The question dominating the news reporting of Tuesday’s attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon is “who”. Who did it? Who is responsible? Some strategists and security experts are trying to answer “how”? But the central question is not being asked anywhere. This question is: WHY?...There are many voices, by no means all radical and certainly not all terrorist, which recognise the contribution which US policy has made to increasing inequality and poverty around the world. Voices which question the universality of US American values and ways of life. If these (often moderate, democratic, liberal, American) voices are given credence, then forcibly eliminating an individual or a small group will not solve America’s problem. It is more likely that a show of extreme military and political power will confirm the grievance which tacitly or directly supports terrorist activity around the world...It is not a question of negotiating with or pandering to terrorists, nor a question of denying the rage and fear and suffering of those who have been directly and indirectly hurt by this attack. It is a question of recognising that large parts of the global population see the United States as a threat, and a question of recognising a measure of co-responsibility in creating this support. This is directly in the interest of preventing similar attacks in future.
Tagged under Governance