The Search for Usama

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THE SEARCH FOR USAMA

by Tom Crumpacker

   "On September 11 we got a message, whether knowingly sent
    or not...The message is that neither our wealth, power nor
    technology makes us superior or even less vulnerable."

In late November the central message of our mass media news
journalists, and the intelligence and military experts and
politicians chosen to join their public discussions, was the
tremendous success of our military defeat of the Taliban. Certainly
it has far surpassed our other recent invasions and bombings such as
Grenada, Panama, Iraq and Kosovo. The key was said to be our new
intelligence gathering and weaponry, technological innovations such
as satellite photography, communication interception, airplanes
without pilots, laser directed bombs and "daisycutters."

But after the early December onslaught of the mountain Tora Bora, our
airwaves have increasingly been dominated by anxious speculation
about the whereabouts of Usama bin Laden. The likelihood of his death
has been mentioned often, but the videos of himself talking to us,
which he keeps sending us, seem to cast doubt on this thesis. On the
floor of the New York Stock Exchange there's recently been much
discussion about locating him, and CNBC viewers are aware that his
capture or escape will have a significant effect on the fortunes of
the market. Several talk show gurus, from their perspective that
money is all-important to everyone, are sure that he'll be brought in
by the 25 million dollar bounty on his head, which they say even his
close associates will find irresistible.

It seems our technology has lost Usama temporarily, however our
President continually assures us that he will be found. Just as he
assures us that our war on terrorism will eventually stamp it out
rather than breed more. (This would indeed be an achievement -- one
need only read the Old Testament to realize that this scourge has
been with us from the beginning.) Where does his confidence come
from?  I was frightened by his speech at the Citadel three weeks ago.
He indicated the struggle between good and evil (the coming
apocalypse?) will be resolved by our innovation and superiority in
military technology. It seemed like a fantasy -- like watching Luke
Skywalker and Darth Vader fighting with electric laser swords in Star
Wars. I fear he's been seeing too many movies.

Economic decentralist and community of place advocate Wendell Berry
has warned that the worst outcome of September 11 will be if we
continue our misplaced confidence that our technologically complex,
centralized global economy is protectable by "national defense," and
if we fail to address the possibility that we are trapped in the
network of transportation and communication that was supposed to make
us free.

On September 11 we got a message, whether knowingly sent or not. 
Unjustifiably killing innocents, the nineteen suicidal terrorists, as
tricksters, were able to use our technology to destroy the huge
buildings symbolizing our global financial and military power. The
message is that neither our wealth, power nor technology makes us
superior or even less vulnerable. Perhaps Usama's continued absence
from our radar screens will help us listen.


[Tom Crumpacker, of Miami Beach, Florida, is the Secretary of the
Miami-Dade Green Party He can be reached at: Crump8@aol.com]

Copyright (c) 2001 by Tom Crumpacker and NY Transfer News.
 
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