[Nettime-bold] Those who lived

["Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net>]

The WTC destruction took a heavy toll on Western world financial 
domination. It took a heavy toll on American belief in their 
superiority and invincibility. But the largest toll it took - it took on 
the city of New York, or more precisely on the borough of 
Manhattan. 1% of its inhabitants died in the event. That is the 
equivalent of when a shell crashed in downtown Tuzla killing 72 
young people. Almost everybody lost someone. And as in any war 
there are people who are now refugees in their own city.

Use of passenger airplanes as weapons of mass destruction is 
comparable to use of human shields in Balkan wars, and as such, 
it should be deteremined as a crime against humanity.

On the scale of destruction and human suffering - in the single 
morning in New York city more people was killed than in 78 days of 
NATO's bombing of Yugoslavia - but far less than in the 
comparably shorter bombing campaign over Iraq - this was a very 
traumatic moment for New York, perhaps the most traumatic in its 
history.

It also ended up with losing its landmarks - ok, they were not 4 
centuries old like the Old Bridge in Mostar (which is now under 
reconstruction, btw), but they were here for mere 30 years and 
people got quite used to the - Planet Sushi, a Japanese restaurant 
100 blocks north used the on their ads.

Everybody is apalled with the alleged mastermind behind the 
attack: how did somebody, who inherited 80 millions at the age of 
13, end up hating the rich world and desiring its demise? How did 
he convince people to prepare themselves for years for this singular 
act of dying?

Also, how many more groups prepared to do the same are still 
around the world waiting for their chance?

Obviously, the U.S. would have to rethink a lot about its defense 
policy and about its very way of life. The space shield is obviously 
on the back-burner, now. But there are more profound elements 
that aided terrorists in their plan, and that would be very hard to 
change.

It seems that those whose actions would be characterized as 
undesirable under the 'normal' circumstances, are at an advantage 
in the chaotic circumstances. Those who were late for their jobs on 
Tuesday, risked being fired, but they were more likely to survive 
and not get hurt. Those who did not obey the urging to 'go back to 
their desks', 'stay calm', and 'wait for the authorities', those who 
yelled at the guards at the bottom of the WTC to open the doors, 
which they kept shut to 'prevent the panic' - they lived, while those 
who were respecting order and following instructions died together 
with those authorities - 200+ firefighters - when they came to their 
rescue. Those who sat back in their airplane seats waiting for the 
terrorists to issue their ultimatum and for 'authorities' to negotiate 
and get them out, they all died in their planes crashing at the 
target. Those who fought the men with box-cutters - those also 
died, but their plane missed the target by far.

We should not forget those examples, and, in our serch to mitigate 
risks, we should not let laws replace our common sense, rules 
replace our personal courage and trust in the authorities replace 
the trust in ourselves. Because, that's exactly what the terrorists 
count on and take advantage of.

ivo



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