[Marxism] re: On 9/11 (was Re: conspiracy)

["M. Junaid Alam" <mjunaidalam@xxxxxxxxxx>]

The primary problem with conspiracy theories about 9-11 is that -
somewhat ironically -  they deny the primacy of human agency. I don't
think an intricate CIA plot was necessary for the attack to have
happened for a very simple reason: a few hundred thousand dead Arabs is
more than enough impetus for some of them to have wanted to exact
revenge. That was the political calculus of bin Ladenism - we cannot hit
the tyrannies locally, so let us attack the paymaster directly. The
anger was channelled at the source: America.

To suggest the thing was all some CIA-sponsored plot would be to admit
that killing people en masse will not spawn blowback and create
reservoirs of hatred from which fanatics will arise to strike back. This
is a manifestly impossible position, because we already know a lot of
Arabs are pissed at America for all the obvious reasons. The only
remaining alternative conclusion is that they were too stupid to be able
to have orchestrated the attacks - again, a conclusion vitiated by
present-day realities of the armed resistance in Iraq.

So ultimately, conspiracy theories on this score are inherently
reactionary. In an environment where there is no mass political action
against imperialism, it is simply comforting to varnish it with
super-human capabilities.




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