On September 11th, we mourn the 20th anniversary of one of the most sensational terrorist attacks, delivering a knockout punch in the very belly of the superpower, America. We commiserate the innocent lives lost or sufferers of mortal wounds. However there is no question that it was America that created the breeding pit and in many ways literally asked for it. Above all the event gave America further licence to strike every nail in the wall to fortify itself, to determine the fate of the world people.
We can never forget how America plundered over 90% of the resources of the world,, sponsored many a military dictator all imperialist infiltration of capital. Indirectly it subjugated the Palestinians to slavery and patronised all attacks of Israeli agression.Wastage was an integral part of American society, who consumed more than 80% of the worlds resources. Even if an affluent society, inequality is a feature of America. One must trace the history of how Bin Laden was a creature of America.
Military expansionism was a feature of American foreign policy or intervention on the policies of other nations, in the 3rd world. In the age of globalization it multiplied it’s tyranny by consolidating it’s hegemony, to isolate the working class as never before. It used the channels like International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organisation and GATT to maintain complete hegemony over the third world countries reducing them to Eggs of imperialism. Victimization of .the Muslim community worldwide reached unparalleled proportions, with many a case of Muslims being framed in false cases. America deployed it’s troops all over the world in an unprecedented magnitude. Hegemony of Neo-colonial capital penetrated unprecedented magnitude.
Sadly many citizens forgot the main enemy and sang in tune with the American offensive after 9/11.They were completely ignorant of how America used the incident to justify its; offensive to establish hegemony over the world people, testified in the subsequent war in Iraq. It is significant that much more impactful protests took place in Europe than in the 3rd world. In fact people were more communalised against Muslims in the developing countries, at that time. In India Hindu communal forces used the incident as a trump cared to pave the path for their ascendancy. Many a member of the Muslim community worldwide was aggrandized with wrath of untraversed regions. Sadly there was hardly any progressive democratic consciousness amongst American people. The polarization of pro-Muslim fundamentalism against America had intensity unparalleled.
I attended a democratic revolutionary programme in Patna of the All India Peoples Resistance Forum in October 2001, comprising many a section of revolutionary democratic forces, protesting American hegemony. The incident was one of the most defining points in understanding the targeting of the Islamic community .Never before did it look more imperative to expose America and what lay beneath it’s policy. Democratic forces however critical of fundamentalism, had to recognize that Any offensive by America against Islamic forces, was an attack on the oppressed people of the world. No incident could in a more befitting manner expose the fallacies of American policy .I also must mention programmes undertaken by the Lok Shahi Hakk Sanghatana in Mumbai in 2001 exposing the reality, and a series of programmes of constituents of the All India Peoples Resistance Forum All India revolutionary Students federation like Democratic Students Union, Delhi Radical Students Organization, Radical Students Union etc.,A sound analysis was also made by the CPRCI(ML) in it’s journal ‘The Comrade’ of 2001.The revisionist left parties were virtually redundant in offering opposition.
The issue must never be isolated from the hegemony of global capital or neo-colonial penetration. Some of the finest writings came from journals like Monthly Review and by Samir Amin.Communist revolutionary groups in India most forthrightly exposed the incident in true light, and most vocally condemned American offensive. We may dislike a Gaddafi or a Sadam Hussein for their authoritarianism, but still admire how they confronted American brutality till their last breadth. Even if Osama Bin Laden was a monster, he waged a crusade against America, and his assassination was a grave attack on humanity. I would have loved to se a Che Guevera alive at that time,
I think nothing can more vividly illustrated as much as 9/11 or better portrayed how America hounded the world people., than the photo of the attack on the New York building .Morally it symbolized what Americas subjugated the world people to. We must also probe into the huge American spy network at the time.
The ruling classes in India and worldwide used the event as a pretext for launching a striking blow on all democratic resistance and supression of any creative dissent. Never before has police deployment been as intensive or global capital infiltrated such a magnitude.
The incident also reflected how genuine independence was not established in many a third world country from neo-colonialism, which gave rise to people’s wrath.Anti-Muslim fervour reached unparalleled depths. Absence of any secular democratic movement within America, was also notable, especially with it’s dwindling economy. On the other hand in certain quarters it sharpened anti imperialist political consciousness, pointing the glaring pitfalls of the American state.
Some eclectic trends did emerge within the Communist Movement with Maoist forces seeking an alliance with Al Queda or anti imperialist camp in Europe supporting Radical Islam. However we must never forget that even the Church has allied with revolutionary or progressive movements in Latin America and Philippines, while in India Swami Agnivesh symbolized progressive Hinduism.
Quoting Monthly Review “The lack of context in the journalism since September 11 has been astonishing by almost any standards. There have been numerous detailed reports on Osama bin Laden and his reputed terrorist network, and related investigations of factors concerning the success or failure of a prospective military invasion in Afghanistan, but otherwise the cupboard is bare. Consider the following: There has been a blackout on the subject of the role of the United States as arguably the leading terrorist force in the world. In 1998, for example, Amnesty International released a report which made it clear that the United States was as responsible for extreme violations of human rights around the globe—including the promotion of torture and terrorism and the use of state violence—as any government or organization in the world.* The U.S. role in propping up corrupt regimes in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, and its appalling record of supporting and bankrolling the Israeli assault on the Palestinians are outside the purview of most U.S. residents. Even relevant information about Osama bin Laden, such as the fact that he formerly received support from the CIA via Pakistan in the no–holds–barred war against the Soviets in Afghanistan, is rarely mentioned and never highlighted. Few individuals in the United States have obtained any clue from their news media about the heterogeneous nature of Islam and the Arab world—aside from the simplistic distinction between “moderate states” and “Islamic extremists.”
“Beyond the professional code, U.S. media corporations exist within an institutional context that makes support for U.S. Empire seemingly natural. These giant firms are among the primary beneficiaries of both neoliberal globalization (their revenues outside the United States are rapidly increasing) and the U.S. role as the preeminent world power. Indeed, the U.S. government is the primary advocate for the global media firms when trade deals and intellectual property agreements are being negotiated. For these firms to provide an understanding of the world in which the U.S. military and capitalism are not benevolent forces might be possible in theory, but it is incongruous practically.”
I also suggest that everyone read an interview of Noam Chomsky by David Barsemian in Monthly Review of November 2001. It is one of the most insightful and analytical projections of why America is morally a terrorist state. Most illustratively he portrays how the American machinery breed terror, penetrating tumours in every sphere,in almost disguised form. Events are traced from days of Mujaheddin in Afghanistan. down to the various conspiracies America launched with other countries to set a trap for Russia and turn Israel into a mini superpower. The contradictory nature of the Osama Bin Laden network was also exposed and how its fortunes continuously swung .A significant demarcation is also made between the attitude of the wealthy Muslims like traders, bankers and professionals with that of the poor Muslims in the slums.
Harsh Thakor is a freelance journalist who has travelled around India and written on blogs like ‘Democracy ad Class Struggle’, ‘Ottos War Room’ and ‘Frontier Weekly.’ Mainly written on politics of mass line in Communist Movement, Maoism, peasant struggles but also on blogs on Cricket and films.
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