Sep 15, 2015

The "Enormous Opportunity" Politicians Found in 9/11

For normal people, terrorism and wars are tragedies. For our “leaders” they're something very different. Jon Schwarz put together a short awful 9/11 quiz to help explain this.
By Jon Schwarz / theintercept.com
Image #: 9246    The towers of the World Trade Center pour smoke shortly after being struck by hijacked commercial airplanes in New York on September 11, 2001.  Three hijacked planes slammed into the Pentagon and New York's landmark World Trade Center on Tuesday, demolishing the two 110-story towers that symbolize U.S. financial might.  The East River and Manhattan Bridge are in the foreground.   REUTERS/Brad Rickerby /Landov
Photo: Brad Rickerby/Reuters /Landov

1. What is this?

A. The World Trade Center in flames on September 11, 2001.
B. A grotesque act of mass murder.
C. The start of a lifetime of suffering for everyone who loved someone who died at the World Trade Center.
D. AN OPPORTUNITY, AN ENORMOUS OPPORTUNITY!

The correct answer, obviously, is D.

“Through my tears I see opportunity.”
— George W. Bush, September 20, 2001

“If the collapse of the Soviet Union and 9/11 bookend a major shift in international politics, then this is a period not just of grave danger, but of enormous opportunity. Before the clay is dry again, America and our friends and our allies must move decisively to take advantage of these new opportunities.”
— Condoleezza Rice, April 29, 2002

MOMBASA, KENYA:  Kenyan Red Cross volunteers carry the body of one of the victims of the Paradise Hotel bomb blast in  Mombasa 28 November 2002. Thirteen people including the attackers, were killed at the Israeli-owned hotel in a suicide bombing that targeted a package tour group organized by the Paradise Geographic agency. AFP PHOTO/Pedro UGARTE (Photo credit should read PEDRO UGARTE/AFP/Getty Images)
Photo: Pedro Ugarte/AFP/Getty Images

2.  What is this?

A. The al Qaeda bombing of a hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, on November 28, 2002.
B. The place where terrorists murdered 13 people, including Israeli brothers Noy and Dvir Anter, ages 12 and 13.
C. The location where, CNN reported, “screaming children covered in blood searched desperately for their parents amid the wreckage.”
D. A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY!

Again, of course, the answer is D.

“Israeli officials view last week’s terrorist attacks … as reinforcing their argument that Israel and the West are battling a single enemy. Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meeting with ministry staff in the aftermath of the Kenya attacks, said that the incidents had presented Israel with a ‘golden opportunity’ to strengthen its strategic ties with the United States and other Western countries.”
— The Forward, December 6, 2002

TAL AFAR, IRAQ - JANUARY 18:  Samar Hassan screams after her parents were killed by U.S. Soldiers with the 25th Infantry Division in a shooting January 18, 2005 in Tal Afar, Iraq. The troops fired on the Hassan family car when it unwittingly approached them during a dusk patrol in the tense northern Iraqi town. Parents Hussein and Camila Hassan were killed instantly, and a son Racan, 11, was seriously wounded in the abdomen. Racan, who lost the use of his legs, was treated later in the U.S.  (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

Photo: Chris Hondros/Getty Images

3. What is this?

A. Five-year-old Iraqi Samar Hassan, covered in her parents’ blood shortly after they were killed by U.S. soldiers at a checkpoint in 2005.
B. The reason why Hassan now says: “I always dream about my father and mother.”
C. Something every American should be atoning for until the day we die.
D. A GOLDEN AND UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY!

The correct answer is D. Duh.

“Targeting America in Iraq in terms of economy and losses in life is a golden and unique opportunity. Do not waste it only to regret it later.”
— Osama bin Laden, December, 2004

Probably my point here is clear. But I will go ahead and spell it out.

For normal people, terrorism and wars are purely and only tragedies.

For our would-be “leaders,” however — in every country — the situation is different. Of course, they pretend to feel the same as normal people. They give teary-eyed speeches about sorrow and suffering.

And yet, behind their tears, there seems to be something else. When they think no one is looking, you glimpse another expression flitting across their face. You think it couldn’t be. But — yes, incredibly enough, they’re smiling. Because before the bodies are cold, before the mothers and fathers have stopped shrieking, our leaders are thinking:

This is really a fantastic opportunity.

And for them, it is. It’s an opportunity for them to do whatever they wanted to do before, but couldn’t get away with. It’s an opportunity for them to smear anyone who criticizes them as disloyal. It’s an opportunity for them to become much more powerful than they ever could be in peacetime, to implement whatever their favorite shock doctrine is. Leaders love war. That’s why there’s so much of it.

It’s understandably hard for most people to come to terms with this. It’s terrifying to believe your leaders may secretly be, uh, not so sad if you die. But all you have to do is listen to them, and they’ll tell you.

Can we change this? Maybe. But the first step in changing reality is facing it, no matter how ugly and frightening it is.

Caption: Second World Trade Tower photo retouched for dust and scratches.

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