September 11th as a response to the USA external policy

· THE ORIGINS OF THE ATTACKS

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· Chapter 1 : THE BURDEN OF THE PAST

A) The Manifest Destiny

As a newly built nation, the Americans believed they were the only one to have a « Manifest Destiny »^1(*), which was quite wrong. What singled out the USA from other nations was that they were the only one to have sought to shape the World in their own image.

The newly arrived European immigrants regarded America as a place where they could escape some aspects of their homeland societies, but above all the almost uninhabited land appeared as a place where they could start a new life. America was said to be a « Promised Land », or a « sacred space » selected for divine purposes according to a predetermined plan. When the Settlers gained their independence in 1776 they shaped the new continent with their own values through the Constitution. Among those values was the idea of Democracy. Since about that time they considered themselves as a beacon for the World (especially for Europe) or « a city on a hill that the eyes of all people are upon »^2(*). Those « Americans » were so proud of their country's way of life, that they intended to export it, and impose their standard to countries they considered « undemocratic » or « uncivilized ». But what they intended to do, shed light on the incoherence of their Foreign Policy. In fact, they stressed on their uniqueness, exceptionalism, and will to preserve their isolationism at the same time they claimed to export in the world. Universalism and isolationism are incompatible.

The USA's history of settlement and immigration is a major influence on the character of its Foreign Policy.

Later on, the meaning of the Manifest Destiny was distorted. It became an excuse, first, for continental expansion, and then for a world expansion. The goal of expansion had also changed. At the beginning it was defensive, then it took an aggressive coloration. Since about that time the USA were launched in an unbridled territorial growth. Among their first foe was Spain ; they fought for the control of the Mississippi (1795). The USA, also became at that time a self interested nation.

The end of the Civil War brought about a new expansionist scheme. The USA became increasingly involved in the Far East, for instance in China, that they considered as an important market for the USA's companies. They were also interested in the Pacific Island and more particularly in Hawaï. The United States regarded these islands as vital strategic positions in the Pacific, Mc Kinley even declared that the annexation of these Islands were part of their Manifest Destiny. In (1887) they acquired a naval base there : « Pearl Harbor ». As a strategic position, they could have a look on everything in the vicinity.

The most striking event in the USA's unbridled expansion was their will to conquer the Philippine Islands. For the first time there arose a movement of anti-imperialism or anti-colonialism. Nowadays, the goal of the movements still remains the same, that is to say stopping the USA's aggressions. At the time most of the Americans were cleary opposed to the acquisition and conquest of the Philippines. Most of the anti-imperialists reasoned primarily in terms of moral principles and tradition ; they invoked the principles of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and stressed on the fact that governments derived their powers for the consent of the governed ; moreover, they did not think that American institutions, culture... could suit alien peoples. However, it seemed that the Americans above all feared possible retaliation at home. The opposition was such that Mc Kinley listened to the voice of the people. In those days, the voice of the people seemed to have some value. Now the present American leader G.W.Bush behaves like a dictator. This autocratic management could cost him dear for the next election. He is not at all pragmatic. His own father, was not re-elected because of his participation in the Gulf War.

Unfortunately for our time, O'Sullivan's phrase and above all the anti-imperial movement were superseded in the early 20^th century by F.D.Roosevelt's and Wilson's mainstream. They considered the USA had a duty to lead other peoples. They shunned out the Monroe Doctrine ^3(*), and settled themselves as policemen of the world. Gradually the USA became a huge octopus. But, what is more striking is that American supremacy in the Western hemisphere came to be regarded as self-evident and met little opposition. Now it is too late to stop what some call the « the Great Satan » . However, to cover its crime all over the world, the USA had kept a slight part of the heritage of the Founding Fathers, that is to say their civilizing duty. Thus they provided the poorest countries with some financial help. Before attacks, they even provide their enemies with food (Ex : Afghanistan/ Kuweit...).

Nowadays, two leitmotivs are very common. On the one hand, the Americans wonder why people hate them ; on the other hand, the rest of the World wonders how they can master the USA. A new world order is deeply wished.

If it is unquestionable that the USA's would-be appointed mission to lead the World has deeply shaped American Policy, we must not forget, the other striking element or at least the most important one, that is to say the myth of the conquest of the West, that have given birth to the « cow-boy » and the « western-genre », that is one of the icons of the USA in the World. This period, that is to say the conquest of the West, enables to understand the actual Foreign Policy of the USA. In fact, it had engraved in America inner being, and culture, that violence is the only way to resolve conflicts.

The western arrived in the same time with the Puritans.Very soon after they reached America, those Puritans who were so proud of being unique felt very isolated from the rest of the world and developped a kind of hysteria that was characterized by a deeper feeling of insecurity. The western externalised their fears. They found their resolution in the project of appropriating the land and taming the wilderness. Violence appeared as an enduring necessity to preserve « civilisation ». However, there is no myth without hero. The hero of the time was the cow-boy. A white- man, native of the country, seeking for a land to settle, but above all, it was the mastery of the gun that most characterized him. Besides doing the apology of violence the gun was the only key to open the way for the West and to secure the preservation of the white society. Violence appeared as a medium for the USA regeneration and improvement. The American film theorist Richard Slotkin^4(*) argues that violence was central in each phase of American process of appropriation.

Later on, the American reproduced this violence in their Foreign Policy that became more and more aggressive. But it was with President Ronald Reagan, that American aggression and unbriddled Policy reached its climax. Moreover, it was the era when America globalized the world view of the western as its political outlook on international affairs. President Bush, embodies altogether this era. It is not surprising at all, he has such a behaviour. Just like Reagan, Bush is a « cow-boy ». He comes from Texas, the greatest State of the USA, and the cradle of the cow-boy myth.

O' Sullivan was totally right when in 1845, he foretold a great future for its country, but reading « The great nation futurity » we have not the feeling, that O' Sullivan undermined aggression or violence to reach this great destiny. For him, it was God who led them to America, it was God that would have provided them with their present status of hyperpower. With age O' Sullivan thought grew obselete, and even farfetched. That is why a man like Franklin Delano Roosevelt who is considered as one of the architects of American Empire has decided to handle things and to use more likely means that is to say violence to reach that great destiny. He even stated that « no triumph of peace can equal the armed triumph of war ».

The Manifest Destiny was definitely turned into an excuse for aggression and had totally lost its original meaning. But worse is the manipulation of people. The USA through TV points out some peoples as rogue states. Thus, they can overthow their government and claim to act for the good of humanity. The Afghanistan and Iraq case are the latest striking example.

While the Americans wanted to be a « city on a hill that the eyes of all people are upon » they are now the hill of shame that all people despise, and yet, they go on believing they are a city respected and admired by the whole World. The most striking example is when Americans are asking wky people hate them, President Bush answered « they hate our freedoms, our freedom of religion our freedom of speech, our freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other »^5(*)

Above all the President expressed a kind of nostalgia. Nostalgia of a former grandeur ; nostalgia due to the « loss of innocence », if the USA have ever been innocent. In his address to the people Bush answered in words that recall the aspirations of the first settlers : « America was targeted for attack because we are the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the World. And no one will keeep that light from shining »^6(*).

The leitmotiv question « why do people hate us ? » began to gain ground as the USA began with invasion and murder. The Americans seem to express a feeling of guilt as if they acknoledged that they are not totally innocent.

Violence seems to be deeply embedded in America's consciousness and is the fuel of their Policy. In the following chapter we are going to see how war has shaped not only the USA but also the World.

B) A country built on war

Throughout their history the United States of America have taken part in several wars. Each of them has contributed deeply to make the country what it is today. Most of these conflicts have shaped not only the USA, but also the World.

The first main conflict the USA had to face was an internal one that resulted in the Independence of the country. In those days, Great Britain was one of the main colonial Empires. The British ventured for the first time in America in 1497. All their attempts to settle in the country failed, until 1606 when the British Parliament created the London and Plymouth Virginia Companies, as well as the London Company to promote settlement. It was a great success. The colony was profitable. With time those settlers got used to living in the country. They became Americans. They were no longer British. Despite their success story, they have a deep feeling of alienation. While they wanted to build a new nation, a new world, they were constantly reminded that they were in the « nation's service ». Moreover, they have to pay several heavy taxes. In the decade after 1763, the colonies developped a furious self-assertiveness that would lead to full-scale War of Independence and separation from British rule. Under the Treaty of Paris (1783) the United States of America became a free and united nation.

This war was the first step in the USA building. Before, the USA were a British colony, then they became a nation that could make their own mind. The Declaration of Independence^7(*) (1776) has deeply shaped the Policy of the country. The Declaration stressed on the fact that, it was the right of the USA to fight the countries that prevent the accomplishment of their happiness or liberty.

Then came the first World War (1914-1918) and the second World War ( 1939-1945). Two important landmarks for the World. The USA did not take part either in the first War or in the second, but aggressions on their belongings and above all their « mission to create a new World order » were the fuel that explained their interventions. The two Wars stress on one of the main features of the USA, namely selfish-interest.

The USA did not want to take part in the first war, because they considered it was a European conflict that did not concern America . But at last they realized their economy depended partly on trade with the warring nations. So, to cover their selfish economic interests in taking part in the war and to justify their participation, Wilson, the President at the time provided the famous « Fourteen Points ». It was another way for the USA to take the upper hand on the world control. The essential Fourteen Points can be reduced to three esssential categories. The first was all nation's right to self-determination. This first category stressed on the fact national boundaries were to be redrawn after the war. It was an opportunity for the USA to acquire new territories and export its « American way of life ». The second category stressed on free trade. It was a second opportunity to increase their GNP and above all to colonize the World. With these elements the USA shaped the world at their image, preventing other nations from living as they would like. As Samuel Johnson said : « when all the power are in the hand of a single man, he will sometimes be abused »^8(*). It is totally what the USA have done until today. The remaining Point of the « Fourteen Points » is the proposal for a League of nations that would put self-determination and other principles into effect. In other words, this League is like an impartial judge. Although, all the other Points were cornerstones of America's traditional rhetoric, the League of nations was not. It was quite expected. This League was like a brake for their shadowy scheme.

If the first war did not provide any particular thing to the USA, the second one was quite different. First, Roosevelt in 1941 concocted the Atlantic Charter that gave birth to Breton Woods Institutions (the IMF / Worldbank / U.N came to life in 1945) then, with the victory the USA became the World « Superpower », that is to say the greatest economic and military power of the Planet. The USA have built a global order without realizing it.

Above all, the two wars had shed light on two men : Churchill and F.D.Roosevelt. They embodied the Great Alliance . Today, with 9-11^th the same pattern occur again. Bush and Blair stand by each other. Despite it is two different kinds of war, they expect victory like their forerunners. They are so proud of themselves and nostalgic of that period that some phrases of the first conflict of the 21^th century are drawn from the mouth of Churchill and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. For instance, Bush declared : « we will not fail » years before his counterpart declared « we shall not flag or fail » .

Nowadays, the World is not expecting the victory of the USA, or the victory of good against evil, but a new World order.

Last but one come the period from 1946 to the present. During the period known as the Cold War, American Policy makers became convinced that the Soviet Union was fanatically intent on establishing Communist Regime around the world. In 1947, President Truman announced the USA had to prevent Communist expansion anywhere in the world^9(*). It became the corner stone of American Foreign Policy.

More practically this period has speeded USA in their arm reinforcement, and to enforce the national Security Act of 1947. This Department centralized control all over branches of the Military in a new Department of Defense and created the national Security Council (NSC) and the Central Intelligency Agency (CIA). Somehow, this period has many common points with the post 9-11^th . After their failure to foretell, and even to cope with the attacks Bush has created the Homeland Security Department. It recalls in many ways the goal of the national Security Act, that is to say to centralized all the defensive way to be more effective. Then the USA's commitment to internationalism during the Cold War had irreversibly replaced the country's traditional isolationism, hence the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty (NATO) in 1950, and similar mutual Defense Pacts that eventually covered the Globe. After the attack G.W.Bush had gathered around him a worldwide community to cope with the terrorist issue. The USA, only remember that other countries exist only when they are in need. Their knowledge of the surrounding World is such, that early in his election campaign G.W.Bush was embarassed by his inability to name the leaders of several foreign nations.

And at last the Gulf War (1991) and the 9-11^th events (2001). These periods could have been entitled a « continuum ». In fact, in both wars, the Bushes, father and son were at the head of the country ; then the younger Bush surround himself almost practically with the team of his father^10(*) . At last, he seems that he is merely gathering the result of his father's intervention in the Gulf. The 2004 election will be the last stage. Can we expect a similar end ?

This part, once again emphasizes one of the main features of the USA, that is to say, their propensity for violence. The War for Independence (1776) ; the World Wars, the Korean War... Besides having shaped the USA and the World, this conflict were greeted in America as a triumph of armed response. It is the USA's lack of respect for human life that strikes fear and enemity into the hearts of the people the World over. In August 1945, President Truman ordered the dropping of Atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He justified the mass slaughter of civilians by saying the attack would save many other lives, because it would bring the war to a rapid close without any invasion of the Japanese home islands. The use of violence abroad in order to make the World safe and compliant to the American way has been the history of the last half of the 20^th century. All this promotes the strong conviction that America is a nation that has lost, if ever it had, the capacity to respond to any challenge, crisis, dispute, or difference of opinion by negociation , accomodation a serious dialogue. The USA even failed to establish a dialogue with Europe, culturally so close to them. However, they have succeeded in dividing Europe and scapegoated France as the only State responsible for this division because of their refusal to join them.

Violence is such within the USA, that it even destroyed its own people's everyday life. America is not only a nation in which random violence is an everyday occurrence, in which the possibility of being shot for merely nothing is a routine fear of any citizen. It is also a country in which disaffected teenager take their guns to school and shoot people. All these shadowy events are due to an 18^th century law, that allows people to bear arms. The past is present in everyday life of this country. The establishment failed to find any political resolution to the issue of violence at home. So, instead of resolving the problems of others, the Americans should try to resolve theirs.

If America has become a country that can not debate, engage or negociate with itself, can not wrestle with different meanings among people who are all Americans, then what hope is there that it can extend a listening ear or an open mind to the rest of the World ?

* ¹ A phrase presumably coined in 1840's by the editor John L.O' Sullivan

* ² John Winthrop

* ³ Three basic principles :

non-colonialism ; non-intervention ; non-interference

* ⁴ professor of English at Wesleyan University, author of the book Regeneretion through violence.

* ⁵ President Bush first televised address on 9-11^th

* ⁶ Bush's annual speech to Congress on September 20, 2001

* ⁷ Thomas Jefferson

* ⁸ Rasselas

* ⁹ Truman Doctrine

speech to Congress in 1947.

* ¹⁰ Bush chose a former Defense Secretary, Dick Cheney as Vice-President and later appointed Colin Powell, former head of the Pentagon's joint chief of staff during the Gulf War, as his Secretary of State and Donald Rumsfeld, one of his father's Foreign Policy advisers, Secretary of Defense. His national Security adviser, Gondoleeza Rice.