The White House Game

New York
State Capital: Albany
Admission to the union: July 26th, 1788 as 11th state.

9-11 and Globalism.

History was being made as the world watched the events of 9/11 on its TV screen, and has not been the same since. As commercial jetliners crashed into iconic buildings and a field that fateful morning the finger was pointed at Al Qaeda. America’s reaction was swift. Since the end of communism the US lacked a global opponent but now had one in Islamic extremism. Originating in Afghanistan, Islamist groups opposed the US presence in the Middle East and beyond. US foreign policy imperatives promoting Globalisation allowed US business interests entry to the economies of Muslim countries which created a backlash. Extremist groups won support by opposing American domination and the pathway to 9/11 was paved. In reply to 9/11 Afghanistan and Iraq were invaded and Muslim culture vilified. As the cost spirals, the US response may well sink their economy.

There is no universally accepted definition of terrorism however a United Nations report described terrorism as any “act intended to cause death or serious bodily harm to civilians or non-combatants with the purpose of intimidating a population or compelling governments or international organizations to do or abstain from doing certain acts” (1). The world became only too aware of terrorism as it woke to the graphic images of passenger jets being used as missiles on September 11, 2001. The new Millennium which was greeted with universal optimism instantly turned to terror. The 21^st Century has been overshadowed by terrorism, its effects and costs.

According to the official version of events 19 Islamic extremists, masterminded by Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (2), right hand man of Osama bin Laden, hijacked two American Airlines and two United Airlines commercial jetliners on domestic routes on the morning of Tuesday 11 September 2001. At 8:46am the first plane crashed into New York’s iconic Twin Towers, north tower and 17 minutes later the southern tower was struck by the second plane. At 9:38am the third jetliner skilfully ploughed into a section of the Pentagon and at 10:06 the last hijacked jetliner crashed into a Pennsylvania field. At 9:59 the Twin Towers south tower spectacularly collapsed followed 29 minutes later by the north tower. At 5:20pm the nearby 47 storey WTC7 building collapsed. Approximately 3000 people died in these multiple atrocities (3).

No organisation claimed responsibility for the attacks and no demands were received yet within minutes of the first attack, fingers were being pointed at Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaida network (4). The neo-conservative Bush Administration, used the events of 9/11 to justify invading Afghanistan and without a United Nations mandate put together a ‘coalition of the willing’ to invade Iraq under the pretext that Saddam Hussein’s regime was connected with 9/11 and held stockpiles of WMD’s (weapons of mass destruction). The number of documented civilian deaths in Iraq, following the US invasion is 101,366 (7) and Bilmes and Stiglitz (9)puts the cost of the war to the US taxpayer at US$3 trillion. The body count in Afghanistan is estimated at 20,000 (8) and has so far cost America US$425 billion (6). Afghanistan’s annual GDP is a mere US$27.3 billion (5).

The US’ heavy handed reaction to the events of 9/11 can be traced to the demise of communism a decade earlier. With the fall of the Berlin Wall and collapse of the Soviet Union, the US was left by default as the world’s sole superpower. One by one, communist regimes fell and capitalisms ideological triumph over socialism was cemented in the ballot box. With no one to oppose it, the US has had a virtual free hand to implement its foreign policy anywhere as it sees fit. Without a major enemy to challenge America it also became difficult to justify the billions of tax payer dollars devoted to military spending. If America was to continue investing in defence on the same scale as the Cold War, it needed to find a new enemy. The neo-conservatives search for a new bogeyman was over and the justification for harsher measures was found in the image of Osama bin Laden.

Many commentators see the rise of fundamentalist Islamic groups as a reaction to the US’ unchallenged global power. During the Soviet’s Afghanistan War (1979-1989) the US provided funding, weapons and training to extremist groups, including Al Qaeda (10). While these Mujahedeen groups were busy fighting the US’ Soviet foe, they enjoyed the support of America. Once the Soviets left Afghanistan these groups turned on US ‘crusader’ imperialism. Jihads against the US and their allies followed with attacks on US Global interests throughout the world.

US administrations used their global dominance to promote, if not enforce, their belief in Globalisation (11). While successive US administrations preached democracy and freedom, in practice they preferred to deal with authoritarian regimes who supported US economic interests. If democracy was bad for US business, it was preferable to avoid it. Throughout the world the US supported repressive right wing military or authoritarian regimes, especially in the Middle East. All the Gulf’s semi-feudal monarchies enjoy the full backing of the US while they support America, without any calls for openness or free elections. Yemen’s repressive regime could count on US support as too could Algeria, Egypt and even Iraq at various times. Many Muslims cynically believed the US was only interested in controlling the Middle East’s oil wealth. While the Governments of the Muslim countries of the Middle East accepted their place in the Globalised economy, they could rely on US support.

Globalisation has become a chief political objective of US foreign policy in the last generation. Globalisation involves the integration of the world’s economy through the removal of barriers to trade. Globalisation provides multinational corporations access to markets in the expanding developing world, where their marketing prowess typically allows them to dominate. Many; perhaps most, global multinational corporations are based in the US. In the oil rich Muslim countries of the Middle East, Globalisation policies provides opportunities for US corporations to earn vast profits for their US shareholders. The presence of US economic, as well as political interests in Islamic countries is deeply offensive to many Muslims and Islamist terror groups win support by preaching an anti American and Anti Global message. Overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness, many Muslims have resorted to extreme acts to express their displeasure at what they see as US world domination. The events of 9/11 can be regarded as the ultimate backlash against the US’ policy of Globalisation and political domination (11).

The events of 9/11 had dramatic political and economic repercussions that are still being felt, and paid for, a decade later. While these terrorist atrocities ultimately strengthened the US’ foreign position, their economy began to count the cost immediately. The attacks had an instant impact on the world’s travel industry with a dramatic reduction in air travel. America’s airlines were hard hit and most of them filed for bankruptcy protection. Other industries which were directly affected included the insurance sector and Wall Street. While 9/11 produced many economic losers there were also many winners. Ironically, while America viewed itself as under attack, global investors sought safety in US Treasury Bonds. The heaviest bill for 9/11 has ultimately come from the US reaction to the attack. The cost of America’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, coupled with domestic tax cuts provided by the Bush Administration paved the way for the GFC. As Blimes and Stiglitz put it (9)“The Iraq adventure has seriously weakened the U.S. economy, whose woes now go far beyond loose mortgage lending. You can't spend $3 trillion...on a failed war abroad and not feel the pain at home”. While the US felt it needed to flex its muscle in answer to 9/11, this muscle flexing may ultimately knock the stuffing out of the US economy which remains stuck in the doldrums.

9/11 has also had a deeply traumatising psychological impact on the world which does not bear a dollar price tag. Airline travel has become inconvenient, and sometimes unpleasant as a result of the upgraded security measures. Muslims have been vilified throughout the world by Hollywood, the media and in everyday life. People have become suspicious and cautious. Fear has been promoted. Civil libertarians point out that personal freedoms have been removed with barely a murmur (12); accepted ‘for security reasons’. Terrorists, real and imaginary have brought Muslim culture and customs under suspicion and mistrust. Muslims are suffering Islamic cultural victimisation in many countries. All this has happened as a consequence of 9/11.

The word ‘terror’ may have many meanings but as the world watched, it was in no doubt it was viewing terrorism live on 9/11. As the four domestic jetliners crashed into the Twin Towers, Pentagon and a rural field with no one claiming responsibility or making demands, the blame was quickly fixed on Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaeda. With capitalisms triumph over communism the US needed a new enemy to justify its global military presence and the attacks of 9/11 provided it. US foreign and economic policies promoting Globalisation created a Muslim backlash. Muslim groups funded by the US in Afghanistan turned their attention to the US once the Soviets collapsed and won support in the Middle East by opposing US economic and political domination of the region. 9/11 resulted in the US invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, the implementation of security measures and suspicion of all things Muslim. A decade after the atrocity, the cost of America’s reaction may cripple them yet. The 21^st Century is one of terror, born unhappily on 11 September 2001.

10th June 2011.

References:

1. http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/42c39b6d4.html

2. http://www.9-11commission.gov/

3. http://911research.wtc7.net/sept11/timeline/index.html 11 Sep timeline

4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwq04_KhCeI&feature=related

5. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/af.html afghan gdp.

6. http://costofwar.com/en/ Afghan war cost

7. http://www.iraqbodycount.org/

8. http://www.unknownnews.net/casualties.html

9. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/07/AR2008030702846.html $3trillion

10. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3996/is_200304/ai_n9199132/