Orville W. Taylor Are you afraid of flying? No! Not the trips one takes when under the influence of drugs. It is flight in an aircraft that I am talking about.
Tomorrow it will be five years since four aircraft crashed; two into the twin towers of the World Trade Centre, one into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. and another, United Airlines Flight 93, went down in Pennsylvania. Overall, the tragedy, executed by Islamic extremists from al-Qaeda, claimed some 3,000 lives, including about 100 from the Caribbean.
Since September 11, 2001, world security has not been the same and the fear of flying has increased now that there is the real possibility that planes can be hijacked in the United States. For some of us, there is almost as much to be scared of due to the extensive security checks. In the aftermath of the infamous 9/11, more stages were inserted into the entire process from pre-boarding to Customs. These include the use of sniffer dogs that seem hell-bent on exploring all body cavities. Many of these canines were trained to detect illegal drugs, which perhaps explains why they are so interested in your crack.
Top it off with the humiliating requirement of removing one's shoes as the pungent odours and bunion exhibition assault the eyes and nostrils, and the entire purpose of the rest and relaxation trip becomes "de feeted". For some, the digging of the latex-protected security guard into one's handbags feels like a violation. Imagine the sheer agony of the single male traveller who is discovered by the female guard to be carrying petroleum jelly in his 'hand luggage'. Then, since he cannot take it unto the aircraft, has to back it out and dump it into the receptacle provided for lipsticks and other liqui-gels.
But this is a small inconvenience if it is going to make the skies and the world safer. Will it?
Confident and secure
Unfortunately, there has been precious little occurring after 9/11 that has made me feel more confident and secure. America might not have seen another attack on its soil but it has uncovered several plots, including one by some disillusioned African-Americans to carry out another homicidal act of terror.
In the United Kingdom (U.K.) there has actually been an increase in terrorist activity on British soil and Afghanistan and Iraq have proven to be killing fields long after the 'victory' has been won by the American-led coalition forces. Furthermore, the western countries, and in particular the United States (U.S.) have not won many new friends and perhaps might have lost a few, because of their handling of relations in the Middle East.
Unwittingly, because of the U.S.'s failure to stop Israel from its excessive action against Lebanon, it could cause a backlash from moderate Arabs, many of whom would not normally be sympathetic to Hezbollah. Thus, ironically, Hezbollah and al-Qaeda, as bitterly opposed to each other as the Sunni and Shiites in Iraq, may now possibly unite against their 'common' enemy. It should be noted that prior to the recent bombarding of Lebanon by Israel, Hezbollah's fight was with Israel, not America.
Nuclear capabilities
Add to this the taunting by Iran and its refusal to cease development of its nuclear capabilities and we are still in big trouble. Check this! Iran had the real weapons of 'mass distraction', not Iraq. But if Iran has no intention of making nuclear weapons, is the attention turned in the wrong direction?
I have constantly maintained that young men without a sense of self, history and direction, are potentially the most dangerous among God's creations.
I cannot help but recall Lee Boyd Malvo, Jermaine Lindsay, Richard Reid and the about-to-be-deported Abdullah el-Faisal and I wonder whether those countries are creating an army of recruits for al-Qaeda. When West Indians and South Americans are permanently deported, what are their sentiments towards the U.S. and the U.K.? Countless numbers of deportees know little about their native countries and spent the better part of their 20 to 30 plus years abroad. If American-born Timothy McVeigh could resent his own country and blow up the Oklahoma government building, what of the non-natives?
I sit in anticipation and nervous reflection on 9/11 recalling that on September 11, 1609, Henry Hudson discovered Manhattan Island (New York). On the same day in 1922, the British mandate of Palestine began. This intervention in the Middle East is partially connected with the impasse between Arab states and Israel.
Then, exactly 44 years later the Dow Jones Industrial Average experienced its largest one-day decline in history. It plummeted 86.61 points to 1,792.89. In fact, 237.57 million shares traded. The bottom almost fell out of the American economy.
Two years later, Peter Tosh was murdered, also on 9/11. He was a radical voice who constantly warned "you can't blame the youth" if they are not properly catered for.
Hopefully, international diplomacy will lead us to peace because as Benjamin Franklin wrote on 9/11 in 1773: "There never was a good war or bad peace."
Dr. Orville Taylor is senior lecturer in the Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work at the University of the West Indies, Mona.
