[Dialogue] Why 9/11?

[ed feldmanis]

Wow Don,

Thanks for opening this dialouge.

We might add to it that the overuse of oil and failure to support our own
wind and solar industries in the US has driven prices up so high that the
windfall in many places, Arabia, South America and also Russia, finances
terrorist activity.

The drill baby drill mantra appears to mean, that the US wiil stay addicted
to oil, according to Thomas Friedman of the NY Times, that oil money is a
huge source creating turmoil in world, denying smaller countries  this
resource, polluting the US, and creating an addiction motiviation for our
oil wars and re-starting the cycle of resentment all over.

Ed

On Wed, Sep 10, 2008 at 8:36 PM, Don Hinkelman <hinkel at sgu.ac.jp> wrote:

> On the radio today, a memorial message was read about the 9/11 attack
> on the World Trade Towers and the numbers of people who died.
>
> I am still surprised that asking why the attack happened is a taboo
> topic of analysis and discussion.  I hope it is not a taboo topic on
> this list.
>
> In my Japanese-colored-glasses view of the event, I see several things
> happening...
> - war is no longer state-to-state with a formal declaration and codes
> of conduct
> - cultures, groups or networks with little sovereign authority, or
> those that feel helpless can use suicide as a form of protest or war
> - the America government lost the moral high ground of not killing
> civilians by dropping nuclear bombs on two cities in 1945.  No apology
> and little self-reflection has been given.
> - the American government continues to kill civilians in wars (at a
> lower rate than the Germans in WWII) but justifies this as an
> unavoidable necessity of war
> - isolated, single world-view schools (in Pakistan and elsewhere--
> USA?) provide many young people willing to give their lives in war
>
> I suspect these conditions will lead to more episodes like 9/11.  I
> also think it is important to avoid name-calling and stereotyped
> expressions in a discussion (ie: "terrorists", "nazis").  That
> contributes to misunderstanding and non-acceptance.
>
> With respects,
> Don Hinkelman
> Sapporo, Japan
>
>
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