Buscador avanzado

By Ruth Marcus (THE WASHINGTON POST, 13/09/06):

Does it matter that ABC invented and distorted history in its "warning: this is not a documentary" docudrama, "The Path to 9/11"? After all, the first night of the faux drama was trounced by the brother-against-brother actual drama of "Sunday Night Football."

But consider: The gripping final report of the Sept. 11 commission (budget: $13.5 million) became a surprise bestseller at 1.5 million copies. The not-so-gripping, not-so-accurate ABC production (budget: $40 million) was seen by about 13 million viewers on the first night.

As Thomas H. Kean, who served as the commission's chairman and then made the unfortunate decision to lend his prestige to the project as co-executive producer, correctly predicted this summer, "More people will see this than will ever read our report."…  Seguir leyendo »

Por H. T. Goranson, científico de Sirius-Beta Corp y ex analista del Departamento de Defensa de EE. UU. Autor de The agile virtual enterprise. Traducción: Kena Nequiz (LA VANGUARDIA, 12/09/06):

Han pasado cinco años desde los ataques terroristas a Nueva York y Washington en septiembre del año 2001, pero parece que quienes diseñan las políticas han aprendido muy poco sobre el funcionamiento de las células terroristas y sus puntos débiles. La Administración Bush aún usa la frase guerra contra el terrorismo y se comporta como si fuera verdaderamente una guerra ordinaria en la que un gobierno lucha contra otro.…  Seguir leyendo »

Por Joaquín Roy, director del Centro de la Unión Europea de la Universidad de Miami (EL CORREO DIGITAL, 12/09/06):

Cuál es el balance en Estados Unidos de un lustro de experiencia desde la tragedia del 11 de Septiembre? En gran manera, la inmensa mayoría de los ciudadanos todavía están en la etapa postraumática, sin apenas entender qué ha pasado. La minoría pensante está fundamentalmente dividida entre los que ya arropaban al presidente Bush antes del ataque y los que tenazmente se han opuesto a las tesis reduccionistas, intervencionistas, y unilaterales.

Aparentemente, bajo los efectos de un iluminismo extremo, se ha reforzado la tradicional doctrina del excepcionalismo de Estados Unidos que a la postre justificaba toda política, por descabellada que fuera.…  Seguir leyendo »

Por Borja Bergareche, abogado y master en Relaciones Internacionales por la Universidad de Columbia (EL CORREO DIGITAL, 11/09/06):

En 1630, el pastor puritano John Winthrop acuñó la metáfora radiante y optimista sobre la que se erigiría, más de un siglo después, la joven nación norteamericana: «Seremos como la ciudad sobre la colina, hacia la que se dirigen todas las miradas». En la pasada década de los noventa, el presidente Bill Clinton, en el apogeo de la última era alegre del poder estadounidense, definió a EE UU como «la nación indispensable», el faro de un mundo que avanzaba hacia la eterna felicidad.…  Seguir leyendo »

Par Marc Hecker, chercheur à l'Institut français des relations internationales (Ifri), où il suit les questions de terrorisme (LIBERATION, 11/09/06):

Cinq ans après le 11 Septembre, le terrorisme et les efforts déployés pour le contrer ont acquis une dimension structurante dans les relations internationales. Cette assertion vaut aussi bien pour le volet militaire de la lutte contre le terrorisme ­ l'opération «Enduring Freedom» en Afghanistan mais également la guerre en Irak ont été justifiées par la nécessité de prévenir de nouvelles attaques ­ que pour ses volets policier et judiciaire ­ la lutte contre le terrorisme a par exemple joué un rôle important dans l'approfondissement de l' «espace de liberté, de sécurité et de justice» européen.…  Seguir leyendo »

By Slavoj Zizek, international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities (THE GUARDIAN, 11/09/06):

Two Hollywood films mark 9/11's fifth anniversary: Paul Greengrass's United 93 and Oliver Stone's World Trade Center. Both adopt a terse, realistic depiction of ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. There is undoubtedly a touch of authenticity to them and most critics have praised their sober styles and avoidance of sensationalism. But it is the touch of authenticity that raises some disturbing questions.

The realism means that both films are restrained from taking a political stance and depicting the wider context of the events. Neither the passengers on United 93 nor the policemen in WTC grasp the full picture.…  Seguir leyendo »

Por Ralf Dahrendorf, ex rector de la London School of Economics y ex decano del Saint Anthony´s College de Oxford. Traducción: Kena Nequiz (LA VANGUARDIA, 10/09/06):

Cinco años después de los ataques a las Torres Gemelas en Nueva York y al Pentágono en Washington, el 11 de septiembre ya no es sólo una fecha más. Ha entrado en la historia como el comienzo de algo nuevo, una nueva era tal vez, pero en cualquier caso un tiempo de cambios. También se recordarán los ataques terroristas en Madrid y Londres y otros lugares, pero es el 11 de septiembre el que se ha convertido en una frase hecha, casi como agosto de 1914.…  Seguir leyendo »

THE NEW YORK TIMES, 10/09/06

If we are fortunate, we will open our newspapers this morning knowing that there have been no major terrorist attacks on American soil in nearly five years. Did we just get lucky?

The Op-Ed page asked 10 people with experience in security and counterterrorism to answer the following question: What is one major reason the United States has not suffered a major attack since 2001, and what is the one thing you would recommend the nation do in order to avoid attacks in the future?

1) Giving Muslims Hope

By Thomas H. Kean and Lee H.…  Seguir leyendo »

By George F. Will (THE WASHINGTON POST, 10/09/06):

Before the dust from the collapsed towers had settled, conventional wisdom had congealed: "Everything has changed." But what about what matters most, the public's sensibility?

It has taken five years for Sept. 11, 2001, to receive a novelist's subtle and satisfying treatment, but it was worth the wait for Claire Messud's "The Emperor's Children." Her intimation of the mark the attacks made on the American mind is convincing because in her comedy of manners, as in the nation's life, that horrific event is, oddly, both pivotal and tangential.

Messud's Manhattan story revolves around two women and a gay man who met as classmates at Brown University and who, as they turn 30 in 2001, vaguely yearn to do something "important" and "serious."…  Seguir leyendo »

By John D. Negroponte, director of national intelligence of the EE.UU. (THE WASHINGTON POST, 10/09/06):

Surprise is what intelligence is intended to prevent, but on Sept. 11, 2001, our nation was surprised, and the results were tragic. Now the fifth anniversary of those horrific events raises anew the question: Is our nation's intelligence community better prepared to keep America safe? The answer is yes. U.S. intelligence has made major advances since that Sept. 11.

First and foremost, we better understand, and are aligned to meet, the threat of transnational terror. Although our enemy is constantly changing and remains deadly, our collectors and analysts are carefully tracking the evolution of al-Qaeda and its ideological allies.…  Seguir leyendo »

By E. J. Dionne Jr. (THE WASHINGTON POST, 08/09/06):

The events of Sept. 11, 2001, are personal to every American. The day was not about politics or partisanship or elections. That's why the country, divided more or less 50-50 on political matters the day before the terrorist attacks, immediately drew together in sorrow, solidarity and determination. The rest of the world stood with us.

Five years later, you look at the rancid state of our politics, the decline in America's standing in the world and the behavior of our national leadership, and you want to shed tears for your nation. This year, so much of what's being said about the events of Sept.…  Seguir leyendo »

By Simon Jenkins (THE GUARDIAN, 08/09/06):

Turn on the radio this week and a ghoulish voice from the bowels of the former World Trade Centre seeks to curdle your blood and chill your bones. It is yet another BBC trailer evoking the horror of the twin towers and the monster of evil, Osama bin Laden. The corporation is desperate to outdo other media outlets in their commemorations of the fifth anniversary of 9/11. They include movies by Oliver Stone and Paul Greengrass, and American and British 9/11 specials from stars such as Harvey Keitel and Kevin Costner called The Millionaire Widows, The Miracle of Staircase B, On Native Soil and numerous variants on twin towers.…  Seguir leyendo »

By Ben Schott, the author of Schott’s Original Miscellany and the forthcoming Schott’s Almanac 2007, a yearbook of American society (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 07/09/06):

It’s been nearly five years since 9/11, but it seems like a lifetime. Certainly, a lifetime’s worth of events for America and the world — elections and insurgencies, hurricanes and tsunamis, attacks and threats of attack — have unfolded with such speed that it can be hard to sort through, or even recall, everything of consequence. The chart below is an attempt, admittedly selective and incomplete, to survey the first five years of our post-9/11 world — a world that is certainly new, though not always brave.

Five Years of Consequence

By Stan Altman, a professor at Baruch College’s school of public affairs (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 17/08/06):

ONE New York City firefighter recently told me about the health problems he has suffered since working at the World Trade Center site nearly five years ago: skin rashes, an inflamed colon, coughing and trouble breathing. He showed me a six-page list of the antibiotics and steroids doctors had prescribed over the years. These drugs helped mask his symptoms. But the problems never went away — until he began a new treatment to rid his body of the toxic substances he had inhaled and absorbed at Ground Zero.…  Seguir leyendo »

Por Peter Waldmann, catedrático emérito de Sociología en la Universidad de Augsburgo (REAL INSTITUTO ELCANO, 27/06/06):

Tema: Análisis comparado del impacto que los atentados del 11 de septiembre en Estados Unidos y del 11 de marzo en España tuvieron sobre la opinión pública y la política en esas dos naciones.

Resumen: A partir de una distinción entre seguridad efectiva y sensación colectiva de seguridad, el ARI reflexiona sobre si las crisis ocasionadas por ataques terroristas como los ocurridos en Nueva York y Madrid favorecen generalmente a líderes políticos que optan por una línea dura contra el terrorismo y que son percibidos como gobernantes fuertes que prometen combatir dicho fenómeno en todos sus frentes.…  Seguir leyendo »

By Martin Samuel (THE TIMES, 23/05/06):

The cliché goes that Americans do not understand irony. Not true. Seinfeld ran for 181 episodes and TV Guide rated it the best comedy show ever. Maybe they just didn’t get it in the New York Governor’s office, or at the Pentagon. A warship is to be built in part from the wreckage of the fallen World Trade Centre. No? Oh, come on, this is good stuff here. Anyone in from out of town? Hello? Hello? Is this thing on?

Shortly after the September 11 tragedy George Pataki, the Governor of New York State, contacted Gordon England, the Secretary of the United States Navy, with the request that the name of his state be given to a surface warship, engaged in the War on Terror.…  Seguir leyendo »

Por Fred Halliday, profesor visitante del Cidob (Barcelona) y profesor de la London School of Economics. Traducción: José María Puig de la Bellacasa (LA VANGUARDIA, 22/05/06):

Ninguna señal ni advertencia especial recibe al viajero que se dirige a visitar el emplazamiento de la zona cero de las Torres Gemelas de Nueva York, destruidas en los críticos y decisivos minutos de la mañana del 11 de septiembre del año 2001. Los neoyorquinos aconsejan desplazarse en metro hasta la estación de Chambers Street en Manhattan y recorrer a pie unas cuantas manzanas, recomendación que pongo en práctica. Nada denuncia la proximidad al lugar salvo la presencia de un solitario vendedor callejero -camerunés, por más señas- que vende llaveros con la efigie de las Torres Gemelas, camisetas del cuerpo de bomberos de Nueva York y un álbum fotográfico del acontecimiento en el que se han eliminado las imágenes de las víctimas humanas.…  Seguir leyendo »

By James E. Young, a professor of Judaic and Near Eastern studies at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and Michael Van Valkenburgh, a professor of landscape architecture at Harvard (THE NEW YORK TIMES, 18/05/06):

IMAGINE our country today without the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, without the open and painstaking competition that gave veterans, their families and the rest of us a place unlike any other to mourn our losses of that era. As difficult and adversarial as that process was at times, it was necessary. Our need for a memorial at ground zero is no less profound, as is our need to stick by the plan for the World Trade Center Memorial devised more than two years ago, no matter how difficult that may be.…  Seguir leyendo »

By Michael Kinsley (THE WASHINGTON POST, 13/05/06):

The story of United Flight 93, more than any other tale of our times, makes you wonder about yourself. These were not young soldiers in battle. This was not the culmination of some long crisis with time to ruminate and firm up your resolve. These were ordinary, middle-class and (mostly) middle-aged Americans going about their everyday lives, when -- bang! -- they faced the ultimate test. And passed. "Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide," goes the old hymn. But usually it's not literally just a moment. These people were not just courageous.…  Seguir leyendo »

By Charles Krauthammer (THE WASHINGTON POST, 12/05/06):

I am no great fan of the death penalty. I oppose it in almost all cases, though not on principle. There are crimes -- high, monstrous and rare -- that warrant the ultimate sanction.

Not because it is a deterrent; the evidence for deterrence is very equivocal. And not, as our Oprah-soaked sentimentalism suggests, to bring closure to the victim's family. Family has nothing to do with it. It is The State v. The Miscreant , not the family v. the miscreant. And punishment is meant to do more than just bring order to the state; it brings moral order to the universe.…  Seguir leyendo »