Ten questions that demand answers
By Wes Edwards
Appeared in The Scoop November 2001
The attacks of Sept. 11 have left the entire world angry, frightened and confused.
People are beginning to ask important questions regarding what happened.
Unfortunately, nobody seems to be offering any relevant answers. The mainstream
media has been nothing more than a servile and willing mouthpiece for the United
States government.
Rather than address questions that deserve answers, the media repeats ad nauseam
calls for a war it erroneously believes the public wants.
These are questions I would like answers to, and you can be sure I won't be trusting
CNN or the Windsor Star to provide them for me.
1) Thousands of people have demonstrated at peace rallies around the world. A Gallup
poll shows that in most nations, over two-thirds of the population question the
propriety of a military response to the terrorist acts. In fact, the United States,
India and Israel are the only countries where a majority supports military action.
But the media and governments continue to ignore the will of the peoples of the world.
Is it not hypocritical of a democratic nation, who is the biggest advocate of global
policies, to disregard the voices of other democratic nations? Does globalization only
apply when labour and resources are involved? Are not poverty, war, hunger, disease
and the environment global issues too?
2) The word 'terrorism' brings to mind many disturbing images, but is there a consistent
definition for the word? If a Palestinian living in the Occupied Territories throws a
rock at an Israeli tank, is he a terrorist? If the tank fires a shell at the boy and
kills him and then topples the housing project that his family lived in, are the soldiers
inside the tank terrorists? Are states incapable of terrorist acts?
3) The anti-globalization movement had been growing larger and stronger with each
passing trade meeting. Suddenly, the people fighting against undemocratic trade
processes are now considered at best unpatriotic, at worst traitors and terrorists.
Why? Are all those that criticize the United States and its policies now equivalent
to those who fly planes into buildings?
4) As horrible as the terrorist attacks were, the response has been equally devastating
to the Afghani people, most of whom we can agree are completely innocent. If we are
bombing innocent people for the crime of killing innocent people, aren't we basically
guilty of the same crime?
5) The attacks were an obscene crime against humanity, but were they an act of war?
The Taliban, whom the United States has accused of committing the terrorist acts,
has indicated neither culpability nor a particular desire to go to war. They have
also repeatedly offered to negotiate the extradition of Osama bin Laden. The United
States has refused to negotiate. Why?
6) Granted all terrorists should be brought to justice (the court kind, not the bombing
kind), what exactly is the evidence against Osama bin Laden and why is it being
concealed? Is there any evidence?
7) Afghanistan has been involved in a brutal civil war with the Northern Alliance
for awhile. Why would the Taliban suddenly decide that one war front wasn't enough
and it needed to attack the most militarily powerful nation on the planet?
8) Bush has declared that the terrorists' intention was to attack freedom and
democracy. Since the perpetrators all died in the attacks, and no other individuals
have admitted involvement, how exactly did we determine that this was their objective?
9) If the terrorists were attacking freedom and democracy, is it appropriate for
the United States government itself to attack freedom and democracy in response,
and trample on the civil liberties of its own citizens? Is it really appropriate
to institute torture as a legitimate means of interrogating the hundreds of suspects
the FBI has detained?
10) According to Pakistani officials, the U.S. had plans to invade Afghanistan going
back several months. If the event happened on Sept. 11, why was there evidence of
plans to invade Afghanistan months prior to that date? Has Afghanistan been blamed
for the attacks as a pretext for access to the recently discovered oil reserves in
the area? What about failed attempts to construct an oil pipeline through Afghanistan?
You will never see these questions, as well as many more, asked in the mainstream
media. Suffice to say, you are unlikely to see the answers. Therefore, I will
ask one final question...
Why not?
NAVIGATION
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