The Michigan Daily - Monday, July 11, 2005 - 5 VIEWPOINT Terror across the Atlantic Too familiar MARA GAY CMNE _i BY ALEX DZIADOSz LONDON - aving been born and raised in Michigan, it is safe to say that I have felt somewhat sheltered from the threat of terrorism all my life. The Oklahoma City bombings are a distant and detached memory of my elementary school days. Even after visiting Ground Zero after Sept. 11, the thought of terrorism has never struck me as anything immediate. It was something that I would only see n television or in newspapers; some- thing documented and then consumed, never experienced. On Thursday, Jul. 7, that seemed to change. My class at the University of London was uniquely situated in regard to the attacks. Just two blocks o the north lies King's Cross, the ight of the worst bombing, and two blocks south, Russell Square, where bodies still remain. And, of course, the iconic double- decker bus with its roof ripped open like a can of tuna, and its image pro- jected over every major news source for the past few days. To say the least it was strange. Our class continued as normal even after the sound of explosions echoed through the halls of our dorms, and our lecturer droned on in the same matter-of-fact tone that he might have otherwise. Despite the police tape that liter- ally fenced us in, people wandered the streets in much the same way - only the pubs were noticeably more full. By nightfall, it was hard to tell what was exactly, but something swirled in the air that was distinctly British. Perhaps it was the memory of the JOEL W IGTON -IP BETsI IRA bombings that stretched through the 1980s, or perhaps it was the fact that the country has seen destruction on every level over dozens of centu- ries, but there was a feeling of accep- tance in the eyes and words of those . on the street. There seemed to be a particular sterility of emotion through the pop-. ulace as a whole. This was evidenced '.~ by the fact that at nearly every site of a major disaster - and at the major- sion screen again, ity of memorials - reporters out- terrible day almost numbered civilian spectators nearly unmistakable. I rer 10 to one. of that morning - Within literally a few hours, the missing posters an buses were running again, and a num- the dinner table - ber of tube lines had opened - with out to the city acros what appeared to be a minimal amount It must of cours of security. I have seen only one gun Michigan, New Yo on a police officer since being here. developed somewh, It is difficult to decide whether I fornian out-of-state should feel admiration or shock at sidered good peop what appears to be a general accep- seem to be some k tance among the English of the modity. Even some recent events. When I hear that the complained of N driver of the ill-fated number 30 bus guys think you're, returned to work on Saturday, part of universe!" me wants to shake the city, tell it to True, we are a b pass a Patriot Act and lock down. But accents can be pai another part thinks perhaps they have just as Prime Minis the right idea. aged, condemned Maybe the British have approached work at the historic this issue in the only way they have Scotland last week learned how, in the way that only the and brilliant efficie Blitz during World War II and a seem- did not miss a bea ingly ceaseless string of terror in the attacks. While som 1980s could show them. It seems that peers will undoub Londoners have grown used to seeing thought in disgust, their great city attacked, but most of thing valuable to t all they are used to rebuilding it. Dziadosz is a Michigan Daily staffpho- D ema tographer who was studying in London during last week's attacks. JESSE SINGA NEW YORK - n many, many ways it was too close for com- fort. When London was bombed last week and the car- nage of mangled steel and blood- covered bodies invaded my televi- the echoes of that four years ago were membered the chaos the screams and the d the empty seats at and my heart went ss the pond. se be noted that at rkers seem to have at of a bad rap. Cali- ers are usually con- ple, and the Texans ind of bizarre com- of my friends have ew Yorkers, "You at the center of the it arrogant, and our nful. to the ear. But ter Tony Blair man- and continued his c G-8 conference in with steely resolve ncy, New York City t after the Sept. IIl e of my midwestern tedly scoff at this the city has some- each to the rest of the country. Bloody but unbowed, New Yorkers did things that, in the days and weeks following Sept. 11, took great courage - they went to work, took the subways, spent eight-hour work days in 8-story sky-scrapers. Four years later we remain the same, loud, bustling, rude Gotham city. Let me introduce you to the New York I know and love. True, there are national guards- men armed with automatic weapons in Grand Central Terminal. Signs on the subway urge passengers who "see something" to "say something." And when you are below 14th Street where the city's signature grid system is nowhere to be found and the streets seem to be placed as arbitrarily as a jig- saw puzzle, there are no towers to help you find your way. But Times Square is still filled with tourists whose necks remain perpetual- ly arched toward the sky. We still go to school, shop, pack into the subway cars at rush hour like sardines in a can. We felt the Sept. 11 attacks more exquisitely than most. So naturally, the great majority of us were infuriated when the anguish and suffering of that day was exploited for political gain. We have rabidly refused to sacrifice our freedoms in the name of a sense of secu- rity we now know to be false and mis- leading. And last November, New York told the country that we do not believe in a president who would use fear to advance his right wing agenda. Funny things start to happen when people are afraid. Civil rights go for- gotten in the name of security, citizens with different-sounding names are taken away in the middle of the night and held without charges. And politi- cal agendas are shoved down a nation's throat just when its mouth is gaping in shock in the aftermath of this bomb or that plot foiled. After the recent attacks in London, security was increased on our public transportation systems and there are now two very big national guardsman at the commuter station down the road. They are currently guarding the safest trash can in the state of New York. We don't feel any safer here in New York. Those same things that took courage almost four years ago - riding the subways and working in sky scrapers, for example - continue to take cour- age today, because we know just how likely another attack really is. In New York, and more recently in London, the terrorists lost. And the definition of terrorist is extended to include anyone anywhere who uses fear to take away innocent life or inher- ent freedoms. Tony Blair did a good thing when he responded to last Thursday's terror attacks in London with the expediency and resolve that he did, Moving on in that way, looking for justice instead of vengeance, sends a message to every kind of terrorist: we may be afraid. But we will not act out of fear. Gay is a member of the Daily's edito- rial board. She can be reached at maracl@umich.edu. id-driven terrorism ~L ST M T iE T ast week's attacks on F w e roWiave C.0oi C+es T1 saPrJ iv +0VS4I*,Stoew 1,l in set e old rays. -yes~? + : SM ixrt 7Th Lbf' ilt~i11 l -2London brought back into play a very scary realization for those of us who live in or around a major city: There's no way to guarantee our safe- ty. If someone wants to hurt us, they can. This isn't fatalistic pessimism, but rather a matter of logistics; there simply is no way to defend the myriad of soft targets found in any metropolitan center. One of the biggest questions at the moment is just how bad this is going to get. Would a subway attack on a major Western city every year or two, as terrify- ing as it sounds, be a best-case scenario at this point? The other important question - and one that was asked after Sept. 11 and quickly forgotten - is: Why do they wantto hurt us? The short answer is "Lots of reasons." What's important right now is to not ignore this question; we simply can't afford to continue traveling down the road of "They want to kill us, so I don't care why." Those who say things like "They hate us for our freedom" can retread tired lines about their political opponents wanting to give therapy to our enemies all they want; they can make grandiose speeches denouncing members of the "Blame America First Club"; they can insist that there really are only two classes of people in the world, freedom-lovers (the good guys) and freedom-haters (the bad guys). All of this is quite comforting and sure to win votes, but there are a couple of prob- lems: It isn't true, and it doesn't work. Terrorism, like drugs, is a demand- driven phenomenon. The idea of cutting off drugs at the source is doomed to fail- ure no matter how many farmers' lives we ruin through our defoliation campaigns. In the same vein, the number and magnitude of future terrorist attacks depend much more on the reproductive capacity of the ideologies that fuel such atrocities than on any amount of diligence, intelligence or military action on the part of the West. We cannot cut off terrorism at the source; we need to figure out why the "demand" for actions targeting Western civilians is so high. It is a mistake to view Islamic terror- ism as a monolithic force with a singu- lar agenda; as is the case with any other group of people, there are numerous, often-competing factions that have differ- ent goals in mind. We have two choices: Ignore the intricacies inherent to contem- porary terrorism and continue with the narrow-minded, myopic policies that led us to lump Saddam Hussein together with Osama bin Laden; or try our best to gain an understanding of the numerous terror- ist groups that abound in the Middle East and elsewhere, and surmise which ones have realistic demands. For those groups that adhere to an apocalyptic brand of extremist Islam that calls for the deaths of all Christians and Jews on earth, we know that we won't be bargaining with them any time soon, and our only choice is to capture or kill them before they do the same to us. But as for other groups - those with specific political or social demands - it's time to rethink things. The catchphrase "We don't negotiate with terrorists" has been obviated by a world in which anyone who can get their hands on 10 pounds of explosives can easily kill dozens of sub- way riders. It sounds ugly and it hurts, but at some point we're going to have to nego- tiate with those who are trying to kill us, because as long as their ideologies attract new adherents, we will be at risk. This isn't a matter of political opinion or an attempt to cast the United States in a bad light (as anyone who's had access to newspapers in the Arab world knows, bizarre rumors and untrue conspiracy theories abound) - it's a purely practical standpoint. They can kill us if they want to, so it's time for us to do our best to make them not want to kill us anymore. Of course there should be a huge focus on intelligence and security, but to assume this is enough to keep us safe is to destroy the poppy field without treating the addicts back home. As long as the demand is still there, poppy farm- ers, like angry young men who hate the United States, can simply move elsewhere and start anew. Singal can be reached at jsingal@umich.edu.