September 11: To forget or not to forget

My name is Huan Ting Lee, a freshman, and I am here attempting to add yet another international perspective to the discussion at hand. I come from the tiny island-state of Singapore, which means I practically traveled halfway round the world to reach here. Right now, I’m vacillating between a concentration in International Relations and History, and my undertaking of this course, the history of international relations theory, is somewhat an awkward attempt at reconciliation.

Let me first place a disclaimer: The events of 9/11 resonated as soundly in Singapore as they did in the USA – the towers, as they went down, took our confidences as well. It was not so much the act itself which affected us, but rather the ramifications: The shattering of the façade of peace, the toughened security, the shaken confidence of investors, and the very real fear of being “next”. It was a trying period for us back in Singapore, and I can only imagine how much worse it must have been in New York.

It has become fashionable to take up the cudgel of justice and summon the rhetoric of 9/11, using it as the reason why we are spending so much to achieve what has thus far been so little. I would contend however, that we, while learning the lessons from 9/11, should move on and forget ( even forgive?) the act itself, which has become the casus belli in the war against terror.
The very act of striking into the heart of America, the purported pillar of democracy in the world, was as symbolic as it was devastating. By dwelling upon the event, by focusing the attention of the world on it, we are in effect playing into the hands of the terrorists by helping them achieve what they want: a world turned upside down, and a statement of defiance and power to be transmitted globally. By not allowing ourselves to move on we are in effect closing the doors to normal life, instead choosing to stay in the one paralyzed and poisoned by the actions of those individuals on that day. This is the danger of being too engrossed with history that we fail to notice we are no longer living in it.

Terrorism itself is a tenuous concept. After all, one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter. September 11 has largely been the catalyst for efforts against terror, but who are we to judge what terror is, given the devastation the US has inflicted upon thousands in Afghanistan and Iraq on idealistic and pseudo-pragmatic ground. Much sentiment in this war against terror stems from a vendetta sown when the planes crashed into the twin towers. If we forget the casus belli, or even just reduce the grossly disproportionate amount of emphasis based on it, we could perhaps hope that the war might not be waged so intensely. Let me just round up by concluding: I am not an apologist and do not condone the tragic events of September 11, but I believe the true mark of courage and strength would be to stand up after a fall, and not to dwell on it.

Posted by Huan Ting Lee on September 18, 2007 02:26 AM | Permalink

« Foreign Policy of Vulnerability | Main | Should We Forget 9/11? »