Brazzil
October 2001
Terrorism in the US
I could not sit and watch the one-sided views on the attacks America has suffered last week. The non-American view of that fact leads us to the effects that the attacks themselves and possible retaliation may have on Brazil (and other countries, of course). That's why I decided to write the article below.
The first thing one must ask now is what a Brazilian has to do with the attacks that have just happened in NYC and Washington D.C.? My answer is that the attacks do affect Brazil, all the other nations in the world and the further effects of them on humanity will depend on the American response to them.
To show America's power through an armed conflict is a childish and not very intelligent reaction, and makes no sense for a number of reasons. One is that most of Afghanistan's population know nothing but hunger and misery caused by two decades of war. They do not have a clue as to what " The Taliban" or "New York" is, so remote are they from what we call "civilization". Those people are just as innocent as the people who were killed in the towers of the WTC.
Second is that whoever is responsible for the attacks, is ready to respond to retaliation with even bigger and unexpected force. No one is going to tease a giant and not expect a reaction. Further yet, knowing that the giant will react, any being with a minimum of intelligence would have an even bigger (and worse) surprise for later. Responding violently to the attacks will just generate an endless chain of violence that will result in loss for humanity as a whole.
Also, we have to consider every face of the subject. No American has ever cried over the millions of people who die every day in Third World Countries, victims (directly or indirectly) of American foreign policies designed to keep America on top. The average American is not able to see that. They are not supposed to see that link. That is why they think they are poor victims who have been attacked for no reason and that is why they have been asking so insistently for retaliation.
The attack upon a member of the United Nations should be considered as an attack upon all. Who guarantees that if Brazil had been attacked, the States would give us their support? More than once before America turned its back on the interests of humanity in order to serve its own interests. They want us to stop polluting, but they keep on polluting in order to maintain the growth of their economy. They give us the hypocritical speech of tolerance, but when they are asked to do the same, the president leaves an International Conference Against Racism.
Before World War II, Europe was what America is now. The parents of my generation studied French at school. In a couple of decades, America may no longer be what it is. And the same way I had to learn how to speak English in order to achieve better positions in an "Americanized" world, who knows what language my children will have to learn at school? And one day, tired of suffering under the feet of a ruling country, America may be seen as terrorist, and they will want their reasons to be heard.
Dione Rocha is a Brazilian communications major concerned about social issues. You can contact the author at dionerocha@hotmail.com