BOLETIN ?CHIAPAS AL DIA? No. 260
CIEPAC; CHIAPAS, MEXICO
September 19, 2001
?... We Dont Understand Why They Hate Us So Much...?
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly
On September 11th, the United States
suffered the worst terrorist attack in it history. Thousands of
innocent people died in New York and Washington. The whole world
condemns these types of criminal acts just like any other terrorism of
the state.
THE GOOD
From 1900 until 2001 the U.S. has had 19 Presidents, from McKinley
until Bush today. Out of them, 85% of them have been in a state of
war (16 Presidents). From1938 until the present, none of the
Presidents have stopped being in war, and all of the wars have taken
place in other lands, except for Bush who finally faces an ?act of war?
on U.S. territory of such unimaginable magnitude for the people of the
U.S. and of the world. After what has occurred, governments all
over the world fear that anything could happen in their own territories.
The United States has sown the seeds of war and hate in every corner of
the world. Nine major wars plus twenty smaller ones, and around 15
violent conflicts, since its war of independence and against the Indians
who they exterminated on their own lands. In this manner, the U.S.
government and army (and not all of the North American people are guilty
for this) has caused thousands of deaths, tortures, displaced population,
disappearances, coups and military dictatorships to defend U.S.
interests. They have invaded territories and bombed cities, towns
and villages leaving thousands of civilians dead, they have trained Latin
American and Caribbean soldiers who have led the bloodiest repressions
against the peoples of the Americas.
Among the U.S. military adventures for democracy and liberty, were the
two appalling world wars. We also remember the Korean War and the deaths
in Vietnam, the raids in Cambodia, Mayaguez, Lebanon, Libya,
Granada, and the bombing of the medicine factory in Sudan, as well as the
invasion of Panama and the bombing of Barrio El Chorillo, where thousands
of civilians lived. Also the internal war against Nicaragua and its
15 invasions, and in the civil war in El Salvador where
North America spent millions of dollars a day. The support to the
military coup against Allende in Chile or those that occurred in
Argentina, Peru, Uruguay and Bolivia, among many others in Latin America
as well as those perpetrated in Africa. We also cannot forget the
wars in Kosovo, Indonesia, Cyprus and Bangladesh. Neither can we
neglect the attacks, bombings and/or raids against Cuba, Puerto Rico,
Iraq, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Yugoslavia and Haiti. Or the
deaths in the Persian Gulf and Iraq and now the Colombia Plan that will
deploy new troops and military bases in Peru, Ecuador, Curacao,
Argentina, Panama, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. We
cant neglect the inhabitants of Vieques, Puerto Rico, who watch as their
children are born with illnesses from the contamination and
indiscriminate bombings of their territories, and the high level of
contamination that the presence of the U.S. army has caused.
In 1991, the intervention of the U.S. in Iraq, ordered by Father Bush,
caused the deaths of thousands of Iraqi civilians, and thousands and
thousands of Iranians died from the arms and money provided to Sadam
Hussein. More thousands of Afghanis died with the help of the U.S.,
thousands and thousands of Japanese died from the atomic bombs detonated
by the U.S. on Hiroshima and Nagazaki. In the U.S. bombings of
Baghdad, more thousands and thousands of people died. In the
attempted assassination of Kadafi in 1986 by an air raid where his
youngest daughter died, France refused to participate, prohibiting the
use of air space for the planes that left from England.
The U.S. did not want to overthrown Hussain for fear that radical Muslims
would take power. For the U.S., when tyrants stop being useful for
U.S. interests, they destroy them. Bin Laden was trained by the
CIA, which is now searching for him. In this way, the U.S.
government in one moment has trained and brought to power authoritarian
and terrorist military regimes and then later have denied it, waving the
flag of democracy. As if this were not enough, as if this were only
illustration, the U.S. has not signed treaties on biodiversity or the
Kyoto Protocol against pollution, while being the principal polluter in
the world. The U.S. also did not sign the treaty to abolish
landmines, which have caused thousands of deaths, mostly of
children. The U.S. has also ignored the Hague International
Tribunal regarding their participation in conflicts such as the case of
Nicaragua, and the U.S. also wants to build an anti-missile shield
instead of cooperating in world disarmament and the reduction of nuclear
weapons. These are only some examples. On an
international level, the U.S. conducts itself in a unilateral manner,
that is arbitrary and illegal. The U.S. does whatever it wants to
do without respect to the other nations of the world, and today the U.S.
is asking all of the other countries to embrace their cause, their
war.
Because of this, if a North American has no historical memory, we can
understand why some people assert that, ?We feel anxious because of the
possible response of our government to terrorism. We are confused?
We dont understand why they hate us so much.? We dont either.
It is the U.S. that hates the world, hates democracy, autonomy and
sovereignty in other countries, hates when the people decide the route
that they want their own country to take. In the context of all the
pain in the world that we live in for all of the innocent deaths in the
recent attacks, the previously discussed facts hurts more. Thousands of
U.S. citizens know that this is a fact, those who have protested and
continue protesting in the streets, demanding an end to the war.
Thousands of them are conscious in spite of the manipulation that they
are subject to by the media. These thousands are those who have
maintained struggles in solidarity with the people of the Third World
against the aberrations of their government and army.
The United States harvested what it has provoked for so many years.
In this way, September 11th resembles its
objective se asemejaron a su objetivo: the twin
towers of the World Trade Center fell down from the impact of two
commercial airplanes.
Another plane hit the Pentagon. It is possible that the airplanes
were destined for each one of the symbols of the U.S. empire: 1)
The economic power represented by the 110 story high twin towers
which housed the most powerful transnational corporations of the world,
and which 150 tourists visit daily. 2) The military power
located in the Pentagon, which was constructed in 1941 on 120,000 square
meters in the city of Washington, and supposedly them most secure place
in military terms, which now has suffered its first attack.
3) and the political power in the White House, which President
Bush evacuated from for fear that there it would be another target for
attack. Just three airplanes used as bombs that were carrying fuel
for large journeys achieved their objective on two of the targets.
Another airplane fell in the countryside, and in one moment another one
full of passengers was supposedly shot down by the U.S. army, of which no
more information was given, just pure speculations. This was one of
the worst offenses for the empire: an act of war in their own
house, with their own airplanes, that left from their own cities, with
suicide pilots trained by their own businesses, and in the most strategic
symbols and places for the imperial power.
Approximately 7,000 people died in the twin towers and just a few more
than 250 were rescued and not all of them are identified. Among the
dead were foreigners of dozens of nations, among them Mexicans (to see
the list of disappeared Mexicans go to www.tepeyac.org. Many U.S.
citizens now live in hate and are thirsty for vengeance. Paranoia
and insecurity have arrived instantly. The feeling of
vulnerability has horrified people who organize secret cultural
events, buy large amounts of food and emergency supplies in
panic, acquire gas masks, and nationalism and xenophobia are resurrected
with force.
El sentimiento de vulnerabilidad los ha horrorizado que realizan
eventos culturales escondidos,
Everywhere, people are looking around them suspiciously, and security
means are increased in the entire North American territory. The
media manipulates the information and the images and launch a crusade for
the defense of their country and of their liberty. The movement
against globalization is paralyzed and the media is associating them with
terrorism in order to immobilize them, but soon they will return to
protest in the streets. They never thought that they would
experience the feelings of war in their own house, as indigenous people
and campesinos and other common citizens have for many years, when their
towns, neighborhoods and cities have been bombed. Now something
unites us even more with the North Americans, the feeling of horror of
war. It is the moment that we see that it is necessary to construct
another world for everyone where we all fit, not only the North Americans
or only the Muslims. Another world is possible.
There are some memorable phrases from the President that were questioned
by the supposed democratic system that brought him to power, and with
which this war aims to generate public consensus in the U.S. that they
did not give in the ballot boxes. Bush stated that the terrorists,
?Hate what they see here in this Congress hall: a democratically
elected government? They hate us because of our liberties?.? More
likely, it is the liberties the U.S. takes that take them outside of
international law. Bush has also said, ?We are a country that
has woken up facing danger and calling to the defense of liberty.?
Tambien ha dicho: ?Somos un pais que ha despertado ante el peligro y esta
llamando a la defensa de la libertad? and this is, ?a war of good
versus evil.? For Bush, ? The United States will find those
responsible for these crimes and punish them.? He also said
that in other invasions where thousands of civilians died: ?The U.S.
respects the people of Afganistan, but we condemn the Taliban
regime.? Ex-Governor Tom Ridge, current head of the National
Security Office Oficicina de Seguridad de la Patria who was
inaugarated just a few days ago by Bush, affirmed that, ? This is a world
war, a war for civilization. ...We urge all of the other nations to help
us? liberty and fear ar at war.? ?Esta es una lucha del mundo, una
lucha por la civilizacion ... Instamos a todas las naciones a ayudarnos
... la libertad y el temor estan en guerra...?
THE BAD
For the U.S. the evil now is not comunism, but Muslim terrorists from
the Islamic world, and the U.S. invites the whole planet to respond with
a ?Democratic War? against the ?Holy War.? The U.S. blames the
attacks on the Muslim Osama Bin Laden, even though there are 1,300
million Muslims in the world. Who is the person capable of
destabilizing the world?
Osama Bin Ladens father, Muhamad Bin Laden, originally from Yemen and
nationalized as a Saudi, had 11 wives and 54 children. He was a
government official in Saudi Arabia and controlled multiple construction
contracts in many Arab countries. His children, among them Osama
Bin Laden, engineer by profession and 45 years old, inherited his fathers
financial empire, now called, ?Bin Laden Brothers for Contracting
and Industry? which has investments and businesses in many countries and
employs approximately 40,000 workers. There are representatives of
various European businesses, British, Dutch and others. Its
business ?La Sico? has an office in the Dutch Antilles and Curacao (where
the U.S. has a military base), but also in London. They have
financial relations with U.S. companies. From here comes the
speculation that the big businesses knew about the attacks
beforehand.
The Bin Laden brothers were invited by French President Jaques Chirac, to
a dinner offered during their official visit to Saudi Arabia in
1996. In 1998, the brothers constructed a base for U.S.
soldiers in the Persian Gulf. They charged 50 million dollars
to the Saudi Arabian government for the construction of houses for the
U.S. soldiers who lived in tents. They also received contracts for
the reconstruction of Kuwait after the Gulf War. They own
airplanes and property of the company Bin Laden Aviation. They are
owners of supposed dummy companies like Asma United and of philanthropic
organizations in London and the Balkans.
Osama Bin Laden has capital in European banks where more than 700 million
dollars are invested in short term financial markets in Belgium,
Bulgaria, Italy and Holland. Supposedly he has inverted in London,
Paris and the French Blue Coast, as well as 15 million dollars in Swedish
businesses specialized in medical equipment. In addition, he has
investments in Norway, in the paper and wood industry, and in markets in
Iraq, Jordan and Egypt. He has bank accounts in Africa, Pakistan,
Cyprus and the U.S. In 1983, the Bin Laden Clan received a
contract for 3,000 million dollars to restore the holy places of Medina
and Mecca, and Osama received a commission for 30 million dollars
possibly located in Switzerland, Luxemberg or the United Arab
Emirates.
Osama Bin Laden recruited thousands of volunteers to resist the communist
invasion of Russia in Afganistan in 1979, who were trained by Egyptian
officials and financed with more than 285 million dollars from the U.S.
government. In Pakistan he constructed a strong resistance movement
and in Afghanistan he controlled tunnels and subterranean galleries that
are now a headache for the U.S. army that will test new bombs to destroy
them. Osama Bin Laden created his own organization called Al-Qaida
(the base, or rank and file), a radical Islamic movement supported by
Egyptians that was later called Brotherhood Bin Laden.
After 10 years of occupation, the Soviet Union withdrew from Afganistan
in 1989, but Afghanistan remained a communist regime. In 1990 the
U.S. demanded that the Saudis end their subsidies and logistical support
to the Arab-Afghanis, thus ending the alliance between the U.S.
government, Saudi Arabia and Bin Laden, who did not abandon the
resistance but now financed it with his own fortunes and took refuge in
Sudan and later in Afghanistan under the Taliban regime.
However, other sources affirm that the U.S. continued giving arms and
money to Islamic groups after the Soviets withdrew, as well as the
participation of North American mercenaries together with the extremists
in Afghanistan, a country that occupies first place worldwide in the
production of opium.
After the anti-communist crusade, Osama Bin Laden launched a crusade
against the United States. In 1997, Bin Laden stated that, ?If
Russia could be destroyed, the United States could also be
decapitated.? According to some sources, Osama Bin Laden is not a
military or religious leader, but thousands of followers are willing to
give their life to please him with terrorist actions against the U.S.
empire. Leaders of large Islamic groups sympathize with Osama, and
those who try to establish Islamic republics in all of the Arab countries
or eliminate Israel. The World Islamic Front for Holy War declares
that it is the duty of all Muslims to, ?kill U.S. citizens- civilians or
soldiers- and their allies, wherever they are.?
There are approximately 29 most important terrorist organizations, of
which 14 are of an extremist Islamic tendency. Some sources say
that these groups have a presence in more than 30 countries of the world,
and others say in more than 60. Of these, we know there are
transnational decentralized mafias, with various sources of finance
backing and diversification of self-financing. These groups have
the support of various countries, among them Afganistan, Lebanon, Iran,
Libya and Syria. Their common objective is to attack the U.S. and
for others to also attack Israel. Others also oppose the peace
process in the Middle East. They have recruits, arms, and
combatants by the thousands and have operations in Albania, Kenya,
Tanzania, Pakistan, Great Britain, and in the heart of the U.S., New York
City.
These 29 groups were responsible for the 423 attacks of ?international
terrorism? commiteed in 2000 world-wide. Of these attacks, 169 were
U.S. targets like embassies, ships, airplanes and other equipment.
The terrorist attacks caused 233 deaths in 1999 and 405 in 2000 according
to the Global Report on Terrorism, published by the U.S. State Department
in past months.
Osama Bin Laden is suspect in attacks against North Amerca
including: the bombing of the twin towers in 1993, another attack
against a military base in Saudi Arabia in 1996, the destruction of the
embassies in Keny and Tanzania, Africa in 1998, the attack against the
Navy destroyer in Yemen in 2000. He shot down U.S. helicopters and
killed personnel in service of the U.S. in Somalia in 1993. He
directed bombings against U.S. troops in Yemen in 1992, etc. Other
Muslim groups allied with Bin Laden have perpetrated attacks and others
were not successful like the assassination attempt against Pope John Paul
II in Manila in 1994 and against President Clinton in the Phillipines one
year later. In the same manner, there were a dozen attempted air
attacks against U.S. flights in 1995.
International terrorism of Islamic fundamentalism is found in the entire
world with thousands of people capable of putting actions into operation
in any moment and in any corner of the world. Some international
analysts believe that these reactions could also include the use of
chemical weapons, bacterial or nuclear. In this context it is not a
coincidence that projects of biopiracy of plants and animals, the rights
that governments award to ?first world? companies of patents on life, or
the recent interest of the Israeli government to visit the Organization
of Indigenous Doctors of the State of Chiapas (OMIECH) in San Cristobal
de Las Casas with the objective of trading plants for technical
assistance. This biopiracy generates biopolitics and
biomilitarization.
The Muslim religion could unite thousands of people and many Islamic
nations around the same objective: ?the Holy War? against the U.S.,
which could become a world war. The terrorists are also globalized
just as the U.S. globalized their state terrorism. The space of war
is not focused only in Afghanistan where Osama Bin Laden is supposedly
refuged, but he is also in all parts of the world, in the soul of the
terrorists who are willing to die for his cause, and in the transnational
businesses that he owns. International terrorism has the three
basic pillars necessary to wage a war: military power (armament,
thousands of recruits, training, etc.), economic power (businesses,
speculative investments, petroleum, commercial alliances and routes,
etc.) and religious power (mysticism, elements of unity and
cohesion).
The two wars (?holy? and ?democratic?) are both equally absurd. The
forceful imposition of fundamentalist Islam as well as what the U.S.
wants to impose on everyone, their style of life and their
interests. Both wars invade countries, impose dictators, oppress
people, pillage and destroy, bomb and strengthen their economic and
military power. The world is becoming more polarized. Bush
has affirmed that this is a war of good versus evil. For Bush, the
U.S. is good and Islam is evil, and this evil could be contagious in the
world if all countries dont unite for his cause. Both are fanatics,
with the same hate, the same blindness, and the same thirst for vengeance
and blood. Through this kind of thinking, we will not arrive
anywhere. Who has the moral authority to say who is good and who is
evil?
THE UGLY
President Bush is polarizing the world and declaring war: ?We
will not distinguis between the terrorists who have committed these acts,
and those who give them refuge?, and later sends a message to all
of the countries of the world, ?either youre with us or youre with the
terrorists.? With this, he obliges the governments to position
themselves in favor of the U.S. or they could become targets of military,
political or economic attacks, as they have already done in the world and
continue doing now. This is the case in the Blockade/Embargo of
Cuba, as well as the closing of borders to Mexican products in violation
of NAFTA However, we do not forget that England, Spain,
France, and all of Europe have a large Muslim population, so their
governments will not easily bend to the whims of the U.S. because this
?Holy War? could easily break out in their own countries. Because
of this, U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfield stated that, ?What we
are doing will be very different from the second World War, Korea,
Vietnam, the Gulf War, Kosovo, Bosnia?.It will not be directed like
before, as if it were a campaign against a specific country, or in a
definite period of time?, but it will be a war declared, ?in different
places, in different times and forms.?
According to some analists, this is the start not only of the
first war of the 21st Century, but also of the Third World War.
According to others, this is an exaggeration, and it will only be a
short, limited war. Nevertheles, the U.S. rarely formally declares
war, so that the Geneva Agreements will not be applied and they can act
without limits or international controls. They achieve military,
diplomatic, political and economic pressure on the governments of the
world in order to close ranks and make their own cause the cause of other
countries in their own war. This is an attack ?against America? say
those who live in the north of the American Continent. NATO, the
United Nations, and the OAS bend to the will of the United States.
And it is that, as we see it, not only are there terrorists all over the
world, but also the United States invades the entire world. The war
is everywhere, it can present itself in any place, in any embassy, and in
any U.S. military base or installation in the entire world.
Whoever stays outside of the alliance declares war on the United States,
and viceversa. Whoever does not submit to the will of the Muslim
alliances of the ?Holy War? will be bombed. We can see hostages of
both forces. The Taliban regime in Afganistan will not turn over
Osama Bin Laden to the U.S. unless they give proof that he is responsible
for the attack. Bin Laden already said that he was not responsible,
that the U.S. should prove it, and that he will be willing to face the
consequences. The U.S. does not believe him. So, both parties
are preparing for war, and are also dragging the rest of the world into
the war. If the U.S. wants a war, it knows that it has to do it
quickly, before the winter comes to Afganistan, or they will lose.
Some Conclusions:
The U.S. should act prudently, understanding that the war they are
about to unleash will generate more wars and more deaths. We will
all lose, and not just the civilians who unfortunately lost their lives
in the attacks in New York and Washington, but also civilians that will
die on both sides if the response is more violence. We cant just
talk about the thousands of soldiers who have been deployed in air, sea
and land. Peace will not come just with the capture of Bin Laden,
because with his capture the problems will not be resolved. Among
the causes of the problems are state sponsored terrorism that is provoked
by the governments of the world, as well as intolerance of differences,
and ambition for power and control of the planet.
Neither of the two parties can demand that governments position
themselves further than necessary to combat the evils of terrorism
outside as well as inside the U.S. The U.S. people should reflect
about the meaning of the lamentable losses of human life, and, even
though it hurts, understand why other nations lift up voices that say,
?Now you know how we feel.?
Why did it happen? That is the question.
Ninguna de las dos partes puede obligar a los gobiernos a
posicionarse mas alla de lo necesario para combatir el mal del terrorismo
tanto fuera como dentro de los EEUU.
Gustavo E. Castro Soto
Sources: Proceso, La Jornada, El Financiero, Milenio, Cuarto Poder,
CNI, Televisa, TV Azteca, among many others ... and the dead of
history.
Center for Economic and Political Investigations of Community
Action, A.C.
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Eje Vial Uno Numero 11
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C I E P A C
Centro de Investigaciones Económicas y Políticas de Acción Comunitaria,
A.C.
Eje Vial Uno No. 11
Colonia Jardines de Vista Hermosa
29297 San Cristóbal de Las Casas, Chiapas, México
Teléfono y Fax: (01)9-67 85832
ciepac@laneta.apc.org
http://www.ciepac.org/
CIEPAC, es miembro del Movimiento por la Democracia y la vida (MVD) de
Chiapas; de la Red Mexicana de Accion Frente al Libre Comercio (RMALC); y
de la Convergencia de Movimientos de los Pueblos de las Americas
(COMPA).
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