September 11, 2001. USA. Shock. Mountains of steel and concrete
falling, crushing. Loss. Lives shattered in a moment. Searching for
loved ones buried under mountains of debris.
Horror from the sky.
A brown skinned woman stands at the Red Cross line holding a picture
of her missing husband. Her eyes scan the scene as if looking hard
will bring him back. A young blue eyed man waits nervously for news
of his lover. Hope turns to the realization that partners, friends
and colleagues are gone. Snatched away by a conflict that has
brutally intruded into daily life from the heavens.
In an instant New York City reminds us of Baghdad, Belgrade, Sudan,
the West Bank, Vietnam, Panama, Indonesia, Hiroshima, Vieques.
The images flood our minds. Mothers running through the streets of
Baghdad with their children as U.S. bombs fall like rain. Iraqi
women watching their children die because U.S. bombs and sanctions
have deliberately poisoned the water they need to live. Families
carrying the coffins of sons taken out by made-in-U.S.A. rockets on
the West Bank. Workers at a medicine factory picking through the
rubble in Sudan left by U.S. cruise missiles. Scrambling for cover
in Belgrade as U.S. bombs strike from the air. Looking through the
stadium in Chile where thousands of former lovers, sons, and
daughters lay -- stilled forever by a coup made in Washington.
Gasping with horror as the firing squads of the Indonesian army,
with CIA lists of political opponents in their pockets, massacre
hundreds of thousands, filling the rivers with the dead.
Hiroshima, Vietnam, Baghdad. The war has come home. Even if the
World Trade Center and the Pentagon were symbols of the financial
and military power of U.S. imperialism, the reality is that many
innocent people were killed as a result.
And who is responsible? Who has put the masses in the U.S. in harms
way?
The U.S. power structure points the finger to the Middle East. But
the answer lies on U.S. soil. These imperialists -- who have
perpetrated countless crimes and rained havoc on the people of the
world through their relentless global exploitation and their
military actions -- have created a situation where millions of
people all around the world hate the government of the United
States.
* * * * *
As the dust clears from our eyes, the people in the most powerful
country in the world find ourselves held hostage to the inevitable
repercussions of the actions of this U.S. power structure and their
bloody military machine. Now, besides the horrors that they have
perpetuated against the people around the world --- horrors that
multiply the tears shed in NY and Washington a thousand times --
these cold-hearted imperialists have called forth the same kind of
devastation in the belly of their own beast.
And now they call on the people to support their retribution. They
speak of war and justice. No.
These hegemonic dominators do not have the right to continue on
their warpath. They are the source of so much pain and suffering
around the world. And their current moves to war and military
actions -- against yet unnamed countries and targets -- must be
actively opposed.
Through the shock we seek the truth: Global exploiters and mass
murderers have no right to retribution and they can only bring more
destruction and injustice. To join forces with them, to seek their
protection, will only encourage them to commit more crimes against
the people of our planet.
They show us pictures of Arab youth cheering in the streets of
occupied territory and ask us to be horrified and seek revenge. But
we need to ask why are people in the Middle East and other parts of
the world celebrating the events of September 11: not because
innocent lives were lost, but because an arrogant power that has
been getting away with murder and boasting of its invincibility has
been shown to be vulnerable.
* * * * *
The rulers capitalize on our pain and ask the people to pray with
them. But as the people remember our dead, what is the power
structure doing? Unleashing more war and police state repression.
Preying on the people of the world.
They talk of protecting the people but all the while they are
drawing up lists of names, carrying out raids, and putting vast new
Big Brother measures into place.
They talk of ending terror, through war, and ready their armed
forces to bring about great horrors.
They want us to unite with them and wave their flag. No.
In the tension of the present, we remember the lessons of history.
While they talk of another Pearl Harbor, we are reminded of how the
U.S. government played on people''s fear for their own safety to
rally support for rounding up the Japanese-Americans, confiscating
their property and putting them in concentration camps. We remember
how they tried to paint anyone who opposed them as giving aid and
comfort to the enemy.
And remembering these crimes strengthens our resolve to prevent such
things from happening again. We cannot be intimidated by the
official and unofficial pressure to line up behind their war moves
and their flag. We can see the logic of this poison in the ugly
threats and beatings coming down on Arab people.
As people mourn lost loved ones, as we put our arms around each
other, all who seriously want justice need to reach out to the
people of the world -- to stand together against the crimes of this
system, to strengthen our resistance against every act of war and
repression.
And, as we build our resistance, we need to be crystal clear on the
nature of these oppressors who are hurtling towards a new war: these
arrogant lying creatures do not rule in the interests of the people
of this country or the world. As long as they continue in power the
horrors that come from their system will continue to rain from the
sky.
Revolutionary Communist Party, USA
September 14, 2001
posted on www.rwor.org
The preceeding was/is property of the RCPA. I am in no way challenging their rights to it, I am merely including it because it closely matches my personal opinions.
