A Decade of Terrorism Reality Check

Obama has leapt to the forefront of World Politics through the death of Osama Bin Laden.

The "decade of terrorism", with it's own media title in true hyperreal form, has successfully projected one man to a plateau of the antithesis of sainthood through digital communications.

A Brief Global Terrorism

The Americans are good at projecting a hyperreal status to current affairs, as Neil Gaiman observed in American Gods, they worship at the alter of the media.

With the exaggeration of every event that occurs, the shock to the country that an ideological group would have the temerity to attack America, land of the free, brought about a significant cultural change in America.

It is mocked in many comedies, but the one that sticks in my mind is My Name is Earl "Our "Cops" is on", where a small town fete police officers are paranoid about terrorism to the point of concern about fireworks getting in to the wrong hands.

This hysteria escalated with September 11th disaster ten years ago. It directly started two wars on flimsy evidence, generated more comedy through Team America and other parodies, but at the heart of the hype and the mocking lies the message that the Americans have projected one man to a deity status.

Through digital media, a hundred YouTube videos and press representation, one man became the aggressor, a supernatural enemy who could wreck havoc on any Western Civilisation, anywhere.

The stark reality of one man's dedication to religious fundementalism is very different. If he were the breeder of evil, then a decade on, we would not be here to discuss this. Those hyperreal terrorist attacks would have destroyed the Western World.

The reality is that Osama Bin Laden hid, using fairly obvious red-herring techniques through YouTube videos, and escaped capture for ten years. Without ever succeeding in bringing about another terrorist attack on the scale of devestation as 9/11.

Would his reach have been as wide and as sensationalist without digital media? Doubtful. Digital media has played an integral role in the projection of Bin Laden, and of fundementalism and extremism in general.

[There is an entire digression in the borderline-personality experience of digital media just waiting to happen]

Adhering to Hyperreality

Therefore, the obvious way for Obama to announce the death of Bin Laden is to neatly sew up the story of global terrorism, adhere to the myths the American public believe, and make a speech as sensationalist as the entire story.

Listening to his speech on the radio this morning, and reviewing the text, it must be noted his language in portraying Obama's own role in the decimation of fundementalism.

"...shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of Bin Laden the top priority of our war against al-Qaeda..."

The language is engendered to derrive passion from the American people, and emotively draw to a close the projection of this deity, while, I say cynically, retaining his second term as US President.

The American people did not choose this fight. It came to our shores, and started with the senseless slaughter of our citizens.

In Britain we are more contrite. The people observe the death as a success, but realistically predict potential fall out and awareness of a refreshing of extremist views, in both camps.

Obama may be keen to press home the point; [I] " must also reaffirm that the United States is not - and never will be - at war with Islam.

But the issue returning to the news is likely to enflame antimuslim groups as much as muslim groups, and thee parties on Ground Zero will generate more blinkered views.

Perhaps the decade of terrorism can be resigned to history, or perhaps the dance of new hyperreal obsessions in current affairs have already commenced with involvement in Civil Wars in the Arab Spring.

The Hyperreal always makes one feel as though one is in a movie, and today, for me, I feel like I may be in the throws of Twelve Monkeys .

The American Tinder Box

The more crap I hear coming from "across the pond", the more I despair at how USA, a country far more interested in their politics than the UK, could have been so charmed into electing this man.

While "The president will have done as much as possible in the 10 months between his inauguration and Copenhagen", I wonder if any of it will actually happen?

[As an aside, if you google "Obama pledges" it reels off an inexhaustive, incomprehensive list of his statements, yet none of his pre election desires; and a whole load of media hype, eg "Obama Pledges Economic Stability"- that's as much of a feat as telekinesis. I won't hold my breath]

Real Issues

As tempting as it is to join the debate on the acrimonious behaviour of the political parties, I have turned my attention to other things today. While the media is obsessed with the "Smear scandal", there are other issues at hand with Korea and their alleged missile launcher.

In short, North Korea fired something. Japan think it is a missile. N Korea say it isn't. Obama has called for a "global response" and N Korea have announced no further cooperation with the UN. To me this is slightly more concerning than what is essentially An Email.

I am sceptical about the UN and their intentions at the best of times. Actually, I generally sceptical about anyone who feels the need to invade and control other countries on a flimsy basis. This could well be another "weapons of mass destruction" fiasco that tempts USA into a further debacle of appalling behaviour, with the UK not far behind.

The fact that "President Barack Obama called for a global response and condemned North Korea for threatening the peace and stability of nations "near and far." seems to support this.

Scepticism aside, a county that declares "it launched an experimental communications satellite into orbit Sunday and that it's transmitting data and patriotic songs" is potentially "provoking" intervention, as Obama put it.

Especially as

"In a statement, the UN watchdog said North Korea had served notice that it would cease co-operation immediately.

"It [the North] has requested the removal of all containment and surveillance equipment, following which, IAEA inspectors will no longer be provided access to the facility," the statement said.

"The inspectors have also been asked to leave... [North Korea] at the earliest possible time."

But just as provocative to developing into a confrontation is US media around the matter. Comments such as "the rogue communist state" are more fuel to an already sparking fire.

We have had Bush the second indulge in recreating his father's adventures in the East, are we now to have Obama revisiting the legacies of presidents before him?

I suppose it highlights how little the USA learns from it's mistakes, if any of the historical pejorative skirmishes are to go by. But skirmishes have a nasty habit of escalating.

A slightly late aside

A bit late in the day, but this said one thing to me when I heard it in brief on the radio;

Pity the country that needs to declare whom it is NOT at war with

(Yes it is a deliberate paraphrase)

Perhaps it is more apt to quote Warren G. Harding

"America's present need is not heroics, but healing; not nostrums but normalcy; not revolution, but restoration."