<nettime> Through The Media-Glass

[Steven Meinking <steven.meinking@verizon.net>]

Through The Media-Glass ver.9.15.01

Are we all Americans? The growing nationalist fervor currently sweeping
through our country is dangerously disturbing. The world is on our side in
the form of NATO and "mutual defense." A media informed human race
appropriately grieves the loss of innocent human lives that number
thousands. America = World = One Nation. The Bush Administration is laying
down ultimatums to countries suspected of harboring terrorists and
supporting terrorist organizations - "choose sides." Bush is making
declarations: "those who make war on the United States have chosen their
own destruction" and "the world will hear from all of us soon." Americans
everywhere are rallying and demanding action, yet they haven't given a
critical thought to what is really happening around them. Action should be
taken; But how and for what reasons? Terrorism is an international
scourge. We are setting the precedent on how to deal with it. We are the
world and everyone is watching.

One Nation under God? Good vs. Evil: Billy Graham was at a loss for
explaining the problem of evil. In this respect, he faired no better than
St. Augustine or other Christian predecessors. Accept that no human being
can understand God's divine strategies. Forget that God has many faces and
many names; as many faces and as many names as there are cultures and
human beings. Forget that in the name of Allah terrorists struck a
catastrophic chord in accordance with their jihad that continues to
resonate throughout the Nation. Forget it all and pray, yes, pray for
divine guidance and intervention. Pray that God will help guide our
leaders and ease our suffering. One speaker at the national cathedral
during our Day of Mourning claimed to see the invisible because he is led
by faith in God. Clearly, faith has blinded this poor soul, for he fails
to see the obvious; the obvious that God is still the God of the Old
Testament, is still the God of the jihad - that God is Mars/God, of many
faces and names, and that Mars is a God of War. So in praying to him, in
requesting his guidance for the future, our mighty Nation is guaranteed a
future of suffering, a future of death and destruction, a future of war.
Reflect on this perversion: there is only one God and Bush is his prophet.

Who is the enemy? Osama Bin Laden, of course, but no. In their haste to
put a face to our foe, the media has christened Bin Laden as the face of
evil. Why? Because Colin Powell said so, or did he? In watching the press
conference which propagated this news, Colin Powell did not explicitly say
that Osama Bin Laden was the prime suspect in their investigation into the
attacks. He did say: "Saddam Hussein is the greatest terrorist on the
planet" and that there will be a "global assault" on terrorism. However,
George Bush did say so. Bush stated that Bin Laden is "what we would call
a prime suspect." And as such, it apparently is safe to assume, like most
of our citizens are doing, that Bin Laden is the mastermind behind it all.
And though there are only "links" to him presently, evidence will be
compiled that points directly to him. This evidence, when it does emerge,
will be quite interesting. Considering that there is plenty of evidence
that points to Florida, which points to Germany, which points to the
United Arab Emirates, which points to a terrorist cell of a different
sort; rest assured that a connection will be made somewhere, somehow to
Bin Laden, and that the media has already done their part in the
investigation by making it clear that he is enemy number one.

America the war factory? Army enlistments are up, reservists have been
activated, ignorant citizens are demanding reprisals, and the media is
making it clear that we are going to war. Our Nation under God, with a
certain enemy and objective, is taking action. When attacked we are not
one to flinch. Our history makes that clear, and this omnipresent war fury
comes as no surprise. For the adversarial attitude of war is deeply woven
in our common cultural fabric; whether it is a war on the gridiron, a war
of words, or a war of the roses, nothing stands in the way of our Nation
and a "good" fight. We collectively revel in the spectacle of every war,
no matter how small, and we have made it a matter of social pride to
answer any attack with a bigger, broader, and more incendiary strike. Our
children don't have a clue about what is happening, but they are ready to
fight. And the adults, well we know just how violent they can be, for they
fund and produce the games, the movies, the stories, and the other
elements of the violent mirage that makes our world go round.

Where are the intellectuals? Far be it that we should expect our academics
and intellectuals to provide leadership in this desperate time where
rigorous thought is more valuable than a nuclear bomb. In 1965, Jean-Paul
Sartre stated: "My duty as an intellectual is to think, to think without
restriction, even at the risk of blundering. I must set no limits within
myself, and I must let no limits be set for me." Where are the
intellectuals of today that possess such zeal? In this time of crisis, is
the comfort of tenure so warm, the restriction of professional
specialization so small, that there is no desire or space for the
intellectual to speak out? I have heard an explanation from an MIT
professor on why the World Trade Center towers collapsed. Tom Clancy
participated in a roundtable discussion concerning the attacks. A USC
professor provided some insightful background on terrorist methodologies.
However, beyond those rare sources I've heard very little from our
Nation's writers, thinkers and academics. The framing and discussion of
recent events have been left almost entirely to media journalists and
their sources of information and expertise: sources like General Norman
Schwarzkopf, former Secretary of Defense William Cohen, Senator Tom
Daschle, and John Walsh (host of the Fox television program "America's
Most Wanted"). The continued silence speaks volumes.

Is anyone listening? There is very little talk about what the terrorists
want or hope to achieve. Ask an ordinary citizen why terrorists hate us
and you will often receive a blank look in response. There has been so
little discussion of this issue that the objectives are not quite clear.
One goal of Bin Laden's, for instance, is to end U.S. military presence in
Saudi Arabia. While using terrorist methods to achieve such goals is
abominable, the goal itself is not that unreasonable. I seriously doubt
that citizens of our Nation wouldn't strongly object to the reverse,
military presence of Saudi Arabia in the U.S. While the attacks on the
World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon were alarming and pitiful, they
weren't thoughtless. The terrorists were making statements against
American military power, globalization and capitalism; issues that I also
consider problematic.

The point being: Will there ever be an end to terrorism without addressing
these concerns? Our Nation is poised to engage in war. In preparation for
a possible conflict in Afghanistan, our military leaders have consulted
with the Russian military on their experience of fighting in the region.
Consulting Russia is a good idea, but perhaps our military leaders should
have drawn from a different area of Russian experience. Like ourselves,
Russia suffered civilian losses to terrorists from apartment bombings
suspected to have been carried out by Chechen extremists. In an attempt to
stamp out terrorism in the region, the Russian military attacked the
breakaway province of Chechnya with maximum force, virtually destroying
the capital of Grozny and killing innocent people. The campaign began
almost two years ago and they are still fighting today.

Purging the Nation/World of terrorism is a noble effort. However,
destroying other countries and killing other innocent civilians, without
addressing and improving the conditions that underlie the motivations of
these opposing cultures and people, can only breed more war, more loss,
more hardship. The war machine rolls on...

- Steven Meinking




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