Opinion Avoiding the deadly sin of wrath By Tony Laszlo	フレームで見る  英文をプリントする  脚注をプリントする
「怒りの大罪」を犯さないために 9月の同時多発テロに対し、米国は報復として空爆や地上での攻撃を始めているが、それらは果たして反撃の最上の方法だろうか。他国と結束して別の対応ができなかっただろうか。

As fate would have it, I was scheduled to be in Manhattan's World Trade Center on Sept. 11, the day the two commercial airliners crashed into it. As fortune would have it, the attacks were perpetrated about three hours before my scheduled visit.

Safe from my vantage point a few kilometers away, I watched powerlessly as the two towers collapsed into a million-ton pile of dust and rubble. Thousands of people died. Even as my heart goes out to the families of the victims of that infamous act, I must be grateful for still being in this world and able to share this moment with you, gentle readers.

I have no sympathy for terrorists and agree that vigorous steps must be taken to counter them. The airstrikes and ground invasion of Afghanistan might succeed in apprehending Osama bin Laden, the man suspected of having had a hand in the attacks.

But we should also recognize the military action as one which fulfills America's psychological need to lash out in response to the tremendous blow that it received. Thus, it is prudent to consider that an underlying wrath is one of the things driving that operation.

Wrath is the central theme of "Seven," a 1995 Hollywood film. In it, a demonic serial killer secretly hunts down and murders the wife of the detective chasing him, and then presents her head to him at a one-on-one meeting. Despite his professional obligation to take the criminal into custody and to trial, the detective is completely overwhelmed by his own rage; he takes the law into his hands and shoots the murderer on the spot.

Could bin Laden be cunningly manipulating the United States in a similar fashion, driving it (and its supporters) to enter a never-ending and age-old cycle of "an eye for an eye"?

In carefully prepared video statements, bin Laden has called out to Muslims around the world. He jumped upon U.S. President George W. Bush's use of the word "crusades" and labeled the Americans "the new crusaders." Anti-U.S. demonstrations — some of them very violent — around the world show that he has successfully provoked the United States to make moves that can easily be perceived as an assault upon Islam, and as an assault by the wealthy upon poor, helpless people.

The United States, blinded with rage, has been pushed to a show of force and a quest for "justice," complete with "acceptable civilian casualties." Even as bin Laden evades his pursuers, people are rallying to his call to defend Islam. Ideological conflict is escalating before our eyes.

Was there no other way? It is important to note that a broad range of nations immediately condemned the attacks of Sept. 11. Cuba and North Korea, countries that are traditionally at odds with the United States and with the capitalist model that was also targeted that day, were among the first. Islamic nations around the world also offered varying degrees of support.

Under such exceptionally favorable conditions, the United States could have pursued a policy of isolation, containment and terrorism prevention on a scale never before seen in history. No holy war, no martyrs. No more eyes gouged out. No doubt as to the side on which justice stood. Perhaps next time.

Shukan ST: Nov. 2, 2001

(C) All rights reserved