The Day without End

The sad anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001, is always anticipated with apprehension. First, there is the possibility that terrorist cells could “commemorate” this day with new attacks. And then there is also the possibility — especially in this year’s climate of fear and hate — of despicable behaviors “justified” by the perversions poisoning all religions, whether Christianity, Islam or Judaism. Take, for example, the “Burn the Koran” operation, organized by an obscure, self-proclaimed pastor from Florida.

The fact that this man, who claims to be “a man of God,” eventually (though this remains to be seen…) renounced his project changes nothing. The damage has already been done. The Muslim world is at the boiling point; demonstrations deliberately stirred up by fundamentalists are multiplying in the world around slogans lumping the United States, the West and Christianity together, not to mention the “Zionist plot” always pointed out by Iranian President Ahmadinejad. …

The most incredible — and incomprehensible — fact of this whole affair is the media coverage of an isolated act stemming from the guru of a sect in a largely unknown small town. However, some well-meaning souls are seeing in this issue a pretext to denounce “Islamophobia” in the United States, though they have doubtlessly forgotten that the construction of mosques — not to mention minarets — has already been especially problematic in Europe. And unfortunately in Europe, Jewish and Muslim graves are regularly desecrated.

Nonetheless, this unhealthy turmoil around a fateful date is revealing. It shows that “Sept. 11” is still poisoning international relations. How could it be otherwise? The double attack on Manhattan was the direct cause of the conflict in Afghanistan. That conflict drags on and has turned into a political disaster for the United States and its allies. And neighboring Pakistan, under the grip of anarchy and terrorism, is doubtlessly sheltering Al-Qaida’s headquarters. The “crusade” (according to George W. Bush) in Iraq to overthrow Saddam Hussein, to control oil supplies and, secondarily, to establish democracy, has reached a bloody deadlock. And since 2001, Iran — a theocracy that applies Shariah law to the point of stoning — has grown stronger by joining the circle of nuclear powers. As for Islamic terrorist groups, they have expanded from Indonesia into Africa. …

Purely on the level of security, Americans and Europeans — despite some flaws — have doubtlessly learned the lessons that they needed to from the attacks on New York, London and Madrid. But what about on the political level?