911 and beyond-some opinions.*

  Ever since the 2000 election (or selection) I have watched the world slide towards Hell. It is like a Star trek episode where the story takes place in a doomed future brought about by a wrong turn of a past event the heroes have to go back to and fix. Somehow I feel deeply that the election was not 'supposed' to end up like it did, and the resulting 'time line' we now inhabit finds ourselves careening towards chaos and tyranny. This was apparent to me even before the Attack On America. This is not to suggest the election determined all the subsequent events, of course, but I cannot help but wonder what Gore would have done as events unfolded. Gore would certainly have promoted people who share his political philosophy into cabinet and judge positions, and he probably would not have used events as an excuse to set up the infrastructure for a police state. Disturbing signs of the coming catastrophe were either unseen or ignored, inviting speculation not unlike that surrounding FDR's apparent inactions in the face of incoming information which allowed the last surprise attack of this magnitude, Pearl Harbor, to take place. Nagging rumors of Bush family ties to Saudi interests tarnished 'W's' credibility to guide our interests in that region dispassionately, however enough people were fooled into associating 911 with Saddam Hussein, (not to mention the more educated masses who simply agreed with his political stance), to allow a close but fair re-election to take place. Now liberal interests fight to inhibit the sowing of a right wing legacy in federal judge appointments with the promise of more protracted bitter political struggles ahead. In the mean time we are well on the way to an Orwellian police state in which every ones travels and transactions are spied upon and studied for trends various government agencies may find of interest as data handling techniques improve.

  As Pearl Harbor is a seminal event in Human history, the post September 11, 2001 era will also be clearly definable to future historians in ways known today mixed with the unknowns of tomorrow. Already barely a month after the destruction of the World Trade Center* the first suggestions of context seemed to dimly appear. Islamic fanatics have been a thorn in the side of many nations for centuries, while the majority of Moslems continued to live and let live. It was only a matter of time until America would fall victim to ongoing vendettas in faraway lands. The post World War One redrawing of the Middle Eastern maps by the British probably set the stage for the protracted agony of the region as we now know it. The horrific deeds of Adolf Hitler in turn set the stage for the western support for the appearance of the state of Israel, which to this day is treated by its Islamic neighbors like a transplant being rejected. Perhaps our getting involved in ancient animosities was a bad idea, but the rich oil deposits of that region probably predestined the major industrialized powers having vital interests there. And so it goes.

  The year after 911 'trial balloons' planted in the media by the Bush administration to test the reaction to a proposed major attack on Iraq resulted in relative support in America but outright hostility in most Arab countries. Later efforts to push the idea only brought warnings of a Middle East catastrophe from Islamic populations tired of America, seen as Israel's supporter, pushing it's will in that region. The scarcity of friends in Moslem regions was shown by the limited help from Pakistan, then just short of going to war with it's old enemy India, and the banning of military flights against Iraq from Saudi bases and the subsequent steady migration of American military assets from that country. The fact that the 911 attacks were conducted by subjects of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, who we saved from Saddam Hussein a decade ago, brought a sense of betrayal from many Americans. An attempt by a Saudi prince to use the giving of a very large check to New York as a platform to denounce American policy in the region resulted in the Mayor aborting the ceremony in front of the audience, telling him to keep his money! The Moslem and Western worlds began to square off against each other more so than in than in centuries, with American counter strikes against the presumed responsible groups in Afghanistan followed by more threats of massive terrorism by fugitive militants.

A quick and admittedly somewhat biased sketch of subsequent historical highlights and trends ** 

 The Project for the New American Century, or 'PNAC' (site) is an influential think tank promoting an aggressive 'American Empire' whose members feature prominently in the current political elite behind the Bush administration. Some policy initiatives of the Bush presidency can be traced to the pool of individuals related to PNAC, including the conquest of Iraq. For months leading up to the primarily U.S. and British attack on Iraq, Bush and his associates gave speeches with repeated accusations of Iraqi involvement with terrorism and their imminent deployment of 'Weapons of Mass Destruction'. In fact there was plenty of such actionable activity taking place elsewhere as Saudi Arabia largely funded the development of atomic weapons by another Moslem nation, Pakistan. Iran was also known by then to be involved in suspicious nuclear research but the target of American anger seemed narrowly aimed to a nation whose military capability was known to be 'manageable' and of course Iraq was not a major exporter of oil to the US. In the end money guides foreign policy more than any sense of morality or righteousness.

An admittedly hostile sketch of the Iraq war follows, with contemporary impressions preserved.

 After a series of attacks by land and air on March 20, 2003, a mad dash for Baghdad commenced, stretching supply lines thin but driving like swords deep into the country toward its heart. Raging gritty dust storms which made daytime an apocalyptically dark red murkiness and repeated attacks on the supply columns seemingly threatened to stall the advance, almost like the snows and mud and constant counterattacks which halted the European invasions of Russia. As Baghdad itself was approached dire rumors of possible chemical attacks, enhanced by discoveries of stockpiles of chemical protection suits and boxes of Atropine vials (nerve gas antidote). This threat, as well as that of scud missile attacks against US forces or even Israel as happened in the first Gulf War, never materialized. There were signs of stiffening resistance and speculation of a 'Berlin' type pitched battle but organized resistance withered under steady intensive widespread attacks. Over a three day period starting in the beginning of April near continuous coverage of the war as never before possible was broadcast, with cameras on armored vehicles and from camera positions of journalists from around the world beaming in live images of the most intense fighting.

 Ironically, on April Fools Day the story was loudly trumpeted of the rescue of private Jessica Lynch from an Iraqi hospital, allegedly after an Iraqi lawyer sought out nearby American troops to alert them of her whereabouts. A massive operation was staged for the cameras to bring her out on a stretcher with helicopters and a raid in force taking place, although Iraqi forces had abandoned the area and American advance forces had been informed of this. Inflated tales of the circumstances of her capture was a blatant attempt to manufacture a patriotic legend. It was claimed Lynch had stab and bullet wounds and even that that she had been hung up and beaten. She indeed suffered injuries, broken bones in a traffic accident after making a wrong turn at night. Two days before the 'rescue' her doctor tried to deliver private Lynch in an ambulance which was fired upon when it approached a US checkpoint. This episode highlighted the efforts by the military to 'manage' the news to create an image to its liking. A worse example was the combat death in Afghanistan of former NFL football player Pat Tillman in by his fellow troops in a 'friendly fire' accident, initially lied about by the Army. A posthumously awarded 'Silver Star' medal accompanied a story that Tillman died while leading his Army Rangers unit to the rescue of comrades caught in an ambush. His family was not told the true circumstances of his death for weeks. One especiacially disturbing case is that of Sgt. Hasan Akbar, who on March 23, 2003 tossed grenades into officers tents and shot at them as they fled, killing 2 and wounding 14. he was a Moslem who hated America in general and Caucasian looking people in particular, especially after 911.

While television media was allowed access to the front, it was in the form of 'embedded' reporters whose sense of objectivity was necessarily compromised by their molded 'buddy' relationship with the military. Interestingly, most American news channels hid the personal horror of events from the public, using delayed tape loops to fade out images of people getting killed and fading in the same scene from a little earlier. The public was thus shielded from knowledge of the personal consequences of foreign policy. One can speculate on the control the government has over broadcast media but in the end it was probably the power of those behind Big Money which really does not want the people to get upset.

 Special effort seems to have been made to target Arabic language journalists, particularly on April 8 as US air strikes hit both the Al Jazeera and Abu Dhabi satellite channel offices. That same day a US army tank fired into the 15th floor of the Palestine hotel in Baghdad where most foreign journalists were staying, killing 2 cameramen and wounding 3 other people. The next day Baghdad fell, with the symbolic act of pulling down the statue of Saddam Hussein televised across the world. That same day, on April 9, as oil fires poured black smoke around the city, video tape supposedly made that day shows a smiling Saddam greeting a friendly crowd with dark smoke visible in the sky. Within hours of the end of the 24 years of Baath party rule a state of virtual anarchy took hold, with government buildings, banks, stores, and museums looted of virtually everything the groping multitudes could grab. American soldiers guarded the oil ministry while mobs ransacked the great Baghdad museum, its balance of historic treasures from the worlds oldest known major civilization saved only by the foresight of its caretakers who put many items in vaults well before hostilities began.

  Medical and electrical infrastructures collapsed and a new indigenous government seemed even further from emerging than new power plants and hospitals.

  At the end of April US forces fired on a demonstration against the occupation, killing at least 13 and wounding 75, igniting more demonstrations and more shooting into crowds. Thereafter Iraqi public opinion towards US forces began to veer from that of liberators to antagonism. The number of US forces killed in action was 138 by May 1, the declared end of combat. By July 17, 2003 this figure had climbed to 147-the same number as those who fell in the first Gulf War in 1991. As time passed, fighting the U.S. 'Crusaders' in Iraq became a Middle East version of the Spanish Civil War, which drew many idealists from around the world who wanted to fight the spread of Fascism. Thousands of Saudis, Syrians, Iranians and other pockets of malcontent drifted into Iraq, planted bombs, and shot at soldiers, vehicles and aircraft taking a low but steady toll. The continuing toll can be viewed here.

 Osama Bin Laden exists as a ghostly figure releasing audio tapes calling for Islamic uprising against the West. His location seems to be known within a few hundred square miles along the 'tribal region' bordering Pakistan and Afghanistan, and yet nobody can get him. He is like a malevolent spirit both dead and alive who brings dread to the West and inspiration to Islamic extremists. A release of a new voice tape by him was enough to make the stock market tremble and to send fleets of vehicles and police rushing to imagined targets. Bin Laden thus began to assume an odd 'legendary' status with perhaps millions of vocal admirers in the Islamic world, comparable to the status of 11th century Hassan-I Sabbah, the 'Old Man Of The Mountain' whose army of stealthy Assassins spread terror across his region of the world.

  President Bush declared Iraq, Iran and North Korea the 'Axis of Evil', undoing much effort in recent years to mollify old hostilities with North Korea and particularly Iran. The traditional flash point in the Middle East, the regions surrounding beleaguered Israel, show no sign of shrinking from the deadly cycle of terrorism and military response, each side righteously declaring itself the victim. The Palestinian 'Intafada' uprising rose in intensity with the use of suicide bombers, with Israeli reprisals against the neighborhoods believed to house those responsible demolishing entire city blocks. Pakistan responded to escalating fighting with India over the territory of Kashmir by moving troops from its border with Afghanistan, which America was counting on to assist efforts to find migrating terrorists, to the Kashmir 'Line Of Control'. The radical 'Islamist' activist movement is working to overthrow more 'moderate' Arab governments, particularly in Saudi Arabia, and time will tell how much of an influence they become in the World Stage. Those who desire strict Islamic rule in wider regions realize history is working against them. The spread of Western entertainment and relative personal liberties is seen as a threat, and they know much of their youth is becoming desirous of living more in the Western manner. Disdain for Western thought seems evident even in more mainstream Islamic societies, with few works of Western science and literature being translated yearly into Arabic. Intellectually the Arab World seems to be in decline thanks largely to its religious influences.

Even the mention of flushing a Koran down a toilet is enough to send millions into a murderous frenzy, a bald demonstration of the dysfunctional nature of cultures unused to exposure to secular ideas beyond those their leaders permit. This rage against critical commentary of Islamic practices was demonstrated in November 2005 with the murder of Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gogh after making a film detailing the plight of women living under Islamic law. September 2005 saw widespread demonstrations and riots across the Islamic world following the publication of political cartoons portraying Muhammed in a Dutch newspaper. A year later a speech by Pope Benedict XVI quoting a late Byzantine Emperor's disdain for Islam prompted vocal reactions and threats from Moslem nations. British schoolteacher Gillian Gibbons, working in Khartoum, Sudan, found herself in protective custudy facing a sentence of public lashing after approving the vote of her young class to name a mascot teddy bear 'Muhammed'! She was released even as mobs brandished swords and called for her death. 2006 also saw exposed the plight of a young Saudi woman who after being raped was sentenced to 90 lashes for being with a man to who she was not married. When her lawyer appealed her sentence was increased to 200 lashes and her lawyer dismissed. After a wave of negative publicity concerning the case he was soon reinstated and the woman given a royal pardon on December 17 2007.

  Eventually such cultural polarization between Islam and the West may run its course and redefine the 'blocs' the world has been divided into. I foresee a kind of 'Islamic Axis' emerging which will seek to define the future of that region in it's own military terms. Islam took over so much territory during it's initial War of Aggression against the West following the death of Mohammed that we are still dealing with the consequences of losing so many Western nations and population centers, climaxing with the sack of Constantinople in 1453 which extinguished the last flame of the Western Ancient World. It may be that someone like Bin Laden will one day become a kind of messianic 'Islamic Hitler' bent on uniting Islam in a revival of their ancient War of Aggression. If too many Moslems respond to such a future call for universal 'Jihad' it will become a bloody battle to the death, and we could see terrifying catastrophes unleashed in western population centers.

India to this day grapples with the consequences of Islamic conquests of its north western territory leading to the carving of Pakistan out of itself. On a smaller scale Islamic enclaves have been permitted to take root in mant European cities, within which growing sentiments for establishment of Sharia law are expressed in word and deed. Honor killings and assaults on Western oriented women compete for attention with escalating violence against police in these areas. Disturbing signs of Islamic terrorist recruitment in U. S. prisons have also emerged.

  Momentous events seem to be accelerating in their frequency and effects. We may think we have seen the greatest or most terrible events of our lifetime-until the next one comes along. It may be that a larger process is in operation which makes destruction of the best elements of Western civilization more likely with time. Sheer population growth has more insidious effects than the obvious crowding and feeding problems. The more people there are, the more individuals are likely to be involved in any given movement or belief system. In any group within a given system of thought there are variations in intensity and emphasis of constructive versus destructive intent and methods. This takes place alongside the technological advances in packing greater death dealing potential in more compact and available methods. The outcome of this is that eventually a small number of fanatical people will obtain weapons of mass destruction and use them, with the entire civilization being affected by the aftermath. It may be once the population reaches a certain point, the most 'toxic' component of the masses reaches a critical threshold where they can wreak havoc upon the entire system.

 Civilizations seem like they will go on forever when we are in the middle of them. The proud cities we inhabit, however, will some day be ruined overgrown remnants perhaps gawked at by future people who dress and speak strangely. Along the way some of the processes of history will be gradual over many centuries, other turning points will be seared in the collective memory and carried along by a generation, or by those who remain. Piece by piece, over the decades and centuries to come most of the things we hold dear will one day be destroyed just as has repeatedly happened before. The prominent 'target cities' will take with them the great works of art gathered to these concentrated places just as happened during the sacking of Rome and Constantinople. The great museums and art galleries should be moved out of the cities which make inviting targets into places like Kansas and Nebraska so they will be more likely to survive into the far future. But the sad fact is that the gathering of ancient artifacts in museums invariably becomes the last stage of their existence after being uprooted from proud careers within their native surroundings.

 The storm clouds roll above the peaks while thunder ominously booms a warning of the coming changes the world order as we have known it. All we can do is make good use of our real time existence, and to promote the greatest possible happiness we can possibly experience and share with others. If there is any lesson I would hope the Human race gathers from its bloody history it is that those who belong to religions must not insist that everyone else be subject to or be made subject to such beliefs.

Don Davis

*initially written in October 2001, revised on June 2002

**the following rethought and rewritten November 22, 2003 and revised January 2008