Category: old blogging

It’s probably far too soon to be publishing ideas of the sort expressed in this article. Whilst there may be more than a grain of truth in what is written, we must remember that the American administration in power now is not the same as the administrations that preceded it. Nor is the American administration the same as the American people – most Americans are quite capable of thinking for themselves on their own two feet, and do not blindly follow what the President says. However, I am concerned that the Democrats have said they will give whatever the President asks for (the leader of the Democrats in the Senate said words to this effect in an interview I heard on the BBC at lunch time) – an unquestioning attitude is surely the wrong attitude.

I’d be interested to see some media coverage from Arab nations. I heard some reports this morning on BBC Radio of what the press are reporting in Egypt and Pakistan – a combination of horror, revulsion, fear and apprehension. The Egyptian press is particularly angry at western media for giving “undue prominence” to the small number of Palestinians who celebrated the terrorists’ actions. The Pakistani press comments on the fact that the Afghan people did not elect the Taleban regime, are in many cases oppressed by it, are in some places fighting it, and did not invite Osama bin Laden into their country.

Further thought: on Tuesday morning, the FBI and other authorities knew nothing about the attacks that were clearly being planned and had been planned for a long time, in spite of having the largest counter-terrorist budget in the world. And yet, within 36 hours, they are confident that Osama bin Laden is the culprit. Journalists, commentators and experts in other parts of the world (i.e. outside the US) are not so sure. I’m not an expert, but you have to wonder if a man who has to keep moving around a war torn, ravaged, mountainous country, cut off from the rest of the world and isolated from the global communications network is really in a position to organise this. Even if he was involved, could he have achieved it alone?
Experts I have heard speaking about bin Laden are quick to point out that, whilst he is a figurehead and leader of the network (they don’t use the word “organisation”), there are plenty of other well equipped, well organised, well supported and powerful men who are just as capable of organising and achieving the destruction we have all witnessed.
I think we should be careful not to be too hasty to codemn bin Laden before there is real evidence to link him with this – remember McVeigh.

Also, in just the same way as we must not accuse all Americans of being knee-jerk reactionaries, baying for blood and vengeance, equally we must not accuse all members of Islam of being fundamentalist extremists seeking to destroy “American imperialism”. From what I have seen, read and heard, the vast overwhelming majority of Islamic people are utterly horrified by what has happened. This is not about Islam – this is about terrorists.
If we head down that path, then we shall be in the same situation that exists in Northern Ireland – people caught up in their own history, trapped and unable to move forward – a place where people with different religions (even though they believe in the same god) can not live together. A place where taxi drivers of one faith are murdered if they take a fare into an area dominated by members of the other faith. A place where teenagers are shot in the knees as punishment for what they believe in. A place where five year old children are the targets of stun grenades as they walk to school because of their faith.
If we head down the path of blaming Islamic faith, then that situation will not just be confined to Northern Ireland, or even to the Middle East – it will become global, and will truly be hell on earth.

I’ve taken the day off today – too ill to go in.

Some pictures speak more than a thousand words – or leave you dumbfounded. via Bullet Proof Punk.

In other news:

• I’ve got a really unpleasant fluey cold, but had to go to work today. Consequently I feel lousy now.
• A rep from WeatherGlaze was supposed to call here at 7pm today to give me a quote for replacement windows. No show. So they won’t be getting the work.
• I have the pictures back from the weekend in Kilkenny, and they include a couple of really good ones of Gary looking very drunk. I promise I will do a full write-up when I have time/motivation/energy/less germs.
• The result of the Tory leadership campaign will be announced tomorrow. It was due to be announced today, but was postponed for obvious reasons. The reception that was planned has also been cancelled – instead, Tory Central Office will simply issue a press statement.
• My itsagoal.com team is now assured promotion to division 16.

Concerned about loved ones in New York or Washington? Or are you someone who has survived the tragedy? Use these links to leave/read messages (via Jen and Cal):
http://safe.millennium.berkeley.edu/
http://okay.prodigy.net/
http://www.bostoncoop.net:8080/SeptEleven
http://www.viexpo.com/dmstest/america.html
http://www.ahnj.com/Ferry.htm
http://www.ny.com/wtclist.html

Sometimes the internet is a good thing. But apparently some people (in a totally ill thought out way) are suggesting that the internet facilitated the tragedy by giving the terrorists easy access to information about flights and so forth, and so should be shut down. Say what?? Well, following that reasoning, if they travelled to the airport by car, then the highways should be ripped up, as they facilitated the terrorists. Probably the telephone network too. And the whole airline industry. Ridiculous.

A few American friends have asked me how much coverage yesterday’s events are getting over here. There is only one word: saturation. People joke that the British talk of nothing else but the weather – well, today there is only one topic of conversation, and it has nothing to do with the rain that is forecast.
The traditional media have struggled to cope with the events. The lack of reliable information, the problem of rumour and counter-rumour (witness my earlier post about the explosions in Kabul), the simple problem of comprehending the scale of the acts has led to an obfuscation, a lack of clarity. Even in their new media forms, the news channels struggled to cope – both CNN and BBC Online were inaccessible for a while.
That most basic and robust of media, radio, seems to have won through in providing current and (reasonably) accurate information in the most immediate fashion. BBC 5 Live was yesterday carrying live reporting with interviews with eyewitnesses and people who had escaped the buildings involved and witnessed the events. BBC Radio 4 this morning was pointing out that the 45 people who died in the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania have been more or less forgotten by the rest of the media – even the 800 that may have perished at the Pentagon are given only the smallest amount of coverage, yet there must be many thousands of people who are worried for loved ones there. And I have already mentioned APN News Radio, which was providing excellent impassioned reporting of the events as they unfolded, with interviews with witnesses and experts.
And of course, bloggers have been commenting and reporting events. Meg has drawn up a good list of blogs including some eyewitness accounts. Many others from all around the world have been writing their opinions and reactions, ranging from shock and outrage to fury to dismay to fear and worry. I’m sure that somewhere online are bloggers that hold the opposite view that is being promoted by some people in the Middle East. At times like this, bloggers can act as unpaid, independent journalists and commentators, answerable to nobody and with only themselves as their editor. That is one of the strengths of free personal publishing in such an immediate form as this.
Other good analysis is beginning to appear elsewhere. The Independent today carries an article by Mary Dejevsky which concentrates on the theme I raised here last night – that the American perception of invulnerability has been severely damaged. The same paper carries editorial expressing the fear I have already hinted at – that the response of the Bush administration will lead to a deepening spiral of violence, and that these deaths will not have led to anything approaching a positive outcome – that they will be lives wasted. I have received criticism this morning, particularly from American readers of this site, for expressing those views, but they are my opinions and I feel that they should be addressed. In no way does that diminsh the horror of what has happened.
The world has never seen anything quite on this scale. But I do not think it is unreasonable to draw comparisons with other events. The IRA bomb in Omagh led to a hope and fervent desire that the years of killing in Northern Ireland could be brought to an end. As we have seen recently, sometimes that desire is not always satisfied, but it remains – and whilst it remains, democratic and peaceful civilisation will endure. As soon as we descend into revenge and recrimination, then hope is lost – witness the seemingly endless and bloody situation that persists in Israel and Palestine.
As a global community, we must, of course, do all we can to support and assist the injured and bereaved. But our response must always be reasoned and measured – if it is not, then we will have lowered ourselves to the same level as the perpetrators.

For excellent coverage of the horrifying events in the US, I recommend Associated Press Network News Radio.

It’s started – explosions reported in Kabul, Afghanistan. Looks like shoot first, ask questions later.
UPDATE: US denies involvement.

American attitudes will be forced to change by this. The nation is no longer invulnerable (if ever it was). Missiles, navy, air force – none are a defence against this kind of well-organised terrorism. I don’t think this will end the spirit of isolationism promoted by the Bush administration though, but will deepen it. Which is a bad thing, in my view.