DoEs PeAcE hAvE a ChAnCe?

A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history (I'm guessing Gandhi realized that meant for better or for worse.) The one time in my college career I had a 8am political science class was the year political science was shoved to the forefront of everyone's minds. On September 11, 2001, I walked up the abnormally steep stairs on the still very quiet west side of BYU campus to class. When I arrived, my professor had CNN on the TV, which was blaring news that one of Twin Towers had collapsed. I'm a pretty gullible person, so at first I thought it was another one of those weird political science jokes. It wasn't. First it was talk of a bomb... even the news casters were confused at what was going on, who did it and why. Then news of the Pentagon attack intercepted the latest news break and I freaked out. I had family in both areas and didn't know what to do.

Since then, life has changed. Some of it so seemingly subtle that you don't even realize it anymore. When people get frustrated over a certain asinine policy, you can almost hear it before the excuse is made, "ever since 9/11....". Remember when you could sit at the departure gate with a friend before they took off? When you weren't groped by the FAA? When taking off your shoes in a public building made you seem slightly crazy? When you could stop off directly in front of the White House to take a photo? When streetside garbage cans were a normal public service? Or when a large portion of the U.S. didn't know whether Islamabad was a person, place or thing? Now, Al Qaeda, the Mujahideen, multiple syllable Islamic names like Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and Osama Bin Laden are household and easily pronounced names (who needs an IR degree I guess.)

I admit I was a little out of the political scene when I went on my mission a year later. People would mention things and I'd try not to look stupid and admit I didn't know what they were talking about. However, the week after I got back from my mission I went to the gym and jumped back in to my nerdy poli-sci self by watching the news. I remember viewing footage of someone getting their head cut off and yes, in the middle of a public gym i started crying. This heinous almost run-of-the-mill news was completely juxtapose to the spirit and feelings of universal good will I'd cultivated for the last 18 months. It was as if I had a front row seat to the numbing of the human condition.

Now, seven years later I've received an IR degree focused on South Asia but mostly stay silent when people talk about politics in that area. I get really bothered when people state with authority something they heard from their brother-in-law's sister's boyfriend's nephew's cousin, which demonstrates to me that the "Big Brother" mentality still exists in parts of America. In fact, I had to tell my boss today I didn't want to talk to him because he kept going on and on how the last ten years have been a conspiracy theory and the world is out to get America (really, tell that to Spain, the UK, India, Russia etc.)

I was trained to think like the people on the other side of this fiasco. Thus, when Facebook, Twitter, gchat and MSNBC informed me that ten years later Bin Laden was finally (in some sense) brought to justice, I had mixed feelings. I felt a little appalled by the huge celebrations in D.C. and NYC. I love my country and I can't imagine how this victory over the embodiment of 9/11 feels to the victims who have survived it. It must seem like sweet victory--it is a victory--but I can't help thinking it's a hollow one. I guess I'm not so much appalled as disappointed that the masses of U.S. citizens couldn't look past this victory and celebrate it with dignity. Remember when our media showed people dancing in the streets at the news of thousands of Americans dying? Remember how hurtful and angering that was?

When Hitler fell, a whole regime fell (yes that's a sweeping statement.) I would be beyond thrilled if this was history repeating itself. However, I just don't think this victory signifies the same thing. A whole generation of militants have grown up under the influence of these ghastly men. Killing the 9/11 mastermind doesn't change their behavior, their attitude to the western world or their (probably more intense) desire to mercilessly destroy thousands of people's way of life. I'm not sure what's to come, but I have to hope there is way for us to multilaterally bring peace to this world. After all, Gandhi also said, "The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world's problems."