Last updated November 12, 2001 19:35 EST
Between 9 and 10:30 a.m. on September 11, millions around the world who had turned on their televisions expecting nothing out of the unusual—a little local news, a soap opera, a sitcom, a well-loved film favourite—watched the now-famous, completely surreal sight of two planes crashing into the World Trade Center towers and then one into the Pentagon. The sort of scene that we would regret paying money to watch in a movie now became frighteningly real, and the shock was replaced by a complex of other feelings over the next few days as rescue and recovery operations were televised. One could neither watch, nor turn away.
This set of links was initially set up to address the questions one heard most often in those days.
Explaining September 11
As many of us watched the events of that fateful morning unfold, we were shocked, we were scared, we were anxious about people we knew, and we found it hard to comprehend that this could be happening. How could anyone do this? Scarcely had the shock settled, than did we spin our stories, our explanations, our frames for this real-life event that was surreal, bizarre... words we all heard and used over and over. In our stories, the things we do not know and that we therefore regard with apprehension, acquire shape, form and even, a comforting familiarity.
Since September 11, we have all heard, and maybe even espoused, our own theories of why this happened. Factual accuracy and logic are not essential components when we are basically trying to make sense of something terrible and shocking. This is evident from some of the theories floating around:
However, factual accuracy and logic are essential ingredients when it is our intention to respond to the situation, not merely to survive it. The following articles have been linked here because they raise good questions about why September 11th's attacks happened. A couple also address the more common, somewhat inaccurate, half-explanations we hear.
"Now Comes The Real Danger" By Thomas Homer-Dixon, September 12, 2001
Asking "Why" By Michael Klare, September 13, 2001
A Venture Capitalist for Terrorists, Salon.com Interview by Max Garrone with Stephen P. Cohen, Brookings Institution, September 12, 2001 (Dr. Cohen discusses 'blowback theory'--the idea that the US and the CIA are responsible for the creation of 'Osama bin Laden')
Responding to the World Trade Centre and Pentagon Attacks, Paul Rogers, British American Security Information Council, September 17 2001
Trans-Atlantic Responses to Terrorism, British American Security Information Council. (links)
From the New Yorker Archive, links to articles on September 11 and related subjects. Specific articles have been linked elsewhere on this page.
Grim lessons taking shape, David Howell, The Frontier Post, October 11, 2001.
Prayers and memorials on BeliefNet. Includes link to Multifaith Prayer Circle.
Far removed as the US is from most of the world, and as insular as its political culture is, little wonder that to many Americans it is hard to fathom the depths of animosity that lead someone to plan and execute such a terrible assault. It is also difficult to imagine the passion that welcomes death as an outcome. But with its strong commitment to certain political ideals, and its vigorous, if sometimes inconsistent, espousal of those ideals in the international arena, the US has found a way, from its distant edge-of-the-world location to almost every hotspot, every conflict zone around the world in the course of the twentieth century. Asking whether it was invited or it forced its way in, is ultimately irrelevant, because it is the result that is relevant to us—that people in every part of the world have had reason to interact with this pro-active, self-righteous and powerful state. The probability that a significant percentage of those interactions would result in hostility is high.
Who Hates the U.S.? Who Loves It? By Elaine Sciolino, New York Times, September 23, 2001
Faith and the Secular State, by Lamin Sanneh, New York Times, September 23, 2001.
Why people hate America? by Karamat Khan, The Frontier Post, October 4, 2001.
Yes, but What? by Thomas Friedman, October 5, 2001.
America's moment of truth, by Moonis Ahmar, The News, October 9, 2001.
Muslim rage is for real, by Mushirul Hasan, The Indian Express, October 23, 2001.
Where Are the Arab World's Moderate Voices? by Shibley Telhami, Los Angeles Times, October 19, 2001.
More and More, War Is Viewed as America's By Donald G. McNeil, Jr., New York Times, November 4, 2001
Religion has found its way to every part of this horrible crisis: in the 'manual' that the hijackers are supposed to have carried aboard with them, according to reports on September 29th, to the ubiquitous allusions to God in the US President's speeches to the heartfelt prayers of thousands affected directly or indirectly to the stereotyping and suspicion of members of one or another religion.
Can something that is meant to uplift and liberate be so divisive and destructive? What do the various religions actually believe about war, retribution and martyrdom? Is there anything in one or the other that is particularly conducive to the perpetration of horrors like this one?
Questions for Martin E. Marty, a Scholar of Religion, By Paul Scott, New York Times, September 30, 2001
Just War Theory in Christianity, from the International Encyclopaedia of Philosophy
In Defense of Dharma: Just War Ideology in Buddhism, by Tessa Bartholomeusz, Journal of Buddhist Ethics, 6 (1999) 1-16.
"jihad" Encyclopędia Britannica Online. See also, "Islam" Encyclopaedia Britannica Online.
Islam and the Opposition to Terrorism, by Roy Muttahadeh, New York Times, September 30, 2001.
The Terrorists' Zealotry Is Political Not Religious, By Sohail Hashmi, Washington Post, September 30, 2001.
Extremism's Theological Roots, by Mark Lilla, New York Times, October 7, 2001.
Crescendo of Rage, by Rakesh Kalshian, Outlook India, October 15, 2001.
The Fatwa of "No", by Mir Ali Raza, Outlook India, October 5, 2001.
Revenge as Duty, by Chaturvedi Badrinath, Times of India, October 9, 2001.
The next war, they say. Survey: Islam and the West, From The Economist print edition. August 4, 1994
Faith and Terror, by Robert Malley, Washington Post, October 11, 2001.
A Crisis Of Perception, Akbas S. Ahmed, Outlook India, October 13, 2001.
Terrorism Cannot Work, by Iqbal Ansari, Times of India, October 17, 2001.
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