Terrorism and Precaution 11 comments

19 Sep 2004 @ 20:34, by Paul Quintanilla We recently had a beautiful day here in Providence, Rhode Island, and Ellen and I thought it would be nice to take the ferry out to Newport. The sky was blue and clear and as we waited for the ferry to start we saw a large brown military helicopter circling above the nearby rooftops. As it slowly turned its repetitive circles it had that familiar determined aspect of seeking something or someone out below. But everything seemed peaceful and the only disturbance nearby was caused by some seagulls fighting over a fisherman’s scraps on the edge of the dock. As we curiously watched the helicopter a young man, in his early twenties, standing directly behind me began to speculate on the meaning of its repetitive circling, and there was an edge of alarm in his voice. And he soon began to speculate its presence might indicate a terrorist attack. This was his immediate reaction and it appeared thoroughly reasonable to him. That terrorists could be hitting Providence and the presence of an Army helicopter would most likely indicate that. Is this what we have come to in this country? Has the national imagination become attuned to believing any unusual occurrence could be indicative of terrorist violence? Do we expect it to occur, even in Providence, Rhode Island? Our national imagination, that one defining, linking characteristic of our culture, was shaped by Hollywood and Madison Avenue many decades ago. And over time our national icons and mythology have only been reinforced by the mass corporate media, especially on television. And because we have been relatively safe behind our two shores, protected by two enormous oceans, the novelty of a large scale terrorist attack is still fairly new to us. And our overall national response has been colored by Hollywood and the mass media. The lurid and fantastic, if it follows a familiar popular pattern, is easy to believe. And if a large military helicopter circles about in the sky above our heads then something must be up. There will be another large terrorist attack. And perhaps many more. We all know this is true. The question is: how should this knowledge effect us? Should we live in a state of constant vigilance, reading ominous signs in anything out of the ordinary? Should this vigilance be turned into alarm? Do we become informers on our neighbors? Should we buy duck tape and seal all our windows tight? Should we even go to the extreme of tossing out the Bill of Rights? All in the name of security? I was once in Madrid, Spain, during a terrorist alert. True, the Guardia Civil, the national police force, was out in force, holding their automatic weapons menacingly up as they stood guard outside the Cortes, Spain’s National Assembly. I recall curiously looking at one of these heavily armed Civil Guards who returned my stare with a great deal of aggressiveness. He didn’t even want to be looked at by a passing stranger on the street. But the people of Madrid calmly walked by the Cortes hardly glancing at the scene. The people of Madrid merely went about their every day business and lives without any sign of panic or even of concern. They weren’t hysterical nor did they over react to the terrorist threat. They lived their lives understanding that, yes, something might happen. Perhaps even to them or to a loved one. But that they wouldn’t allow the terrorists (ETA) to ever dominate them or their lives. Nor would they grant them that importance. To me this seemed very sane and sensible. It’s also a reaction which allows cool reason, yes, even for a certain “sensitivity,” to more freely determine how a society will deal with terrorist threats. It limits the terrorists’ victories, too, for their satisfaction is undermined by their victim’s refusal to panic or lose his head. To destroy his society from the inside by behaving foolishly. The effects of terrorism, while horrible, are not overwhelming. Nor should they be allowed to destroy an entire society. What’s more, the chances of being in an automobile accident are still far greater than ever becoming the victim of a terrorist act. But our national imagination appears to have been overwhelmed by the prospect of more violence. Conditioned by decades of Hollywood, which years before 9/11 vividly depicted how terrorists work, we can easily imagine the worst. And, if we lose our heads, we may become the victims of manipulative schemers at home who truly don’t know what to do: who may even exploit the situation for their own ends. Now terrorism has actually come to our shores. Will blind fear defeat us? Will we allow our imaginations to run away with us? Or will we show a growing maturity, calm, and common sense in responding to the new threat?

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