{"id":117347,"date":"2026-09-18T15:44:39","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T13:44:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/?p=117347"},"modified":"2026-09-19T13:30:03","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T11:30:03","slug":"thinking-for-ourselves-rather-than-seeking-revenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sonnenseite.com\/en\/franz-alt-en\/comments-interviews\/thinking-for-ourselves-rather-than-seeking-revenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Thinking for Ourselves Rather Than Seeking Revenge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On the day after 11 September 2001 \u2013 25 years ago \u2013 the Dalai Lama wrote a letter to the then US President George W. Bush, expressing his deep sorrow and sympathy and making a strong plea for a non-violent response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bin Laden was the main perpetrator of the terrorist attack in New York, which claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people. Just imagine for a moment what the world might look like today if the US President had understood the Dalai Lama\u2019s plea for a \u2018non-violent response\u2019 and had opted for dialogue, diplomacy and negotiations rather than revenge and war.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did the \u2018civilised world\u2019 react to 11 September?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

George W. Bush planned the \u2018War on Terror\u2019. His motto and his goal: revenge, revenge, revenge; war, war, war. The then German Chancellor, Gerhard Schr\u00f6der, also said: \u2018This is a declaration of war on the entire civilised world.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When something as terrible as the events of 11 September 2001 happens, the terrorists expect the \u2018enemy\u2019 to respond with revenge. That is their actual calculation. And George W. Bush and Gerhard Schr\u00f6der reacted exactly as such, thereby walking straight into the trap set by the terrorists and terrorism itself. History is full of acts of terrorism, which are almost always followed by further acts of terrorism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The renowned US historian Timothy Snyder outlined a way out of this vicious circle on 10 September 2026 in the S\u00fcddeutsche Zeitung<\/a>: \u201cThe obvious response to 11 September would have been to free ourselves from fossil fuels. After all, without our dependence on oil, we would never have been drawn into the maelstrom of the Middle East. Had we focused on clean energy sources, we could have curbed global warming, prevented further wars in the Middle East and thwarted the rise of Russian President Putin\u2019s hydrocarbon-fuelled oligarchy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The new enemy: the Islamist terrorist<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Yet \u2013 as we now know \u2013 things turned out quite differently \u2013 namely, exactly as the terrorists had planned: revenge, war and mass murder: the \u2018war on terror\u2019, against which the Dalai Lama had warned. And so a new enemy image emerged in the West: the Islamist terrorist. And for many, \u2018the Muslims\u2019 suddenly became the enemy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to a study, 940,000 people died in the subsequent \u2018war on terror\u2019 in Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, Pakistan and Syria. Many more died as a result of indirect consequences of the war, such as famine, epidemics and destruction (Die Zeit, 11 September 2026<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to the US policy of retaliation, the terrorists have once again achieved their goal. The mass murder has cost the US and its NATO allies more than two trillion (that is 2,000 million) dollars (Die Zeit, 10 September 2026<\/a>). The terrorists\u2019 plan has worked out perfectly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

11 September 2001 also marked the end of the phase of democratic renewal following the Cold War. The US wars were followed by Putin\u2019s war of terror against Ukraine. Putin\u2019s calculation: if the US does not abide by international law, then neither do I need to. Today, Putin and Trump use the same arguments against their \u2018enemies\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To escape the vicious circle of endless terror, Timothy Snyder suggests something very simple: \u201cThe best weapon against terrorism is to think for oneself\u2026 That is precisely what Americans must do today, on this terrible anniversary. Do not allow yourselves to be provoked; do not enter the mental world of terrorism, but think for yourselves. Only then is there hope that the next quarter of a century will be better than the last.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

Source<\/h5>\r\n\n\n\n

Franz Alt 2026<\/a> |  Translated with www.DeepL.com\/Translator<\/a><\/p>\n

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