Today, Sept. 11, 2002, is indeed a time to remember those slain
in last year’s attacks. But it is also a time to reflect on
what we’ve learned since last year, and sadly, it
doesn’t seem like we have learned much.
More than 3,000 people died last year because a large chunk of
the world hates the U.S. government ““ its wealth, its
commercialism, and its foreign policy ““ enough to mass murder
its civilians.
And not a single one of the United States’ new
anti-terrorism policies is going to dispel that hatred.
The USA PATRIOT Act, Operation TIPS, the legally questionable
detention of al-Qaeda troops in Cuba, and other measures taken by
the Bush administration to protect the nation from terrorists come
at the cost of many citizens’ civil liberties. Because we are
in constant fear, this legislation may seem justified to many
Americans as necessary for the protection of the majority. But the
last time this argument was made during a time of war, Japanese
Americans suffered internment.
Sept. 11 and the reaction to it taught us the importance of
learning about foreign cultures and keeping abreast of current
events, so that we can make educated decisions at the ballot box
and hold leaders accountable to policies we believe are best for
the development of global peace.
Sept. 11 and its aftermath also taught us we should exploit
every means of diplomacy and explore every option for cooperation
among nations so the United States can keep itself informed of the
suffering ““ in the form of poverty, war, etc. ““ that
makes other nations resent it, nations who turn to terrorists for
what they see as justice.
What has the United States done instead?
The president remarked last year after the attacks that nations
are “either with us or against us” ““ and the
remark has sadly typified our foreign policy ever since. Already
this year, the United States has refused to participate in the
International Criminal Court ““ a United Nations tribunal
designed to try perpetrators of crimes against humanity ““
because it doesn’t want its soldiers subject to the
court’s jurisdiction.
President Bush also said earlier this summer that whether
nations support his campaign against Iraq will be a testament to
their willingness to continue fighting terrorism ““ isolating
those who refuse to conform to his military endeavors.
Bush has managed to portray the world as either good
(U.S.-friendly) or evil (those who challenge the United States).
But realistically, the world cannot be as easily divided into black
and white as the president portrays. This line is allowed to exist,
though, because of low levels of public awareness about the
world.
At UCLA and other universities across the country, students have
the luxury of taking courses on American foreign policy and other
relevant topics, like the Middle East conflict and Islamic culture.
But the bulk of America is unfortunately left with one dominant
source of information and thought: the national media. What they
get from the media is either advertising campaigns, sensationalized
newscasts or government propaganda ““ and this is supposed to
educate them. The vast majority of Americans probably can’t
name the leader of North Korea or Iran, but they probably do know
they are part of Bush’s “Axis of Evil.”
These are long term problems, though, that likely have no
solution. The best thing the United States can do today to honor
the memory of those who died is declare Sept. 11 a national
holiday. Every other national holiday to date has unfortunately
degenerated into just a day off work or school; they’ve lost
meaning to the new generation.
Having Sept. 11 as a national holiday can give Americans of this
generation a day that actually has deep significance to them. It
will ensure at least one day out of the year people will stop to
think of the many Americans that died in the terrorists attacks,
and ask themselves, “Is America doing anything to change its
ways so that this doesn’t happen again?”