The photo above is of Sarah Ali from London. She and I were workmates and friends in our early 20s. She was the life and soul of the party – as a Muslim, Sarah probably didn’t let on to mum and dad quite how much she enjoyed a knees-up after work. We hadn’t been in touch for years, until I saw her picture plastered all over the front page of The Sun shortly after 9/11. She was killed in the World Trade Center as she was preparing for a marketing conference. She was 35, recently married. Had she lived, she would have been 40 this year, probably with young children. But she didn’t live. She was either vaporised, suffocated, crushed, burnt to death, or just jumped to escape being incinerated.
When I read the report, I called the Sun’s reporter, and he agreed to forward a letter of condolence to her parents. Seeing Sarah’s beautiful face staring out from the paper hit me like the proverbial ton of bricks. But as a parent myself, I could guess at the hell Sarah’s mum and dad had entered. The deep sadness that September 11 had thrown over us all (anyone remember that?) hardened into a visceral grief for Sarah, her family, and the countless others killed or affected by the attacks. How could we make sure nothing like that ever happened again?
Another 2,996 souls are confirmed dead or missing as a consequence of the attacks in New York City, Washington, DC and Pennsylvania on 11 September, 2001. According to today’s Independent, the ensuing so-called War Against Terror has claimed anything from 62,000-180,000 lives and counting, and the United States alone has spent $437bn (£254bn) on TWAT.
Never mind the arguments about imperialism, a “clash of civilisations”, spreading freedom, standing up to fascism or any of the other self-regarding nonsense that we bloggers spew out day after day. Just do the sums and tell me that the endless bloodlust since 2001 in any way makes up for Sarah’s murder. In the UK, the risk of winding up among the 52 killed by the explosions on 7 July 2005 is dwarfed by the risk of being one of the 35,000 killed every year on British roads. Similarly, the risk of living or working in Manhattan is infinitessimal compared to being at the sharp end of our depleted-uranium Armageddon in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon and – once November’s midterms are out the way – Iran. So let me make David Duff’s day, and spell out what I’m sure he has long believed: I’ll take my chances with good police work against lunatic bombers any day, if this is the alternative.
9 Comments
As a pagan, yes, absolutely it does. It is called revenge sweetheart. If someone gets you, get them back double. If we were still a Christian nation I could understand why you might feel upset, but as we are not, forget that turning the other cheek and obliterate the enemy, and anyone connected with them. You know it makes sense.
So fuck it, let’s just call it The War For Revenge and bin all this other crap. By the way I’m a card-carrying Atheist, so don’t put me down there with the believers, “sweetheart”.
“If someone gets you, get them back double”
Well okay, darling, but what in fuck’s name has that got to do with all the tens of thousands of Iraqi corpses?
Kisses, etc.
That was a good post, John, and even at one remove, so to speak, it brings home the personal in contrast to the political.
Even so, ‘fings’ are what they are. War was declared on 9/11 and we, meaning ‘the West’ needs must fight it, either now, or later. I don’t think that so far we have fought it very well, or to be precise, very shrewdly, but it was ever thus. Generals (and politicians) tend to start by fighting the last war, not the one they are facing now. But usually they learn – the hard way – and usually at some-one else’s expense!
I don’t pretend to know how it will turn out but matters of great moment depend on the outcome so let us hope that the new leaders of both the US and the UK fight the good fight, or at least, the successful fight. And before anyone jumps in, that does not entail the total destruction of Islam and its adherents.
“War was declared on 9/11”
Man, you fucking guys have such a raging boner for this fucking war bullshit, don’t you? (In a strictly metaphorical sense in your case, of course.)
Who declared war on who? Why? Who are “we” at war with, and what are “we” at war over? Please also explain how the war in Iraq fits in this context.
I would try, Snotty, but without wishing to be rude I think it would be beyond you. Just sink back into that bog of ‘Oirish’ mythology and don’t worry your pretty little self about it. Just leave it to us grown-ups!
Yeah, I thought as much.
They hate your freedom, Dave! Be afraid, be very afraid.
Historians are going to have a fieldday with this decade, because so much is recorded. Teachers will use it to show how easy it is for the facists to manipulate your average right-of-centre Joe toward the belief that another holocaust is a good idea.
No “but how could it happen in civilised country?” soul searching will be required. Every little step of the brainwashing process has been carefully recorded, in first-person detail, by a million WarBloggers.
Word.