Pointer Fingers

People around the World remember where they were on the morning of 9/11. I was 7 years old, eating cinnamon toast for breakfast before school. I remember the phone ringing, the blood draining from my mothers face, and a sudden flurry of activity as she rushed around the house turning on all the radios and TV's. I remember watching in confusion as the second tower fell to the ground in real time on the screen. At seven years old, the concept of global conflict is a hard one to grapple with. Today, I still face the questions I formulated over a decade ago on the morning of September 11th. I think the most prominent question I have is  WHO did this and WHY? I have already begun to address the "why" questions in my previous blog posts, so in this one I am going to explore the "who" questions that have taken me over a decade to understand.  

Front page of the New York Times September 11, 2001

Perhaps the most convoluted topic in the argument of "who was responsible for 9/11" is the role of President Bush. There are many activists poised with "9/11 was an inside job" stickers ready to put the blame on Bush and the United States government. There are political analysts, who have said they do not believe Bush had any part in planning the attacks. There are film-makers and journalists who angrily speak of the "warning signs" the US was given, and Bush's lack of interest in reading reports foreshadowing the attacks. Everywhere I turn, someone is pointing a finger at someone else. Largely, the blame is placed on the United States government. For the sake of this blog post, I am going to try to play devil's advocate. Which is a difficult role to play when there are so many "devils" on the playing field.

After 9/11, the first target was placed. This fell on Osama bin Laden, the Saudi founder of Al-Qaeda. His bounty was set at $25 million dollars by the FBI. In August 1996 bin Laden had issued a "Declaration of War" against the U.S. Bin Laden was the "guest" of the Taliban in Afghanistan until the U.S. drove them from power in Nov. 2001. Al-Qaeda set up terrorist training camps in the war-torn nation, as it had previously in Sudan. 

Osama Bin Laden
Source: STR/Reuters

Under the Bush administration, two million U.S. troops were deployed over the course of the War in Iraq. However, the real stakeholders in the conflict were not high profile politicians, radical terrorist leaders, or brave young American soldiers. The true stakeholders, who would suffer tremendously through the harsh reality of war for the next decade, were the Iraqi people. In 2009, Canadian author Deborah Ellis published a book entitled Children of War. The book contained hundreds of personal stories from children living in Iraq during the war. Here are three quotes that stood out in particular for me.

Source: Amazon

 

 "It's possible that we may soon be living in America.. I don't know how I feel about living in America, seeing the American flag every day. These are the people who destroyed my country, and they are over there across the ocean living a good life. They destroy things, then they forget about it and have a good supper and watch television... The Americans cut down trees in my country, and we will be looking at trees still standing in America. The Americans bombed our bridges, and we will be walking across bridges still standing in America. They killed children in my country, and we will be going to school with children who have never known troubles. I don't like to think about it."
Hibba, 16. Page 23-24.

"There was a lot of resistance in our area to the American troops. This wasn't because our area was full of terrorists. This was because people didn't like to see foreign troops trying to control their country. How would Americans or Canadians feel if there were Iraqi troops on your streets, and these Iraqi troops broke down doors and tried to tell you what to do?"
 Masim, 15. Page 91

"I wish we could use music somehow to stop war. Maybe it sounds silly, but instead of picking up a gun, soldiers should instead pick up a guitar or a saxophone or a trumpet. They could have battles with music, to see who could make the best music. That would make the world much, much better." 
Yeman, 13. Page 124 

These raw, candid depictions of war through the eyes of children made me realize that war is not (no-pun-intended) child's play. Waging war is a serious act of violence which impacts the lives of millions of people. Children in Iraq were often unable to attend school or go out walking in their neighborhoods during the war. Families were torn apart and forced into poverty. On the American side, it has been reported that 30% of soldiers deployed to Iraq, suffered post traumatic stress disorder within 4 or 5 months of returning home. 


Even though the war is over now, I still find myself plagued with questions. Given all of the information I have collected, I cannot help but ask "Was it worth it?"  The War in Iraq, brought chaos not only to the Middle East but also into the homes of North Americans. Post 9/11, I noticed a shift in the North American mindset. This shift favoured racism towards people of Middle Eastern descent. Middle Eastern people faced difficulty getting through airport security and were unjustly viewed in a negative light. This issue falls back onto the media. Media is arguably the most influential stakeholder in today's society. Media has the power to instill hatred and implement peace. In the case of 9/11, the mainstream media did nothing to establish an environment for peace keeping. Instead, it rallied the viewers of the World in preparation for the violent decade to come. The more I think about it, the more I can see how media's disproportionate power over society has negative affects on our lives. I have come to the realization that perhaps the solution to global conflict is sitting in our living rooms, and inside the pockets of our clothing. Now that the War in Iraq has ended, we must move forward in a manner which prevents dark elements in history from repeating themselves. I am intrigued by the notion that media, if used correctly, may have the power to do just that. I'll speak more on that in a later post. For now, I'll leave you with a question: "Can war be moral? Is there any justifiable reason to wage war in the first place?" Leave your comments below. After all, everybody loves a little controversy.