September 2001 Archives

Thinking about the recent tragedy and other violent incidents in the world, I came back once again to a previous subject.

The element of violence in human society (actually, any biological system) is inevitable. It is intrinsic to us, and the only difference is the varying degrees.

The real questions come up when it is of an extreme degree, i.e., killing another. How can one kill another human? The only explanation that I can think of, is that it's because the perpetrator does not think of the victim as a "human". Here, this generic term takes a more specific meaning of "who is of one's own". For an individual murder case, one can often attribute this to insanity (on an extreme sense, "anger" is an insane state respective to rationality). And it is an insanity to think that the other is not a "human."

So, in a war, how can one get such a determination to annihilate your enemy who happens to be "humans"? This is especially more perplexing when it involves huge group of people who are mostly sane. But if you look at the governments and the media at such times, their efforts internally consist of such campaigns that are designed to convince its people that the perceived enemy is no "human." That's all it's doing and in that way, you can go out and kill another "human" with minimal guilts.

I've come to an unrealistic conclusion that if we had the capacity to know every other people on this world, we would have no lethal violence at all (well, realistically, it can't be zero, but...). The thing is our mental capacity is such that we can only remember those who are immediate to us. Our memories can only contain those with our immediate associates, and we are rarely capable of thinking about those outside our circles.

On September 11th (incidentally making it 911), 2001, I woke up and started my day with reading a message from one of my friends in NYC saying "I'm okay." At the time, I had no idea what the heck he was talking about... until I turned on the TV and watched CNN. Then, the realization that the skyline of Manhattan will never be the same...

Anyway, during an email exchange with my cousin Ilho in Korea, this is what I wrote to him back when he asked me what real American thought.

Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2001 10:53:09 -0700 (PDT) From: Younghong Cho <*> To: Ilho Park <*> Subject: Re: 'america under attack!?'

Well, merely after 24 hours after the first plane crash, it seems most of the American media almost decided that Osama bin Laden is the one. I don't think the U.S. government hasn't decided yet, but soon the public pressure to react will get to them.

There seem to have been some leads in Massachusetts (a car in the airport parking lot with Arabic flight manual and stuff) and in Florida (no idea). The U.S. is known for making quick decisions and swift actions, so we'll see. Since there must have been quite a few people involved with these attacks (at least 3 on each plane, and several supporting crews), the investigators might eventually find some concrete leads.

Since where I work has more foreign workers than Americans, it's tough to say what the most Americans' reactions to this. From a recent poll, ~80% thinks it's an act of war. ~10% said to retaliate now, ~80 said to find the perpetrators first. No matter what, Americans will use deadly force on who they think did this and the country they are in.

I wish there would be no more blood-shed and personally, I think this whole thing started when the Britain and the U.S. decided to push away those unknowing people living there and implanted Israel out of nowhere. In an ideal (movie-like) world, things should be resolved peacefully. But as one political commentator said on the radio, in the real politics, there will be retaliation.

The U.S.'s reaction to the terrorist attacks have been high-tech and remote (mostly missile attacks) so far. But this time, it might be different. The thing is, if this pursuit last long, it's very likely that the U.S. public will get bored and anxious soon (unless there is another attack) as in the Vietnam War (well, the situation is a bit different this time).

Since a lot of people are making reference to Pearl Harbor, some seem to be even considering the possibility of a nuclear attack (I hope not).

I don't think the air travel will ever be the same. As a result of this incident, we might see severe security restrictions even when boarding a domestic flight. Probably the immigration procedure would also get very strict.

Fortunately, no one that I knew was hurt. As you know Joy was in Manhattan (she's going to Columbia), but she seems to be okay. It's just that with all the tunnels in and out of the island closed, she couldn't get out. One of my friends recently moved to Manhattan because of his work. He actually saw the whole thing on his way to work, but he was okay.

The thing is, all this was a possibility. It's just that no one thought that anyone could/would actually do it. With the reaction and its demonstrated effectiveness, I am afraid that any other group can (and will eventually) use this again.

I don't think the U.S. can back out from the whole Middle East conflicts in a realistic sense. The retaliatory attacks probably end up even more severe than the Gulf War. I doubt once the U.S. decides on the target, it would even care about the sovereignty of any other country. There will be more innocent blood shed...

Hong.

I've been to the American Red Cross blood donation center in the area yesterday and this is what I learned.

1. The donated blood lasts only 35 days unless it's processed for other purposes.
2. The blood will be in short supply, at least, till the end of Christmas. So donate as often as you can (every 8 week).

Even if you don't agree with the U.S.'s foreign policies, people from this tragedy need your help.