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The New Death of History

22:03 / 04.12.01

When will there be a past again?

How long do we have to wait before events can have a historical context? Before US policies in the Middle East can actually get talked about as possible causes (never excuses) for September 11th?

I was visiting a friend in an office building in London. They had a global intercom. Do I have to tell you what we heard?

But the horror of this, and the reaction, seems to have drowned the notion of a developing political situation. Osama Bin Laden and his organisation seem to have enjoyed a virgin birth. So, too, do America and its allies.

And George W., happily pissing on the Environment and all the rest, now seems beyond reproach.

What the hell will it take to get the world back into focus?

05:06 / 05.12.01

And talking of virgin births, the state of Israel seems to have lost all connection with its roots in terrorism and land theft. This now sems to be universally forgotten, or worse forgiven.

Watching the news last night I had a final sense of the Palestine people being pushed into the dustbin of history alongside the Armenians and possibly the Kurds.

[ 05-12-2001: Message edited by: Ian Jawbone ]

05:06 / 05.12.01

Time, and lots of it. Remember Chairman Mao. And a lot of rigorous analysis. I think, Dao, that you are being a little unfair - I have seen plenty of commentary which has been grounded in an understanding of the pre-existing political situation - here as much as anywhere.

11:01 / 05.12.01

Nothing that I've seen suggests even the faintest possibility that the September 11th attacks might be the result of a massive upwelling of anger at a prolonged series of offhanded insults and snubs.

And has anyone learned anything? Is the US leaping to its feet and telling Sharon to back off? Is it, arse.

There's no sense of continuity, and the notion that America might actually have done anything wrong...ever...well, God forbid.

September 11th was evil. It was also ultimately unsurprising, and bombing Afghanistan and continuing to support Sharon in his wild exercise of hate and repression will just redouble the mess.

America is not a culture which accepts blame, or limits (environmental or political). The notion of finite resources of oil, ozone, or tolerance for American bullshit appears not to exist.

So when will your government get it? You want the security of being the Most Powerful Nation of Earth? That comes with obligations. Sorry. That's not negotiable, it's simply a fact. Cope.