I recently saw the film “The Siege,” made in 1998, about terrorist bombs going off in New York City. Of course, Middle Eastern men planted the bombs and soldier Bruce Willis, taking marching orders from the president, imposes martial law, rounds up first all those from the Mideast, then other foreigners and finally U.S. citizens and puts them in camps.
FBI agent Denzel Washington and CIA agent Annette Benning try to solve the crimes and repeatedly clash with the fascist determination of Willis.
At one point, Washington finds himself in a room with Willis and Benning, other soldiers and a naked Arab sitting in a chair. He’s about to be tortured and Washington rails against Willis’ shredding of the Constitution and says if the man is tortured American ideals don’t mean anything, and the terrorists have won. “They’ve already won,” he said before being escorted out. The next shot is down a hallway as Washington leans against the wall with the Arab’s screams echoing.
This movie stirred up controversy when it was released. Arab-Americans complained of stereotyping and said it assumes they are all guilty of the crimes of a few. History is chockablock with such stereotyping. Actually, however, the movie was a prescient warning of the knee-jerk xenophobia and nationalism that the government could succumb to if there ever was an attack.
Flash forward to the post-Sept. 11 period and all the worst excesses of the Bush administration make Willis’ odious activities look like a day in the park. You could say the movie stereotyped the government response, but I’m sure the filmmakers were surprised that when the actual attack occurred the government lived up to its fascist billing in the movie.
Yes, Virginia, the terrorists have won because the Bush administration has anointed them omnipotent bogeymen, living around the corner, slipping underneath beds and hatching evil of biblical proportions. We should be afraid of everyone who may appear suspicious, though suspicious to one may be normal to another.
In an article in USA Today politicians are seeking to ban trains carrying chemicals from going through highly populated areas. It’s not because of some environmental concern. It’s because terrorists might get to these rail cars. Let’s all shudder at once. William Flynn of the Homeland Security Department, said, “We can reduce risk but we can’t eliminate it.” That’ll keep us shuddering.
In Miami, neighbors called the FBI on a group of men they say were training in a warehouse for possible terrorist attacks. A woman said she talked to one of the men and said he seemed brainwashed and told her he’d given his spirit to Allah. Yeah, that seems like a statement from a terrorist trying to keep a low profile. Her words just sounded phony. Who is brainwashed here?
The FBI arrested seven men, said one of their targets might be the Sears Tower in Chicago (that’s original). The FBI released no names or charges. What happens to the men is anyone’s guess. So much for America being a country of laws.
Robert Mueller, head of the FBI, admitted that al Qaeda was “not largely represented” in the U.S., but he worries about homegrown terrorists, “people we don’t know about.” Wow, that is scary. Now it’s no longer al Qaeda we have to worry about but what Miami Police Chief John Timoney called “radicalized domestic groups.” Oh well, as long as we have something to worry about.
We’ll be hearing a lot more about phantom terrorists in the next few months. Republicans have to wage war against reason and democracy to preserve their lock on the House and Senate this fall. The sheep in the electorate need a few good jolts of paranoia to keep them in the right (wing) state of mind.
Perhaps there is a tie-in here with another Gannett story that said 25 percent of Americans have no one to confide in, up from 10 percent in 1985. “You don’t usually see that kind of big social change in a couple decades,” said Lynn Smith-Lovin, a Duke sociology professor who helped conduct the study. Some of the reasons trotted out include suburban living, too much work and too little time.
These are all solid, I’m sure, but what about the suspicions and fears everyone seems to have in this terrorist-under-every-bed age we live in? We’re encouraged by the government to watch our neighbors, report our neighbors, be suspicious of everyone, guard our privacy and on and on. We treat our fellow Americans like enemies, and we seal ourselves off out of fear. Oh yeah, the terrorists have won even if they never strike again.