Grim warnings about attacks serve an alarming political agenda, says matthew carr |
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In recent weeks, the drum beat predicting a major terrorist attack on American soil has grown noticeably louder. First there was former Republican senator Rick Santorum telling a radio show that a series of "unfortunate events... like we're seeing unfold in the UK" would change the American public's view of the Bush administration by the end of the year.
Then Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff described his "gut feeling" that there will be such an attack this summer. In the same week, ABC News cited a homeland security agency report warning of a possible al-Qaeda "spectacular" this summer.
Such warnings and predictions do little to prevent plots or attacks.
Chertoff justified his gut feeling about an imminent al-Qaeda attack on the grounds that "summertime seems to be appealing to them" - hardly an enlightening or useful observation from the
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| Criticism of US foreign policy is seen as a sign of dangerous complacency that can be reversed only by a lethal shock |
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head of a multi-million dollar security agency.
The primary purpose of such warnings is political. The September 11 attacks inaugurated a new calendar of terrorist-borne catastrophes for the 21st century. From "9/11" to "11M" in Madrid, to "7/7" in London, the world has
been living in terrorist time, in which each atrocity becomes "our 9/11" or "another 9/11".
Even Algeria described this April's car bomb attacks as "our 9/11", though the death toll was small-scale compared with the average daily slaughter in Iraq.
Governments and the media claim the heritage of 9/11 almost as a rite of passage. Such atrocities reinforce the fantasy of an innocent and civilised world faced with a common evil.
But no government will claim ownership of "our 20/4" - the date when Operation Iraqi Freedom was launched. The shooting of 700 demonstrators in Uzbekistan by government security forces in 2005 is not likely to be remembered as "15/6". Nor does 12/7, the date of Israel's assault on Lebanon a year ago, show signs of
gaining historic status.
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