Re: [Nettime-nl] Wat betekenen de aanslagen in Amerika?

[kees@stad.xs4all.nl (kees/ventana)]

"Francisco van Jole" <fvjole@xs4all.nl> writes:

> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Eveline Lubbers" <evel@xs4all.nl>
> To: <nettime-nl@nettime.org>
> Sent: Thursday, September 13, 2001 3:40 PM
> Subject: [Nettime-nl] Wat betekenen de aanslagen in Amerika?
> 
> 
> >
> > From:           "Autonoom Centrum" <ac@autonoomcentrum.nl>
> >
> > Wat betekenen de aanslagen in Amerika?
> >
> > Voor iedereen die ergens nog een positief gevoel
> > mocht hebben door de klap die is uitgedeeld aan
> > het 'kapitalistische kwaad' zal ik maar meteen
> > duidelijk zijn: volgens mij zijn de gevolgen
> > zeer negatief en verstrekkend.
> 
> Ik moet zeggen: ik sta paf van deze conclusie.

Zelfs al mag je het van censuurcommissie van jole niet zeggen of
denken, dan nog *was* de aanslag natuurlijk een forse klap tegen het
kapitalistische systeem. Het centrum nog wel, zoals we zo ongeveer al
onze tv-commentatoren hebben horen zeggen. Als je alleen al ziet wat er
allemaal in die twee torens zat, (neem nu de internationale goudboard)
en daar omheen; wallstreet al drie dagen dicht, geen vliegverkeer,
gigantische gevolgen voor banken en verzekeringswereld... Aan het eind
van de film The Fightclub gebeurt wat er nu in het echt gebeurde; de
wolkenkrabbers zakken door hun hoeven. Alleen gebeurde dat midden in de
nacht, toen er niemand in zat. Was het dan wel aanvaardbaar geweest (nou
ja, nadat de kapers eerst de passagiers hadden laten uitstappen
dan)?.

Wat opvalt in veel reacties die uit linkse hoek in de VS komen,
is dat daarin gewezen wordt op het feit dat blinde terreur tegen
onschuldige en ongewapende mensen zo ongeveer de constante factor in het
buitenlandse beleid van de VS is geweest. Dat mag geen enkel argument
bieden ter verdediging van het krenken van ook maar een teennagel  van een
onschuldige Amerikaan, maar verklaart wel waarom een hoop mensen buiten
de VS (jaha, die heb je ook) op z'n zachtst gezegd onverschillig
blijven. Maar dat mag vast ook niet van van jole gezegd worden, want hij
en z'n volkskrant houden het liever bij een lekker simpel wereldbeeld,
vol vredelievende hardwerkende democraten en bloeddorstige barbaren.

Ik zou het BIJNA kunnen begrijpen, die juichende palesteinen,
als je moeder in die trein in Servie
zat, die door die Amerikaanse F-16 van de brug geknald werd, of als je
de contra-oorlog in Nicaragua had overleefd (maar je broertjes en zusjes
niet). Tot je weer de beelden van die wolkenkrabbers ziet natuurlijk,
dan is het onmiddellijk duidelijk wat een waanzin dit is, en hoe
uitzichtloos de spiraal zich zal ontwikkelen als de VS nu weer terug
gaat slaan en een paar duizend volstrekt niet betrokken Iraqezen of
Afghanen gaat afslachten om z'n gezicht te redden.

Hier het stuk dat de filmmaker Michael Moore schreef als een
eerste reactie:

Dear friends,

I was supposed to fly today on the 4:30 PM American Airlines flight from LAX to
JFK. But tonight I find myself stuck in L.A. with an  incredible range of
emotions over what has happened on the island where I work and live in New York
City. 

My wife and I spent the first hours of the day -- after being awakened by phone
calls from our parents at 6:40am -- trying to contact our  daughter at school
in New York and our friend JoAnn who works near the World Trade Center. 

I called JoAnn at her office. As someone picked up, the first tower imploded,
and the person answering the phone screamed and ran out,  leaving me no clue as
to whether or not she or JoAnn would live. It was a sick, horrible, frightening
day. 

On December 27 1985, I found myself caught in the middle of a terrorist
incident at the Vienna airport -- which left 30 people dead, both there  and at
the Rome airport. (The machine-gunning of passengers in each city was timed to
occur at the same moment.) 

I do not feel like discussing that event tonight because it still brings up too
much despair and confusion as to how and why I got to live -- a fluke, a
mistake, a few feet on the tarmac, and I am still here, there but for the grace
of 

Safe. Secure. Im an American, living in America. I like my illusions. 

I walk through a metal detector, I put my carry-ons through an x-ray machine,
and I know all will be well. 

Heres a short list of my experiences lately with airport security: 

* At the Newark Airport, the plane is late at boarding everyone. The counter
cant find my seat. So I am told to just "go ahead and get on"  -- without a
ticket! 

* At Detroit Metro Airport, I dont want to put the lunch I just bought at the
deli through the x-ray machine so, as I pass through the metal  detector, I
hand the sack to the guard through the space between the detector and the x-ray
machine. I tell him, "Its just a sandwich". He  believes me and doesnt bother
to check. The sack has gone through neither security device.

 * At LaGuardia in New York, I check a piece of luggage, but decide to catch a
later plane. The first plane leaves without me, but with my bag  -- no one
knowing what is in it. 

* Back in Detroit, I take my time getting off the commuter plane. By the time I
have come down its stairs, the bus that takes the passengers  to the terminal
has left -- without me. I am alone on the tarmac; free to wander wherever I
want. So I do. Eventually, I flag down a pick-up  truck and an airplane
mechanic gives me a ride the rest of the way to the terminal. 

* I have brought knives, razors; and once, my travelling companion brought a
hammer and chisel. No one stopped us. 

Of course, I have gotten away with all of this because the airlines consider my
safety SO important, they pay rent-a-cops $5.75 an hour to  make sure the bad
guys dont get on my plane. 

That is what my life is worth -- less than the cost of an oil change. 

Too harsh, you say? Well, chew on this: a first-year pilot on American Eagle
(the commuter arm of American Airlines) receives around $15,000 a  year in
annual pay. Thats right -- $15,000 for the person who has your life in his
hands. 

Until recently, Continental Express paid a little over $13,000 a year. 

There was one guy, an American Eagle pilot, who had four kids so he went down
to the welfare office and applied for food stamps -- and he  was eligible!
Someone on welfare is flying my plane? Is this for real? 

Yes, it is. So spare me the talk about all the precautions the airlines and the
FAA (Federal Airports Authority) is taking. They, like all  businesses, are
concerned about one thing -- the bottom line and the profit margin. 

Four teams of 3-5 people were all able to penetrate airport security on the
same morning at three different airports and pull off this heinous  act? My
only response is -- thats all? 

Well, the pundits are in full diarrhoea mode, gushing on about the "terrorist
threat" and todays scariest dude on planet earth -- Osama  bin Laden. 

Hey, who knows, maybe he did it. But, something just doesnt add up. Am I being
asked to believe that this guy who sleeps in a tent in a desert  has been
training pilots to fly our most modern, sophisticated jumbo jets with such
pinpoint accuracy that they are able to hit these three  targets without anyone
wondering why these planes were so far off path? 

Or am I being asked to believe that there were four religious/political
fanatics who JUST HAPPENED to be skilled airline pilots who JUST  HAPPENED to
want to kill themselves today? Maybe you can find one jumbo jet pilot willing
to die for the cause -- but FOUR? Ok, maybe you can  -- I dont know. 

What I do know is that all day long I have heard everything about this bin
Laden guy except this one fact -- WE created the monster known as  Osama bin
Laden! Where did he go to terrorist school? At the CIA! Dont take my word for
it -- I saw a piece on MSNBC last year that laid it  all out. 

When the Soviet Union occupied Afghanistan, the CIA trained him and his buddies
in how to commits acts of terrorism against the Soviet forces.  It worked! The
Soviets turned and ran. Bin Laden was grateful for what we taught him and
thought it might be fun to use those same techniques  against us. 

We abhor terrorism -- unless were the ones doing the terrorizing. We paid and
trained and armed a group of terrorists in Nicaragua in the  1980s who killed
over 30,000 civilians. That was OUR work. You and me. 

Thirty thousand murdered civilians and who the hell even remembers! 

We fund a lot of oppressive regimes that have killed a lot of innocent people,
and we never let the human suffering THAT causes to interrupt  our day one
single bit. We have orphaned so many children, tens of thousands around the
world, with our taxpayer-funded terrorism (in  Chile, in Vietnam, in Gaza, in
Salvador) that I suppose we shouldnt be too surprised when those orphans grow
up and are a little whacked in  the head from the horror we have helped cause. 

Yet, our recent domestic terrorism bombings have not been conducted by a guy
from the desert but rather by our own citizens: a couple of  ex-military guys
who hated the federal government. 

>From the first minutes of todays events, I never heard that possibility suggested. Why is that? Maybe its because the A-rabs are  much better foils. A key ingredient in getting Americans whipped into a frenzy against a new enemy is the all-important race card. Its much  easier to get us to hate when the object of our hatred doesnt look like us. 

Congressmen and Senators spent the day calling for more money for the military;
one Senator on CNN even said he didnt want to hear any more  talk about more
money for education or health care -- we should have only one priority: our
self-defense. 

Will we ever get to the point that we realize we will be more secure when the
rest of the world isnt living in poverty so we can have nice  running shoes?
In just 8 months, Bush gets the whole world back to hating us again. 

He withdraws from the Kyoto agreement, walks us out of the Durban conference on
racism, insists on restarting the arms race -- you name  it, and Baby Bush has
blown it all. 

The Senators and Congressmen tonight broke out in a spontaneous version of "God
Bless America." Theyre not a bad group of singers! Yes, God,  please do bless
us. Many families have been devastated tonight. This just is not right. They
did not deserve to die. If someone did this to  get back at Bush, then they did
so by killing thousands of people who DID NOT VOTE FOR HIM! 

Boston, New York, DC, and the planes destination of California -- these were
places that voted AGAINST Bush! Why kill them? Why kill anyone? Such insanity 

Lets mourn, lets grieve, and when its appropriate lets examine our
contribution to the unsafe world we live in. It doesnt have to be like this. 

Yours, Michael Moore


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