A letter from Vikram Singh in Sri Lanka
Dear Friends and Loved Ones,
This was intended to be a wrap up of views and experiences during --- and a discussion
of my disappointment with --- the World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South
Africa. I went to Durban with the International Centre for Ethnic Studies and also
reported on the conference for the Voice of America. I returned to Sri Lanka just
hours before the attacks in New York and Washington.
I begin this message in Sri Lanka's nightly blackout, three hour cuts due to a drought
that starves the island's hydropower.
Like so many of you, I cannot describe the sensation of watching the second 767 strike
the World Trade Center, of seeing a structure that seemed as permanent as the earth
itself collapse into oblivion. The feeling that floats to the top must be despair.
Living myself in a world of terror and reprisal (though we are far from the radar
screens of the world), I also feel despair at the surge of bloodlust on the networks
and the calls for vengeance from people, politicians, and the media.
Recent attacks on the US have been called evil acts of madmen. Oklahoma City, the
Embassies in Africa, the USS Cole, all seen as acts of irrational evil. Evil they
are. Nothing else can describe such brutal massacres, such wanton destruction. They
are not, however, acts of madmen. None of them. The danger of such rhetoric should
not be underestimated.
In my few years in Sri Lanka, I have seen dozens of brutal terrorist attacks, the
most shocking and brazen the recent destruction of 12 civilian and military aircraft
on the tarmac at the international airport. I have walked among the dead and reported
the carnage. The evil of terrorism touches countries worldwide. War and insurgency
have killed over 140000 Sri Lankans in the last 18 years and left a million displaced.
The population of the island is only 18 million. Most terrorist attacks here strike
the cities and kill innocent civilians. The government often retaliates with military
operations and air strikes.
In this setting, the rebels are the "terrorists" and government retaliation
is justified and celebrated by much of the general public in government held areas.
Such attacks are supported by the international community as the defense of a sovereign
nation in a state of war.
But reprisals can never stop the terrorist attacks. Every time a military operation
claims an innocent son or daughter or parent or sibling, another terrorist --- or
freedom fighter --- is born. The cycle is perpetual. Security can only be flawed;
retaliation, however effective, can only contribute to more violence.
Sri Lanka is a gauntlet of military and police checkpoints. Vehicles are inspected
going into shopping malls. You have to reach the airport 3 hours in advance and pass
through multiple checks and searches, multiple x-rays, and at least one hand search
of all baggage. The bombings continue. The airport remained vulnerable. Security
is omnipresent and it is naturally discriminatory, often profiling people of the
same ethnic community as the rebels. Checkpoints and searches do not make you feel
safe. Because the underlying causes of the violence are not fully addressed, the
attacks continue.
Undoubtedly, the attacks on New York and Washington can be attributed to sloppy security
at many airports and twin failures by American intelligence and by American defense
forces. Security must be tightened and the citizens will have to accept the restrictions
for their own safety.
But in America, too, increased security cannot stop terror attacks. A single individual
willing to die for a cause is virtually unstoppable. The fabric that holds diverse
societies together is an uncompromising defense of individual rights and civil liberties.
Security arrangements can prove dangerous if they target or harm specific segments
of a population, thus driving people to extremism. Retaliation, unless surgically
precise, will always create a mushroom affect---new men and women willing to die
if their loved ones are slaughtered. We see it now in America: Thousands would die
to exact vengeance on those responsible for Tuesday's attacks.
But we are doomed to an ongoing cycle of terror unless the struggle Americans are
willing to die for is one for justice --- not revenge.
Fighting evil can only succeed if the approach to it is sophisticated and profound.
It must be rooted in the most difficult strictures of the scriptures of the major
religions and the deepest springs of the human heart. It must be rooted in forgiveness.
Force must be tempered by understanding; punitive action complemented by positive
action.
Around the roots of many terrorist organizations there often lies a thick layer of
legitimate grievances from which violence drew its nutrients. This is true of the
IRA, the LTTE in Sri Lanka, the PLO, the Kosovar Liberation Army, and many others.
South Africa's ANC spent generations as a "terrorist" organization. Many
vicious forces in world were equipped by major powers, including the United States
(think of the Taliban itself and the Contras).
In Hollywood, attacks like those in New York and Washington are the designs of madmen
bent on wealth and/or power. They are thwarted by mythic heroes in the form of Harrison
Ford or Arnold Schwarzenagger. The movie stars didn't appear on Tuesday to save the
day. Similarly, there were no madmen. Acts of war like these are rooted in strategy;
the evil of real life terrorism is based on concrete beliefs and serious efforts
to advance those beliefs, often through evil actions.
To fight these forces --- who also believe they are fighting for justice --- countries
must answer questions who and how. They must also look beyond to questions of why.
The U.S. needs to ask and seriously try to answer these difficult questions: Why
do these people hate us enough to do such horrible things? What will the cost of
our retaliation be and how can it be just and accurate? The suspects in these cases
are not after mere wealth and power. While retribution is necessary, the cost of
that retribution must be estimated. Nations can easily slip into an endless spiral
of carnage like that engulfing Israel and Palestine, like
Sri Lanka, like so many devastated places on earth. I despair for the victims in
New York and Washington and Pennsylvania, for their families, and I dread learning
of the friends I too must have lost yesterday. I send my wishes to the rescue workers
and hope the preservation of life remains on the top of everyone's mind. I despair
for a world in which understanding and empathy are victims of political and economic
convenience and for leaders around the world who do not --- perhaps cannot --- realize
the possible results of their actions.
I just returned from an international forum from which the US withdrew. America cannot
remain separate from the global community; it must realize that in order to have
global support---against terrorism and for many other global concerns---it must at
least participate in global processes. It must openly defend its beliefs and interests
and attempt to build consensus for its positions. It's positions must be debated
inside and outside of the country. It must empathize and attempt to understand the
concerns and beliefs of other states and other groups of people. The withdrawal from
Kyoto, plans for missile defense, refusing to sign biological weapons and land mine
agreements, rejecting an international criminal court, all of these cannot be seen
as disconnected from the future of US security. Though I have strong opinions on
all of these, I am not passing judgement on American positions here. I am saying
that such decisions cannot be taken as if the US exists in a disconnected world.
The United States remains the greatest hope for the concept of mutual accommodation
and tolerance. With many hiccups, we generally live together in tolerance and even
celebration of diversity. We allow all people the pursuit of happiness. As the United
States chooses a path after Tuesday's tragic loss, may the leaders find the wisdom
to seek out justice, not vengeance, and to take any retaliatory action with care.
May Americans remember to keep one hand ready for positive action if the other is
striking destruction. May we confront enemies with strength and with kindness and
avoid today's global patterns in which one wrong makes a wrong makes a wrong makes
a wrong. . .
May we realize the need to re-engage the world. The stakes cannot be higher.
Vikram Singh
Colombo, Sri Lanka,
September 12, 2001
Please feel free to distribute this opinion in any means you see fit
with my name and contact information.
Lots of love.
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