THT
11 September 2001: a date that forcefully entered the annals of history. Twenty-four years ago today, we remember with sorrow. On that day, the entire planet looked on in shock as airliners, transformed into weapons resembling cruise missiles, brought down the very symbols of the vitality of international trade in a world that was beginning to globalise. These symbols were the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York, in the United States of America. The unprecedented audacity of the attack, the magnitude of the devastation, and the global emotion it provoked were matched only by the great-power status of the nation struck at its very heart.
Once the natural compassion expected in the face of such a tragedy had passed, a retrospective fear spread across all segments of humanity who had previously believed themselves to be sheltered from terrorism — this malign, obscurantist and nihilistic threat against which a merciless war was to be waged. However, despite the vast mobilisation vowing to eradicate terrorism, it has spread and grown stronger, refining its methods and constantly targeting new sectors. It is expanding into new territories through its disturbing movements and leading to more crime.
Despite the imbalance evident in the media and propaganda spheres, all other factors being equal, how many terrorist tragedies occur across other regions of the world, particularly within Africa, which has become both through circumstance and by the designs of certain powers, a refuge for zealots aspiring to martyrdom, embodying the most egregious denial of our shared humanity?
Indeed, how could terrorism not flourish in our socio-political and economic spaces, which are still consolidating, when so many entities exploit this deadly scourge as a means of pressure to pursue predatory ambitions? How could terrorism not prosper when it increasingly appears to offer a fast-track route to political recognition on the world stage?
At the current pace of events, it is unlikely that the macabre spectre looming over us will dissipate any time soon unless we resolve to break the vicious cycle of neither victory nor defeat in our struggle against terrorism. Failure to do so would mean accepting the burden of an endless war that would demand a great deal of energy and resources.
Failing to take decisive action to defeat terrorism would mean accepting that tragedies like those already afflicting us would multiply to our detriment, with scarcely any concern shown by the international community.
Admittedly, the spectacle is not the same; a suicide bomber does not have the same global resonance as a kamikaze aeroplane. Yet the vicious cycle of terrorist attacks continues. Waves of compassion certainly differ, as emotional responses follow diplomatic habits shaped by the power of the victim. However, our pain after each terrorist attack is incomparable to that experienced by others, as each nation lives and relives its own 11 September in its own way.
NO to terrorism!!!
NO to obscurantists!!!
NO to nihilists!!!
Let us all remain vigilant.
