(no subject)

[pat]

There has been a lot of talk on my friends list about how the Brits handled their bombing so much better than America handled 9/11.

I think many people are guilty of selective memory. America showed a great deal of fortitude and determination in the short period following the terrorist attacks. That the country has had their real experiences and fears used by unscrupulous men to incubate a hatred and mistrust of the rest of the world does not change that.

To claim otherwise is to be unfair to Americans, especially New Yorkers.

I have some more thoughts about this, and why people see the reactions so differently, but I am saving them for a later post.

Comments

[kayre]

I think the comparison makes little sense-- horrific as the events of this week were, they are not in the same scale as 3000 dead and two of the largest buildings in the world utterly destroyed.

[kightp.livejournal.com]

It's been my observation that the 911 hysteria - and there was plenty of it - increased with distance from the event itself. New Yorkers faced the whole experience with remarkable fortitude, but there were people across the country - and notably on the Internet - who seemed to find freaking out their only way of connecting with the tragedy.

I saw a good bit of that this past week, too, not from Londoners but from people halfway around the world.

[frankenboob.livejournal.com]

I don't know that they handled it better... but I do appreciate their minimal drama.

[ruth-lawrence.livejournal.com]

I see this as also being unfair to the British.

Yes, they do stiff upper lip, and must be seen to cope with fortitude, but this exacts a price.

[purplecthulhu.livejournal.com]

I think you're right in saying that New Yorkers did well in the aftermath. Its not something they've had experience with, but they coped, and will be stronger the next time something like it happens. I'm not so sure about the rest of the US though. There were some pretty hysterical reactions, such as killing of a Sikh (FFS!). Nothing like that has happened here as far as I'm aware.

There is also one other big difference. There was the expectation that Something would be, and had to be, Done about the attacks that would be sufficiently momentous that it would make sure they would never happen again. This was reflected in both individual acts (like the murder of the Sikh) and more generally with the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq.

We don't have the same expectation in the UK. We know that things like this are an unfortunate fact of life. 30 and more years of IRA violence has taught us that. If our response to the Birmingham pub bombings etc. etc. (seemingly ad infinitum in the 70s) had been the same as the US reaction to 11/9/01 then we would have been bombing Boston, New York and Washington DC on the basis that these were places that funded, and backed terrorism, and that the courts and national leaders were allowing terrorists shelter from extradition in the US. Such acts though are not, in general, helpful, and I think this is something that the UK population has taken on board far more than the US.

The way to beat terrorism is not to lash out, on an individual or national scale. On the contrary, it is defeated by letting it have no effect on you. Life must continue as unchanged as possible. Our traditional laws, attitudes and standards must stay the same. We should not leap into hysterically oppressive new laws, nor should we lash out at perceived enemies in other countries. To do otherwise is to give control of our very societies to the terrorists.

In this respect the US reaction to 11/9/01 has been deeply flawed. I just hope our reaction to 07/07/05 is more sane.

[subtlecynic.livejournal.com]

America's(media?) obsession with the word "hero" immediately after the WTC attack seemed out of proportion to whatever else required our attention at the time.

[thoughtsdriftby.livejournal.com]

selective if they see differences in the people/emergency response on site at the time
later political/social issues within England time will tell
---
US policies since 9/11 have pissed on the high level of worldwide support from the event
the UN /international treaties / The World Court / InterPol / Geneva Convention.. tossed away
The population within the United States is being isolated from the world