblings of a jihad-happy madman. But when
> >the fashion-conscious and attractive (though clearly Snickers-deprived)
> >Coulter says it, she finds mass support for her nuttiness, gets her call
> >for a new round of Crusades published on the website of the National
> >Review, and will remain a regular commentator for such paragons of
> >journalistic virtue as Fox News.
> >
> >So too Jerry Falwell, who for some unknown reason people still take
> >seriously despite his penchant for committing random acts of serial
> >stupidity. His latest? Laying the blame for the attacks on New York and DC
> >at the feet of the ACLU (for "throwing God out of the schools"), "the
> >abortionists" ("because God will not be mocked"), as well as "pagans,"
> >"feminists," and "the gays and lesbians." After offering this truly
> >maniacal glob of pedantic crap, Falwells partner in fundamentalist lunacy,
> >Pat Robertson, chimed in to blame "pornography on the internet," abortion,
> >and the removal of the ten commandments from courthouses. God, according to
> >these twin towers of intellectual mendacity and biblically bankrupt
> >spirituality, is "lifting his protection from us," as our comeuppance for
> >secular humanism.
> >
> >It makes me think back to what Barry Goldwater said about Falwell in 1981,
> >when the rotund little preacher asked all "good Americans" to rise up in
> >opposition to the nomination of Sandra Day OConnor to the Supreme Court
> >(since, after all, the Court was no place for a lady). "All good
> >Americans, Goldwater intoned, should rise up and give Jerry Falwell a
> >kick in the ass." Precisely, and now two decades overdue.
> >
> >Funny how all the discussion of religious fanaticism among certain
> >followers of Islam has led us to overlook the fanaticism of certain
> >Christians who are now calling for blood. One has to imagine that if Jesus
> >was here today they would call him a "pussy" for all that "turn the other
> >cheek" stuff. And while I cant answer the question thatmanyfollowers of
> >Christ ask when they wear their "What Would Jesus Do?" armbands, I feel
> >pretty confident that I know what he wouldnt do. He wouldnt be saying
> >things like: "lets shove a couple dozen cruise missiles up their ass," or
> >going out and spraypainting "Fuck Islam" on mosques, or screaming about the
> >"sand niggers" while guzzling beer at some sports bar. And for that matter,
> >he wouldnt be standing around chanting "U.S.A, U.S.A." at a memorial
> >service, in an attempt to turn it into a jingoistic pep rally.
> >
> >The events of the past week have brought out the best in people and the
> >worst: on the one hand, the rescue workers, diligently seeking for any
> >signs of life amidst perhaps a million tons of rubble; yet, on the other,
> >the cacophony of voices calling for revenge. Oh sure, they insist it isnt
> >about that, but rather, "justice." They insist they want more than merely
> >the continued spilling of blood, and that striking back has more purpose
> >than merely proving how tough we are. But ask them what that purpose is,
> >and how they think massive military retaliation can actually make us more
> >safe, to say nothing of the safety of others the world over, and their
> >faces go blank, or become contorted with anger, as they shout: "well, we
> >have to do something. We cant just sit here and let them get away with
> >it!"
> >
> >But "doing something" is not a valid pretext for unleashing war. And
> >justice requires that we carefully consider the difference between
> >responsible parties and innocent ones. Just as one would not think it
> >"just" to level an entire neighborhood in search of one serial killer who
> >might be living in the area, so too is it unjust to speak of turning much
> >of the Arab world into a parking lot, in search of the few persons actually
> >behind the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
> >
> >Not only would such a disproportionate response be morally suspect, it
> >would be irresponsible from a security perspective as well. It would leave
> >us all less safe, as millions more in the Arab world came to see the U.S.
> >as a bully, unconcerned about innocent lives, Muslim holy sites, or world
> >peace. And ten years hence, or maybe less, they would understandably
> >retaliate in kind. What is most ironic about all of this, is that such a
> >scenario--the West and Islam locked in mortal combat--is exactly what the
> >Osama bin Ladens of the world have always wanted. It is a trap. A trap
> >rejected by the vast majority of Arabs, and of Muslims wherever they may
> >be, but one in which they too will be caught up if we take the bait.
> >
> >Its really quite simple: we couldnt kill all of "them" even if doing so
> >was ethically acceptable, which of course it isnt. And those who dont
> >die, who would look around and see their nations leveled, their houses
> >gone, their family members incinerated, would at that point most certainly
> >feel that they had nothing to lose by getting even. And there is no more
> >dangerous member of any society than the one who thinks he has nothing to
> >lose. Desperation doesnt make for very sound judgment, whether the
> >desperation of the immiserated in the so-called third world, or that of the
> >most powerful, and yet often least original people on the planet.
> >
> >And so what does that leave us with? The fact is, I dont know. And neither
> >do you. And why we cant just say that, admit our frailties and
> >uncertainties and ignorance, is beyond me. That we demand quick and easy
> >answers is indicative of our cultural attachment to instant gratification:
> >got a headache, take an aspirin; overweight, get liposuction; upset about
> >something, take Prozac. Dont think, dont analyze, just do it. It is Nike
> >slogan as national mantra. And it is the prelude to international
> >slaughter.
> >
> >No wonder so much of the world looks at America with contempt and at
> >Americans as spoiled children. First, we train terrorists the world over,
> >including bin Laden, because we had to "get the commies" at all costs, even
> >if it meant supporting dictators, fundamentalists, and murderers. Then we
> >support corrupt and brutal regimes that trample the rights of their
> >citizens. Then we fund and support an illegal occupation of Palestinian
> >land, and contribute to the deaths of a million or more in Iraq from
> >bombing and sanctions. Then, we exhibit our arrogance by withdrawing from
> >international treaties and forums when the going gets tough or issues get
> >raised that we dont want to discuss.
> >
> >This is not to say that any of these things, no matter how irresponsible or
> >even criminal warrant an act the likes of what we saw September 11th. But
> >there is something to be said for understanding why no one likes you. If
> >all the other kids in the sandbox think youre a thug and a bully, then
> >after a while youd best stop trying to beat them all into submission, or
> >thinking that they are the problem, and instead, begin to turn some of that
> >analysis inward. Thats what you would do, anyway, if you wanted to
> >actually get to the bottom of the conflict on the playground. If, on the
> >other hand, your main concern were showing what a badass you were, then
> >maybe this wouldnt matter much to you at all. And in that case, you would
> >set out to show those other kids who was boss, who was king of the hill.
> >You would continue to provoke them, to attack them, and then act shocked
> >when they hit back.
> >
> >That kind of behavior is unbecoming enough when children engage in it. When
> >adults with explosives do it, the immature becomes deadly. This is no game.
> >There is no "winner" despite the blustery rhetoric of our
> >frat-boy-in-chief. And unless we begin to fundamentally alter the way we as
> >a nation operate around the world, we are in for many years of violence,
> >and counterviolence, and empty platitudes, and flag waving, and body bags.
> >And if that happens, it wont merely be the fault of those who attack us
> >from outside, but also the fault of those who were the enemies of justice,
> >equality, and peace on the inside of the American empire. There will be
> >more than enough blame to go around.
> >
>
>
>_________________________________________________________________
>Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp
>
>
>
>
>      --- from list postcolonial-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---



     --- from list postcolonial-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---

   

Driftline Main Page

 

Display software: ArchTracker © Malgosia Askanas, 2000-2005