[Nettime-bold] global politics and global forms of terror

["AnouK AnouK" <anoukre@hotmail.com>]

I start this note by saying that I am against any terrorist attacks of any 
kind, be it physical or psychological.

I am not an expert in Middle East politics, actually I am not an expert in 
politics period. Specially international politics, which follow a logic 
that, no matter how much i try, i will never understand.

When I heard about the last terrorist attacks on the U.S. I was quite 
shocked. But, contrary to some, not surprised. For some time now I had been 
thinking that the inequities we created in our world could not be sustained 
for ever. Maintaining the status quo is the task of the U.S., European 
Union, and most other rich, industrialized countries.

Until a certain extent, in a world where the poor don't have any saying and 
don't count for anything (think about the boat with 400 Afghan refugees that 
nobody wanted to receive) violence becomes the rule of the game.

Politics have always been dominated by obscure diplomatic rules that have 
little to do with common sense or human suffering. That explains why nobody 
intervened in Afghanistan until now, even if the UN and a series of other 
NGOs have been denouncing serious human rights abuses. That also explains 
why in the post-terrorist attack we quickly go from a logic of "many 
innocent people died" to an amazing exploitation of emotions in order to 
fuel the already well-known militarized logic of the current U.S. president.

Is it possible that in a world of global politics the only way to show your 
dissent is by engaging in terrorist attacks? Is it possible that our 
so-called democratic, western countries have created a 'universe' where you 
are only heard if you go with the flow? After all, couldn't we classify the 
lastest anti-capitalist demonstrations as terrorism? they were at least 
pretty violent...

However, a couple of things have surprised me in this aftermatch of the 
"attack on America":

1. First, that the U.S. moves so quickly from a logic of "america and 
americans are first" (e.g., kyoto agreements) to a logic of "the world has 
been attacked". Call it cynicism but I find it hard to understand it.

2. Second, that the way America has to deal with pain is to forget (though 
not forgive...). Only that can explain that movies that feature terrorists 
have been postponed, that articles on Lenin will not be published (see 
Zizek's article), that designers are working hard to take out the twin 
towers of every movie add... It is the same forgetfullness that leads many 
americans to ask "why do they hate us so much?" or "why us?" The U.S. has 
become the symbol of capitalism, of money and power. If you want to shake 
those principles you know where to attack.

3. Third, that we all seem ready to engage in a full fledge war against 
afghanistan even before we know they were the perpretators. Public opinion 
has already made up its mind, fueled by a Bush administration that seems to 
enjoy the ride. Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world. 
Living conditions are so low most of us would have trouble to start 
imagining them. Are we ready to now destroy this country? I am not. I think 
that killing innocent people in order to get to one of the countries 
"leaders", is as absurd and irrational, as attacking the WTC and Pentagon to 
get to the U.S. government.

4. Finally I am quite surprised that no one has yet spoken about the WTC's 
management decision to announce, after the first attack, that the second 
tower was safe and nobody had to leave. This announcement may have cost the 
lives of many people and is, by all standards, fool. It points to the 
strange feeling of security many americans seemed to take for granted.

This are all thoughts that cross my mind as I watch the constant news, and 
see the exploitation of tears, flags, and anger in the U.S.

Best. Anoukre

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