SAN FRANCISCO - On September 11 I woke up at 5.30am as I normally do before going to work at United Airlines. As I was eating breakfast watching the morning TV news, I was shocked to see a huge hole in the side of one of the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. This landmark was on fire.
But I was even more shocked to see 18 minutes later the tail of a Boeing 767 wide-body aircraft crashing into the other World Trade Center tower. I could swear it was a United Airlines plane. After several video replays, I was convinced it was one of "our aircraft".
The scene horrified me. How could this be? The World Trade Center, sitting on the tip of Manhattan, is not supposed to be on the flight path of any commercial plane. It soon becomes clear this was a deliberate action - an act of pure terror to show Americans that they were no longer protected from the type of violence others in the world - for example, Palestinians living under Israeli occupation - suffer every day.
Soon a third commercial aircraft, an American Airlines plane, rammed the Pentagon, supposedly the most protected office building in the country.
A fourth United aircraft didn't hit its destination as passengers, it appears, fought the hijackers and the plane crashed in woodland before reaching Washington.
Four commercial aircraft were taken over by 19 terrorists (according to the FBI) who used the aircraft as weapons killing all those on the four planes (266) and possibly 5000 others.
Rulers organise pro-war coalition
In the few days since the tragedy, the US government has taken steps to prepare for a protracted war against its enemies around the world - and this includes more than Osama bin Laden and other alleged terrorists.
"Now's an opportunity to do generations a favor", President George W. Bush said in the Oval Office at the White House, "by coming together and whipping terrorism, hunting it down, binding it and holding them accountable."
Secretary of State Colin Powell, the architect of the US-led coalition that carried out war against Iraq in 1991, said once all evidence against bin Laden is presented to Washington's allies and the world, "we will go after that group, that network, and those who have harbored, supported and aided that network, to rip the network up." He said such a campaign would not be short. It could involve US forces in protracted fighting against a number of Asian and African countries like Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan and even Pakistan.
"It's not just simply a matter of capturing people and holding them accountable", said Paul D. Wolfowitz, the deputy secretary of defence, "but removing the sanctuaries, removing the support systems, ending states that sponsor terrorism" (my emphasis).
Other top Pentagon officials added that "ending states that sponsor terrorism" means wiping out governments that refused to cooperate with the Bush administration's "war on terrorism".
The US "war against terrorism" is a threat to humanity. Permanent war could lead to permanent instability and catastrophe around the world.
Threat to civil liberties
Congress with bipartisan support is quickly moving to release the CIA and FBI from the restraints of the US constitution. This includes allowing arrests and harassment of "potential terrorists" and political assassinations ("targeted killings" as the Israelis called it), which are illegal.
On September 14 Congress gave Bush the authority to use "all necessary and appropriate force" to respond to the September 11 terror attack. The vote was 98-0 in the Senate and 420-1 in the House of Representatives. The body voted an emergency fund of US$40 billion and gave the Pentagon the authority to call up 50,000 reserve troops.
Many liberals have become some of the strongest supporters of these moves to "protect our way of life" from "terrorists". Using comparisons to the December 1941 Japanese naval attack on Pearl Harbor, basic democratic rights are being portrayed as luxuries for "peace time".
I heard one television commentator refuse to condemn the US government's internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. He said every option must be available to the government.
A prominent right-wing Christian minister, Jerry Falwell, went so far as to blame the American Civil Liberties Union and all liberals for the climate that allowed the World Trade Center attack!
Meanwhile, bigots and rightists are attacking Arabs, Muslims and those that look Arabic. Numerous anti-Arab and anti-Islamic violent crimes have occurred since the horrific plane crashes.
While President Bush and other politicians have stated that blaming all Arabs and Muslims for the terrorist attack is wrong, not enough has been done. Few if any of the perpetrators of the racist violence have been arrested. And the media "experts" and talk radio shows continue to blame Arabs and Islam.
At the same time, millions upon millions of average American working people are showing solidarity with the victims. Prayer vigils, blood drives money and volunteers have poured in. The national solidarity and anger is seen everywhere.
Patriotism and racism
The best instincts of ordinary working-class Americans to solidarise with the victims and survivors of a horrific act of terror, however, are being used by the ruling elite at the Pentagon, Congress and White House to advanced other agendas. This includes limiting civil rights, increased military spending and planning more tax breaks for the wealthy while preparing working people to fight Washington's next wars.
Airlines are being pressed to use more racial and ethnic profiling to look for potential terrorists. Airline workers are facing massive layoffs as air travel is expected to decline by some 40-50% in the short run.
Yet the mass expressions of patriotism are genuine. Tens of thousands of average citizens have bought US flags. Red, white and blue clothing is worn and large flags hang from homes and buildings. The support for Bush is over 90% in some polls.
Ironically, all of this was made possible by the misguided acts of terrorists who believed they were striking a blow against US arrogance and power. In fact, those paying a price are not only the dead victims and their families who include Arabs and Muslims. They are hitting Arab and Muslim Americans who now face new victimisation and racism. Here are a few examples:
- On September 11 at my work place, United's main maintenance centre in San Francisco, a long-time employee attacked a fellow mechanic from Fiji, a Muslim. Immediately United Airlines management, to its credit, issued a memo saying such hatred would not be tolerated.
- San Francisco Bay Area. Pig blood is thrown at the door of a mosque. Arabs and non-Arabs with Sikh turbans are attacked. Police are placed in the neighbourhoods for protection.
- Chicago and suburbs. Two Muslim girls are beaten at Moraine Valley College. A man attacked a Moroccan gas station attendant with the blunt end of a machete. A firebomb was tossed at an Arab American community centre.
- New Orleans. The Jefferson parish public school system was closed down due to attacks on Arab and Muslim students.
- Huntington, New York. A drunken man tried to run over a Pakistani woman, then followed her into a store and threatened to kill her for "destroying my country".
At the same time, there have been many examples of other Americans stepping up to denounce such bigotry. Islamic imams have spoken at prayer services including the national one on September 14 attended by Bush in Washington.
At United I have had very lively discussions on the September 11 attacks, Palestine and US foreign policy. I've faced no threats unlike in 1991 during the Gulf War or after the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 before it became known it was the work of a homegrown white terrorist, Timothy McVeigh.
What next?
The tasks ahead for opponents of Washington's globalisation police and aggression around the world are made more difficult by the national tragedy of September 11. But as history has taught us, as the facts come out, as the truth is brought to the public about the real US policy in the Middle East, about the roots of support for terrorism, the debate on who and which state is "evil and good" will change.
An US-led invasion of Afghanistan may seem obvious to those who see all evil as Osama bin Laden. Yet he's already been indicted for other alleged terrorist crimes and condemned to death by the US. (There is a US$5 million reward for his capture or death.)
Noting the complexity of waging all-out war against terrorism, the New York Times explained in its September 14 lead editorial, "Ill-conceived or -executed policies can easily backfire".
Waheed Khalid, a gas station owner and president of Darul Islam mosque in Teaneck, New Jersey, made the best summation of the root of anti-Americanism and Washington's problem. After condemning the "despicable acts, evil acts", carried out on September 11, Khalid said: "When people have been pushed to the wall and have lost everything, including their dignity, they go to the extreme."
BY MALIK MIAH