Another use of the word irony from Lebanese newspaper
Arabs need new tools to deal with new America Opinion, The Daily Star, September 13, 2001 It is impossible to overstate the rage being felt in the United States over Tuesday’s bloody terrorist attacks. With this in mind, it is absolutely essential that Arab and Muslim governments adapt to the profound changes taking place in the world’s most powerful nation: America is no longer the animal it was before Sept. 11, 2001.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell has described the assaults as “war,” and NATO Secretary-General George Robertson has accepted the definition with all its repercussions for an alliance that regards an attack on one member as an attack on all. Even more importantly, Powell has launched an unprecedented appeal for the launching of a global campaign that figures to make life exceedingly difficult (and/or short) for any number of terrorists of varying political stripes. The threat of America’s awesome military might, though, is only one facet of the threat facing any nation that fails to cooperate with the hunt: The full weight of US influence cultural, diplomatic, financial, technological, etc. will no doubt fall on stragglers and foes alike.
Regardless of whether or not Tuesday’s cowardly crimes can be linked to the Middle East, the importance of joining the war on terrorism is especially important for the region’s governments. This part of the world is fragile in almost every possible way, making it crucial that it avoid becoming even more isolated than is already the case. Otherwise “terrorism” will be wholly defined by outsiders, leaving individuals and groups held dear to Arabs and Muslims (and particularly Lebanese) at the mercy of an angry superpower, not to mention other countries from around the globe.
Such a process would set the Islamic world back for generations, not only in terms of massive material losses and wasted human lives, but also as regards any hope of achieving progress toward what Iranian President Mohammad Khatami has described as a “dialogue of civilizations.”
That this phrase has been adopted by the head of government in a country often reviled by Washington as “radical” or “fundamentalist” is extremely poignant in light of the fact that has befallen America. The important thing is to build on this apparent irony until it can no longer be described as such, until peoples from very different countries and with apparently very divergent views can see that at bottom, their beliefs do not clash at all: History has simply put them at opposite ends of a dilemma whose solution can only lie in understanding. Only in this manner can the universal evil to which America has been subjected be catalyst for a new era, one for which subsequent generations everywhere will be eternally grateful to their predecessors.
This is a matter of right and wrong, which is to say that the motivations of murderers in no way diminish either their guilt. Even for those whose anger at Washington’s pro-Israeli stance predisposes them to applauding American suffering, cooperation with the war on terrorism should be on high on the agenda for one simple reason: self-preservation. The old ways of “dealing” with America no longer apply. http://www.dailystar.com.lb/opinion/13_09_01_a.htm
News 
Market Data 
Discover 
AI
