Critical views of september 11 [antikvár]

INTRODUCTION: PLACE, PERSPECTIVE, AND POWER-INTERPRETING SEPTEMBER 11ERIC HERSHBERG AND KEVIN W. MOOREDuring the weeks and months after September 11, commentators from across the political spectrum declared that the terrorist attacks marked a turning point in history. September 11 was unprecedented, of such magnitude and significance that it could only be compared to such events as the two world wars and the end of the Cold War. A book published before the year was out proclaimed that the world had entered an "Age of Terror."' September 11, it has been repeatedly asserted, was either the end or the beginning of something momentousa watershed event of world-historical importance. What all such pronouncements have in common is the assumption that the United States is the epicenter of global transformation: if the United States would never be the same again after September 11, such reasoning implies, neither would the rest of the world. This line of thought bears examination, for it reveals crucial aspects of the events themselves, and of the diversity of responses that they have elicited, both inside the United States and beyond.There is no disputing that the imderlying significance of September 11 can only be comprehended when placed in its full context, yet the boundaries of that context are themselves hotly contested. For some observers, the frightening shock of that day is the consequence of actions taken by followers of a charismatic religious fanatic, Osama bin Laden, whose peculiar brand of Islamic fascism has taken hold of the imagination of a growing number of people exposed to his message of resentment in the streets and mosques of Muslim commimities around the world. Failing to recognize the severity of the threator failing to suppress it sufficiently^Western governments and various states in the Middle East and South Asia are now paying the high price of inadequate vigilance, according to this interpretation.^ Whether categorized as atrocious crimes or as politico-military acts, the attacks carried out by the hijackers, like those undertaken by bin Laden's associates over the past decade against a variety of U.S. targets in the Middle East and Africa, are in this view a matter calling for prosecution and eradication. The perpetrators must be sought out and eliminated, at which point the immediate problem (though not necessarily all possibilities of terrorism) will have been resolved.