Tag: US government

Will memory serve us right?

Posted on by kathiemm
America Remembers 9/11 Memorial in Eastlake, Ohio. This work has been released into the public domain by its author, Pbalson8204.

9/11. It’s that time of year again. The amount of attention given to the events of 2001 is declining, but a few voices still exhort us: “Remember 9/11!”

There are some memorable questions here: WHAT should we remember? Or perhaps, better yet: What lessons should we have learned?

Regarding lessons to be learned, I vote for: Violence breeds violence.

The attacks on U.S. soil on September 11, 2001, did not come out of nowhere. Contrary to popular beliefs, fueled by the popular media, 9/11 followed  a long history of  United States government-sponsored  military aggression in the Middle East; you can make a lot of enemies through violence–especially when you smugly preach liberty, justice and freedom for all while killing and maiming wives, children, and thousands of other innocent civilians.

For a not so brief summary of recent U.S. violence in the Middle East, read this . For a very readable essay on the cycle of violence in which the U.S. military-industrial complex has embedded the nation at great profit, read this .

There probably are always some people who gain something they want through the use of violence. Certainly the U.S. military-industrial complex and the U.S. corporate media have benefitted greatly from the violence perpetrated by the government in the name of freedom, democracy, and, Heaven forgive them, God. But perhaps they have not gained as much as right-wing extremist groups in the Middle East such as ISIS, whose ranks have swelled since 9/11. There are a lot of arguments concerning the US role in the evolution of the Islamic State—for a broad sample, see these articles in the New Yorker,  The Atlantic , and Counterpunch .

The message in all these articles is that US government policies have contributed to the recent growth in terrorist groups. So, perhaps  the things we should remember about 9/11 should NOT include belief in the claim that the US was the gentle giant good guy viciously attacked for no reason by utterly vicious and psychotic bad guys.

Perhaps, if we truly want to move ahead towards peace and security, we would benefit more by remembering that the US government should not create power vacuums in places where imperialism has left behind  a lot of righteous anger and, more importantly, that it should not send Americans off to die in other lands so that it can increase its control of oil or terrify other people.

What I remember most about 9/11 is the compassion, the empathy, the bravery of the many American first responders and civilians who risked all to help the innocent civilians targeted in the 9/11 attacks. And what I want to remember each 9/11 in my future is: 1) Rewatch this video. 2) Learn everything I can about anyone who seems to be using 9/11 for political gain, and 3) Spend the next year speaking out against the ongoing US governmental aggression that continues to kill innocent children and others .

 

 

 

How to Defeat Terrorism 101

Posted on by kathiemm

 

Anti-imperialism sign. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. Artist: Ssolbergj

By Dr. Majed Ashy, Guest Author

Terrorism emerges in environments that feed it. Such environments provide intellectual, financial, and personnel support and supplies. The main intellectual supply comes from a few branches of Islam in which some members are intolerant of other religions and sects and tolerant of coercion–even violence. The main financial and personnel supports come from governments pursuing their own interests.

Terrorism can be defeated if governments stop providing both direct and indirect support to violent groups. History has shown repeatedly that when the US government supports a group in its  fight against a perceived “enemy,” this group starts to have a life of its own and turns against us. Destabilizing countries, governments, institutions, and cultures creates fertile environments for the spawning of terrorist and criminal groups.

The goal of international terrorism is to weaken the US militarily, economically, and image-wise.  They try to do this by creating multiple hot spots internationally, and shocking the American public with atrocities intended to pressure the American government into ever expanding military involvements. Such involvements stress the economy and, given the nature of terrorism, rarely if ever end with a victory.

We need a new concept to replace that of the “sovereign nation state,” which is the basis of the UN and international affairs. Many developments are weakening the “nation state,” such as the Internet, media, globalization, communication, and terrorism.  Defeating terrorism requires more than aggressive responses from individual nation states; it needs a coordinated international effort that is holistic and cooperative. The best antidotes to terrorism include inter-group tolerance and pluralism, as well as the establishment of justice and better living conditions, less war, and more hope for all.

Dr. Ashy is an assistant professor of psychology at Merrimack College and a research fellow in psychiatry at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School. He was born in Lebanon and is a Saudi. He earned his B.A., M.A, and Ph.D. in psychology from Boston University. His research in psychoneuroimmunology and political psychology focuses on childhood experience of adversity and its psychobiological consequences.