Profile: The Terrorists Win

At the five-year break, Bin LadenS 1 : World 0.

As the world approaches the anniversary of the two infamous airplanes penetrating two tower buildings, one can evaluate and examine the winners and losers of the alleged "War on Terrorism" launched momentarily after the dreaded incident. In order to do so, it must be determined: “When the attacks were planned and eventually executed, what was the objective of whoever did it?” (ALERT: This is NOT an intro to another conspiracy theory).

Does anybody in their right mind think that a (relatively) arbitrary act of violence is a feasible way to achieve any short term substantial goals? The announced objective of the cave-dwellers who claimed responsibility for the attacks covered a wide range of impossible motives and “excuses”: from sudden concern about the Palestinians and a need to avenge their martyrs (the oldest trick in the book for any radical), to a call and an act of objection towards the American presence in the land of the holy shrines of Mecca and Medina (although it seems more viable if they would have targeted the American-installed royalty presiding over the shrines), and the ultimate ridiculousness of attempting to spread Islam in the land of infidelity (sounds like a very reasonable approach!!), among other alleged motives that appear and disappear according to necessity.

Despite the fact that the incident was carried out in the name of Arabs and Muslims, it ended up causing them the most damage and harm, on so many different levels, and that is the undisputable fact after five years. Hence, the motive for such an act had to be simpler than that advertised. In his tenure as the president of the United States, Bush jr. may have never uttered a more factual statement than “They are targeting our way of life”, regarding the objectives of 9/11. After five years the Bin LadenS are raising a banner on top of their (air-cave carrier) that reads: “Mission Accomplished”.

The self-proclaimed “land of the free” and the country that once welcomed new-comers to its shores with a statue announcing: “Give me your poor, your tired, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free”, has been exposed and dramatically changed on one day. When it comes to America’s foreign policy, the changes may have not been as significant, since evil empires are accustomed to exploiting weaker countries, but the events of 9/11 definitely sparked, sped up, and even “justified” the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. So besides being engaged in financially and emotionally draining wars on multiple fronts, the American people are led by an incompetent president along with a frantically religious, yet corrupt, administration. Besides the random killing of civilians overseas Americans has to put up with the Department of Homeland Security, the Patriotic Act, unlawful detentions without trial, multiple secret prisons in various countries, innovative torture techniques and prisoners suicide, socially-acceptable racial profiling based on skin color and religious beliefs, increased bureaucracy from airports to daily transactions, reformed immigration laws, economic recession while the arm and oil industry are achieving record profits, corporate corruption, a completely random color-coded terror alert to promote constant fear, spying and secret phone wiretapping. A few changes the American way of life had to endure, without much objection. All in all, Bin LadenS managed to make America an improved version of a third world country. Add to this the fact that Bush jr. has divided the world into two sides: “with us versus against us” and into “good versus evil” using a language eerily similar to that of terrorists who view the world as a battle of similar terms, and that is more “results” than any terrorist has ever dreamt of.

Abu Shreek is not worried about America, which for all he cares can go burn in the trash bin of history along with all deceased empires that once thought they were invincible. But the main concern is importing the American experience to our societies in the Middle East. The minimal improvements our societies have achieved in the areas of personal freedom should not be compromised by our fears and emotions. The governments are utilizing a few separate and scattered incidents (some of them are fabricated, allegedly) to install a new culture of fear and to manipulate the emotions and compassion of people to shove more oppressive laws down our throats. The installment of new sets of “policing” laws in the name of the victims is a cheap exploitation of them and their grieving families.

Some of our countries main assets were “safety and tranquility”, and that should not be surrendered to anti-terrorism laws and internal-intelligence-lead anti-terrorism units that arrest random people from the safety of their homes under the cover of darkness. The objection to such drastic measures is not an endorsement for terrorism or whoever mental-retard that chooses to support it, neither it is a sign of lack of compassion to those who lost their lives. It is just a belief that if Abu Shreek was strip-searched before entering a movie theatre or detained with “terrorist affiliation” charge based on something he said, he would feel more violated than safe.