What to say

James Heartfield Jim at heartfield.demon.co.uk
Wed Sep 12 01:49:40 PDT 2001


A few people have asked me what is the proper response to the attack. This is me thinking out loud. I welcome any comments.

1. The people of the Middle East - if they are the perpetrators - have a right to fight back, and this was certainly an audacious blow against the imperialist heartland;

on the other hand,

2. Terrorism is an anti-democratic by-passing of the masses (though I guess the masses of the Middle East didn't seem to disapprove);

but,

3. It would be infantile to take vicarious pleasure in a strike against New York that was delivered by an unseen hand;

and,

4. The possibilities of generalising this as a blow against US imperialism are pretty low;

On the other hand

5. In essence, the attacks are an internal problem of the US, played out on an international scale;

Because:

6. If Osama Bin Laden is the initiator, he was trained by the US intelligence services;

7. The likely perpetrators are either Americans of Arab origin, (or perhaps white supremacists, though that seems unlikely) reacting to the American targeting of Arabs;

8. The perpetrators had no other power than the productive capacity of US capital, turned against itself, and their own determination;

9. The West has operated a foreign policy modelled on permanent war- footing, it would be surprising if it did not provoke a reaction;

The likely reaction (which will tend to reaffirm underlying trends, rather than becoming a wholly distinctive turning point):

10. Initially, token actions against Arab targets abroad and persecution of Arab minorities in the US;

11. Public paranoia and repressive 'safety' measures (more for public anxiety than any specific purpose;

12. Initial support for government will give way to angry demands for security, and questions over its failure;

13. Self-doubting reflections on the hubris of the financial and military overreach that could not even defend its own - in moral terms the attacks will be seen as 'Pearl Harbour', or maybe the 'Fall of Singapore';

14. Public sympathy in European capitals will be tinged by Schadenfreude that the US has finally got its comeuppance (not necessarily a positive sentiment);

15. The attacks, which ought to be tangential to the productive economy of the US, will nonetheless become the catalyst for a generalised destruction of values in the form of falling share prices, which will have a knock-on effect around the world, becoming a generalised alibi for the failure of the economy;

16. America will become engulfed in helpless self-doubt, characterised by long periods of public mourning and therapeutic self-examination; -- James Heartfield



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