The Search For Enlightenment

As we are all well aware, today is the tenth anniversary of the September 11th attack on the World Trade Centre towers in New York. At the time of the attack, I was working for an American company and vividly remember the shock and outrage at the devastation and loss caused on that fateful day.

The most serious act of terrorism on American soil had a huge effect on the American psyche and the realisation that they were not immune to such attacks made them sit up and think about their role in world affairs. But were the lessons of the day really learned?

Listening and watching the plethora of media reports about the attack appear to have concentrated on the mistakes made leading up to the event itself. How the CIA and FBI failed to communicate the known terrorist threat to each other effectively. How the terrorists themselves were identified, but still allowed to board the planes, and how the allies of the Northern Alliance on the Afghanistan / Pakistan border were let down after promises of cooperation had been made.

I’m sure those lessons have, to some extent, been learned, and that anti-terrorist measures, particularly focussed around aviation, have been increased. But have the reasons identified about why the attacks were perpetrated even been acknowledged? It is clear, that in the middle East and in many parts of Asia, the Americans are hated, and are seen as a country of militaristic empire builders, using brute force to manipulate the political and economic situations within countries thousands of miles from their shores.

If we, the human race, are ever to reach a state of peace and understanding, to be able to live together on this amazing planet in harmony, we have to embrace the differences between our nations, our societies and our religions. We have to nurture the wisdom, the courage and the compassion with which we interact. We must change our way of thinking on both sides, from what can we gain from them, to what can we do to help them.

The ultimate success, in this whole process, would be when we reach the point where the very concept of we and them is no longer perceived. We are all human, we are all us, and the sooner we see this basic fact, the sooner we can start creating a world of harmony. Let us all hope, that in the next tens years, there is real progress and that the people lost to their families and friends on September 11th 2001 did not die in vain.