Ashes to ashes, dust to dust ON THE eve of the 13th anniversary of the powerful Hurricane Gilbert, brazen, evil and misguided terrorists in prime time attacked America leaving behind dust, smoke, ash, decay and death. As the chaplain for the Fire Service, Rev. Mr. Judge was proclaiming "ashes to ashes, dust to dust" he also returned to his Maker as dust. The mighty 110-storey Twin Towers of the World Trade Centre, once the tallest building in the world, was reduced to dust and all the President's men could not put it together again. When the dust had settled, it was clear to the viewing world that the only superpower is vulnerable to agents of evil and death in their backyard. The dust of death has scattered to include persons from 30 different countries. Hundreds have died. Thousands missing and feared dead and millions fear the possibility of death from reprisals or future attacks. The attack on the most powerful military might and supposedly safest country in the world has displayed mankind's vulnerability to death. In the midst of life we are in death. Today we are here tomorrow we are gone. We are like grass and all our glory is like the flowers of the field that withers and falls. This is an awful tragedy for the US, Jamaica and the world. It needs a response from the international community. It is good that the same day strikes in Afghanistan that the news networks were speculating were being done by Americans were false alarms. Instead, the wise President of America is building a coalition while gathering intelligence on who is the mastermind of the attack. There needs however, to be a reduction in the rhetoric. Even sensationalist CNN did not call the use of human beings in a commercial flight as a missile a 'war' but said 'America under attack'. George W. Bush has labelled it war to get the necessary funding and authority from Congress but labelling it war will exempt insurers from paying for the damage and could throw the American economy into recession. Furthermore, war inflames the passions and inflates the expectations for blood and victory over the enemies. There are a majority of Americans who are calling for revenge on terrorists and their hosts even if it means that some innocent persons will be killed. But the enemy is hard to identify. The enemy is not a country but transnational terrorists. To claim that US will rid the world of these evildoers sounds good but is unrealistic. Furthermore, the enemy is within. The hijackers were alleged to be living in Uncle Sam's country for seven years. There are also homegrown terrorists who have been fed a daily diet of senseless and mindless movie violence from Hollywood. The enemy is also within in the sense that it is a mind game. The reality is that reprisals will not stop these attacks. The suicide terrorists are not afraid of death. Death has no victory over them and they see death as making them into heroes and martyrs. These radical Muslims believe that Allah is on their side. Ideas are powerful and have gripped these minds. The ideology of those minds needs to be understood and changed through dialogue, interaction and the power of superior ideas. The International Court of Justice needs to be respected by all and dispense justice swiftly. Otherwise, the world will be plunged into instability of wars and more wars and rumours of war. A war will not help. In 1990, Saddam Hussein invaded another Arab country in oil-rich Kuwait. After the coalition bombs of Desert Storm had rained on Iraq in full view of world television, Saddam is still in charge of Iraq. The mastermind is alive while hundreds of innocent persons have died. Even if Osama bin Laden is the mastermind it might not be easy to get at him in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is in a civil war and the rulers control 90 per cent of the country. Will the smart bombs of the coalition only affect one side of the country? When Russia was the USSR they fought Afghanistan for 10 years and lost. The Americans could be in for a long haul. Americans will grow impatient especially with the sight of dead bodies returning home. The world is in for a nightmare. This attack on USA is going to give other terrorists some ideas of how to create havoc. Even our local gunmen will get some fresh ideas. These terrorists expect that US of A will retaliate. The big stick approach cannot be the only way forward. The hijackers used knifes, cardboard cutters and a commercial airline to expose the cracks in the financial, political and military might of America. It was a classic case of David using stones to defeat the well-armoured Goliath. There needs to be a more sophisticated response that is informed by the belief that good will ultimately triumph over evil. It must be a coalition using force judiciously while looking at the long-term solution of using ideas through dialogue to create a peaceful world. Otherwise, the fundamentalists Christian right that holds sway in America will be confronting the fundamentalist radical Muslims which could lead to the mother of all wars. It could be more ashes to ashes and dust to dust. The Rev. Devon Dick is pastor of the Boulevard Baptist Church in St. Andrew.
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