tp226.xml

tp226.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2003-03-10

An astute book reviewer in Salon noted that, when thinking of historical
monsters,* it is easier to believe in the evil of the beast than in the
meanness of one man with access to massive mechanisms of destruction.
Just as Hitler might be no different than a ""two-bit punk,"" Osama Bin
Laden might have greater similarity to an average, disgruntled citizen
of the Middle East than we are comfortable considering. The crucial
difference lies in the access of the former to machines of destructive
power, be they death camps or fanatics with flight training. We suffer
from the same complex that afflicts our thinking about Hitler, the same
appalling attitude toward historical figures that inflates men into gods
or demons and aligns them with moral factions depending on which
narrative suits our purposes and mood. Our military actions demonstrate,
not our perception and perseverance, but a pathological need for a
comprehensible target of retribution and an unwillingness to concede
that a single man led a discrete organization with the resources and
wherewithal to inflict incredible damage to one of the Earth's most
affluent countries. It is easier to depose the governments that aid him
rather than ask why they aid him, as it is easier to divide the Middle
East as a whole into a woefully simplistic binary of terrorists and
victims. We shield the ugly truth of things behind iconic
representations of an event that defies reductions, summarization, and
elisions. Honesty and constructive critique disappear in puffs of dust
and feverish flag waving--the new face of American patriotism. Dour
finger pointing becomes the national pastime--as long as that finger
doesn't point at America and its role in foreign affairs (still
unforgivably inadequate), and as long as that finger doesn't settle on a
target too small or too ephemeral.