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Eleven Lessons Learned After 9/119/12/2011 - Opinion Political - Article Ref: IV1109-4854Number of comments:By:Abukar ArmanIviews* -

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The atrocity of 9/11 and the bloody fury that it subsequently unleashed have profoundly

dominated the political, social, economic, and religious debates of the 21st Century. These

catastrophic events have-directly or indirectly-touched and impacted almost everyindividual, family, community and nation on the face of the earth. And this author is noexception.

A decade characterized by reckless rhetoric and brutal violence came to an end. In that

period countless number of people have been killed, massive amount of properties have

been destroyed, and enormous amount of resources have been wasted, yet the worldremains more volatile, more divided, and more insecure than ever before.

In order to reverse course, we must do away with our old ways and focus our collectiveenergy in paving the way for genuine healing process. Of course, this is easier said than

done. Because doing it would require partners from all sides. It would also require great

deal of critical thinking, commitment and sacrifice. And, perhaps more importantly, it wouldrequire honest assessment of the failures of the past.

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It is time for all individuals, families, communities, and nations to identify their own learned

lessons, and to reflect upon them lest we find ways to prevent such colossal man-made

human tragedies from ever reoccurring. In that spirit, here are my most important learnedlessons:

First: In order to justify their evil deeds, human beings tend to deliberately shut off their conscience.

While the human being is innately good, by and large, he (as most are men) carries the

potential to commit more savageries than the beasts in the jungle. Unlike the latter, he cancommit the most atrocious of acts even when he is belly-full. He could commit horrific mass

violence and murder innocents; he could repress and oppress; he could plot wars; he could

exploit, destroy, poison, rob, and use rape as a weapon of war. Worse, throughrationalization, he could effectively justify his ill-advised decision to sustain his evil deeds.He could convincingly mislead himself with falsehood, or fiercely present an argument that

deceives or bullies the collective mind of the masses, or simply shut off his conscience.

Second: Extremism-in its holistic sense-is the biggest problem facing the world.

Extremism has its stereotypical and its professionally sanitized version. It has the likes ofal-Qaeda and al-Shabaab on one hand and the Neocons and Right Wing Extremists on the

other. It has the militant religious fanatics as well as material and power-driven secularhumanists and in betweens who consider violence as the first or the only option to problem-

solving. While the stereotypical one's intention, anger, hate, and tools of war are oftenexplicit and are belligerently overt in their claim to culpability, the professionally sanitized

ones' are more clever, covert, and stealthy in their operations. Both groups compete tomanipulate the psyche of the masses; though the latter one, through its mastery of the art

of public relations, double-speak, and propaganda, almost always turn the tables on the

former. And both groups are ruthlessly oblivious to the fact that, unlike a situational one,sustainable societal transformation cannot be forced; it can only be inspired with goodintention, vision, and deeds.

Third: Empathy is a critical moral virtue.

It is what affirms our humanity. It is what compels us to feel the pains of others and to care

for even those whom we have no direct relations. And nurturing that divine gift is whatultimately inspires us to coexist by accepting one another and by making space for oneanother; because, after all, our rights, security, and values are protected to the extent that

we protect the others'.

Fourth: Blurring certain definitions makes 'perception management' more effective.

Because there is no universal definition of the concept, terrorism is something that is

subjectively familiar to all, but objectively known to a few. Contrary to common perception,

terrorism is a wicked and lethal tool used by individuals, groups, and states alike, mainly forattaining a political, economic, religious or a secular ideological objective. And because theyare driven by fallacious set of assumptions and zero-sum objectives, those who employ such

means recognize no moral boundaries to confine their indiscriminate violence.

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Fifth: Reason and commonsense never had worseenemies than fear and paranoia.

The latter twin create the breeding ground forgroupthink- the total surrender of one's

capacity to think, inquire, decipher and

deduce to the more aggressive, coercive, andmenacing will of a group or that of an

authoritarian leader. In the past decade,

phrases such clash of civilizations, mushroomclouds, and Islamo-fascism were routinelyused to stir emotions and manipulate the willof the people.

Sixth: Context and perception are essential elementsin understanding complex issues and concepts.

'What?', 'Why?', 'Who?', 'When?', 'Where?',and 'How?' are all essential questions to

getting adequate background. They are theimpetus that drove perennial questions thatadvanced human faculty and paved the wayfor civilizations throughout history. Moreover,

our perceptions are often shaped according to

the level of information we have, andignorance simply fuels our arbitrary bias,prejudice, and hateful predisposition.

Seventh: Justice is the foundation of peace andsecurity.

Despite certain well organized andrelentlessly vociferous talking heads, policy-

makers, and think-tanks who promote the ill-conceived notion that certain individuals,groups, communities and nations have more rights than others, the protection andpreservation of the human life and human rights is an obligation upon all of us- leaders and

laities alike. In other words, our collective objective ought to be to help setup a fair process

in which treating others as we would like to be treated is our top priority. And, make nomistake; he who proves fixated on the notion that justice is always found on the same sideof the human divide surely has no sense of it.

Eighth: Faith has a positive role to play in conflict resolution and international relations.

One of the central pillars of Prophet Muhammad's teachings was that "God is gentle and

kind and He loves gentleness. And He grants through gentleness and kindness what Hewould not grant through cruelty and violence". True, throughout history deranged and

violent zealots have used religion to quench their blood thirst. However, in its most

authentic sense, religion has a positive role to play in spreading goodwill, promotingaltruism and self-policing. Despite its negative image in the ideological popularity contest,

more atrocities were committed around the world by secular orders, ideologies, orideologues. Slavery, Colonialism, Nazism, Fascism, Stalinism, Leninism, nationalism,

tribalism, dictatorships, the mass killings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki , the killing fieldsof Cambodia , and the Rwandan genocide are but a few examples. Yet, religious leaders are

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seldom invited to take their respective roles in advancing peace processes, even whenconflicts have their roots deep in religion.

Ninth: Introspection illuminates the mind and the heart, and patience and forbearance fuel it.

As they walk on the tightrope of history, nations find the right balance through

introspection; by looking within themselves through a process of self-assessment in order tokeep their respective visions, motivations, attitudes, judgments, shortcomings and historical

dispositions in check. It is through this process that nations can learn from the wrongs theycommit by way of commission or omission. And, more importantly, as in people, it is what

inspires nations' sense of proportionality in their actions and reactions. However, nothing

defuses the profound power of introspection more than lack of humility and a stubbornsense of denial.

Tenth: There are those who exploit tragedies to boost their own political and financial interests.

They are from all walks of life. They craftily setup diverse partnerships, networks, and

industries around the world to enormously overinflate threats, promote policies that sustain

division, impose selective punishment, and provoke perpetual rage. They carry theirobjectives aggressively, persistently, belligerently, and with impunity. And, in order to

achieve their objectives and drain all resources, they create an ever-living boogieman, apermanent enemy, and ubiquitous mirage of terror that must be preempted and chased

across the globe. They do this by saturating the market place of ideas with disinformationand by inculcating the masses with a phenomenon that the young Nigerian author,

Chimamanda Adichie, refers to as in the title of her book, The Danger of a Single Story. Tobetter understand this phenomenon, all one has to do is think about the religion Islam, or

the 1.3 billion Muslims of all colors and ethnic background who practice it, and reflect onwhat image first comes to mind.

Eleventh: Dialogue cultivates an environment where the common good is evaluated and negotiated; andtrust is built and sustained.

Like moderation, humility and compromise, dialogue is in short supply. And, regardless ofhow people demonize one another as a monolithic personification of evil, there are good

people in every group, community, society and nation. There are those who want to do noharm; who readily build solidarity with the voiceless and become their relentless advocateswhile enduring vicious abuses for their choices and actions. And it is these groups andambassadors of goodwill who resuscitate and nurture our sense of hope.

The 19th Century Danish Philosopher Soren Kierkegaard was right when he famously said

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards". In this case, we all

must look back in order to understand what happen 10 years ago and the consequences ofour actions and inactions. However, like in rearview mirrors, looking back must be done

deliberately and indeed cautiously.