[spectre] from Slovenia

[Michael Benson]

A few details and perceptions flew in over the last 30-odd hours, and I
can't get them out of my head. Details from the edge of the world.
 
<> Yes it's true, as both Lorenzo Taiuti and Jeremy Welsh wrote, "this can
not be real." It's true, and yet it is. Here in Slovenia, the nephew of my
friend's girlfriend, six years old, was being urged to get ready to leave
home last night. But the boy was glued to the screen watching events in NY.
"I don't want to leave until the movie's over," he complained. 

<> One thing I can't shake is my feeling of loss, as an expatriate NYer,
that I couldn't, despite the horror, be in my city with my friends (all
thankfully safe, as far as I now know). You wouldn't wish it on your worst
enemy, but still I feel that way.
 
<> The fact of Henry Kissinger's being among the 'respected' elder statesmen
being brought on to comment on this situation in the networks gave me a
disquieting sensation that I only analyzed later. Predictably, the scourge
of Cambodia and Saigon was more than ready to advocate bombing. Bombing of
who? He doesn't know yet. When I finally gave it some thought I realised why
it bothered me -- I mean, above and beyond the disturbingly knee-jerk aspect
of it. Kissinger by all rights should be sitting in a Hague jail awaiting
trial for crimes against humanity. The fact that instead he's commenting
sagely on US television about this horrible tragedy underlines the extent to
which the US has gotten off scot-free, wielding its power with no fear of
consequences for many years. I say this not to justify, obviously, the
terrorism perpetrated on the US yesterday. Just to observe that it was the
source of my vaguely uncomfortable feeling on hearing this man's
well-watered Viennese accent again. In other words, in some ways it
resonates quite 'well' with the events of yesterday.

<> A Ljubljana friend comments on the fact that Slovenian President Milan
Kucan, normally very collected in his public events, usually even looks
bored. But during his speech about NY and Washington yesterday he was
visibly agitated and his hands nervously clutched at each other. 

<> 'Get me another nation.' Flipping through channels last night, I noticed
that MTV Europe was running a banner informing viewers that it had changed
its normal programming in response to the US disaster. What were they
showing instead of their regular Tuesday fare? "Alternative Nation." 

<> Another sobering thought keeps on occuring to me: that not one, but two
events in the last year have irrevocably changed the tone, texture, internal
cohesion, direction etc. of the United States. Each knocked the steering
wheel way off course, you could say. First came the fatally flawed and
partisan decision by the US Supreme Court to intervene and effectively
award, on highly specious grounds, the election to Bush. A blow, from
'within', directly at the balance built into the US system's carefully
designed tripod structure. The second event, obviously, sent those two
towers crashing down yesterday. Each in their own way are equally powerful
and each will reverberate for generations.
 
<> A friend writes from NYC: "The only good that can come out of this
vicious act is for the leaders of the world to pull together and impose a
cease fire in Israel/Palestine, send in UN troops to enforce it, and make a
commitment to tolerance and peace." I couldn't agree more. Let's hope some
good can come of this, not just more tragedy.

Greetings,
MB