10 Years On

At the 9/11 memorial service outside the American Embassy in London today a brass band played Auld Lang Syne. At first I wondered at the aptitude of the use of the immortalised words of Robert Burns most often associated with drunken New Years' Eve revelry.

It didn't take very long to start to make sense to me.

To encapsulate the sense of loss felt by the families, friends and loved ones of the nearly three thousand casualties of the attack on the World Trade Centre is a task so momentous I won't even bother trying.

To do so would be an insult to all concerned.

My own experiences are so far removed from that sense of loss I recognise how ill equipped I am to describe it and how ill deserving I am to stick my oar in.

I do, however, think this is an opportune moment to reflect on the lessons learned from an event that has defined our time.

Each of us has in some way been affected by the western world's knee jerk reaction to the atrocities of the 11th of September 2001, the War on Terror.

The War on Terror. A prospect as brilliant as it is ludicrous.

No army or administration or government or world leader can hope to win a war against terror any more than they can hope to win a war against greed or anger or jealousy.

Terror cannot be bombed. It is not something you can throw any amount of drones at.

And while there have been some victories, most notably the killing of Osama bin Laden and the downfall of Saddam Hussein , a victory in a war against terror is, by the very nature of the battle, a fleeting one.

Like the Hydra of Greek Mythology, sever one head and two will spring up to replace it.
The very act of engaging in battle with forces like Al Qaeda has helped to cement these men's status in their own minds as Holy warriors and martyrs in the making.

Meanwhile at home politicians reap the rewards of the currency of fear. "Vote for me, I'm keeping you safe!" seemed to be the rationale that got the Bush administration through two terms.

Meanwhile civilians are tortured by armies funded by the tax payer. Legislation is rushed through to detain suspected terrorists without charge.

Iraq is invaded under the flimsiest of pretexts despite demonstrably having neither weapons of mass destruction nor links to Al Qaeda.

All in the name of freedom.

If you are sneering derisively at my words then I urge you to watch Adam Curtis' fantastic documentary The Power of Nightmares before you condemn me completely.

Let me be completely clear here. In no way am I trying to detract from the atrocity of what happened on the 11th of September 2011. It is a tragedy that will change the world forever.

But it is up to us to make sure that it changes the world in all the right ways.

The overwhelming message of the various 9/11 memorials is one of unity, solidarity and understanding that must transcend borders of nationality, culture and language, which brings me back to Auld Lang Syne.

While I am in no way suggesting that the loss of those three thousand people be forgot and never brought to mind it is important that we honour their memory without supporting a war that generates atrocities such as torture and the murder and sexual molestation of civilians on both sides.

As I said before terror is not something that can be dismantled with military force. We need to eradicate the political, social and economic inequalities that create terrorists.

How?

No idea.

....

Wii tennis?