25 - 31 October 2001
Issue No.557
|
Al-Ahram Weekly Online 25 - 31 October 2001 Issue No.557 |
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Current issue | Previous issue | Site map | ||
Limelight
'Freedom from fear'
As the aching sorrow and the gnawing pain settle permanently in the heart pit, following the chilling events of 11 September, an edifice of unspeakable horror is rapidly rising in place of the rubble, with the endless transmission of panic and fear, to an already weary and tired world. Little comfort is derived from the thought that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself", spoken by the 32nd President of the United States Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1882- 1945), known for his courage in the face of personal and national adversity; and for his distinguished oratory which inspired a nation through one of its darkest periods. Roosevelt dreamed of a world founded upon four essential freedoms; freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from war and freedom from fear. Today however, fear runs rampant amongst a population, which once enjoyed every form of freedom. In a recent survey 25% of Americans are 'very worried', and 75% are 'worried'. A population once carefree and easy, is now victimised by deadly fear.
Fear is no small matter. It is a universal and formidable ancient human emotion, helping man to define a situation of danger. It triggers a host of symptoms, physically uncomfortable, mentally disturbing. In fear, the adrenal gland empties a hormone, adrenalin (epinephrine), into the bloodstream causing an increase in the heartbeat and the breathing rate, and a rise in the blood pressure as well as the sugar in the bloodstream. When fear progresses into anger, vital tissue damage may result such as ulcers - a clear case of mind over matter.
Chemical/biological warfare is not a new invention of modern science. It has been going on for centuries, wreaking havoc and scattering doom. As early as 500BC, sulfur and pitch were mixed together, set aflame and hurled at besieged cities. The flame-thrower is one of the most spectacular and effective weapons of chemical warfare. Chemical agents affect the nervous system, breathing centres, skin, eyes, nose, and throat. This includes gas, liquids, sprays, and powders.
In 400BC Spartans used pitch and sulfur during the Peleponnesian War. The Romans used the carcasses of dead animals to contaminate their enemies' water supply. The Tartans threw the bodies of bubonic plague victims over the walls of the city of Kafka. And during the French/Indian Wars (1689-1783) it was common to give blankets infected with smallpox to native Americans.
Suiting up for BW
Germany introduced the use of poisonous gas against the Allies in April 1915 at Ypres, Belgium. In 1918, the Japanese army was dedicated to biological warfare research, and their war prisoners served as guinea pigs; and in 1941 the Japanese sprayed the bubonic plague over sections of China. By the end of WW-II most nations agreed to avoid its use during wars, so ravaging and exterminating were the results. In 1969 President Richard Nixon declared the US would no longer conduct biological warfare, and ordered the destruction of all American stocks. In 1975 an international treaty banning the production and possession of biological weapons was ratified.
Recent bestsellers are contributing to the awareness as well as to the spreading of terror in a nation already changed forever. The first is Germ and Biological Weapons and America's Secret War, authored by three journalists of the New York Times, Judith Miller, Stephen Engelberg and William Broad. The book, which coincidentally appeared in bookstores September 11th, became an instant major best seller. It includes eyewitness accounts and descriptions of Iraqi anthrax stockpiles, Japanese nerve gas attacks and Soviet anthrax tanks, which serve to spread even more fear. Sales of David Halberstam's War in a Time of Peace are brisk, and Karen Armstrong's short account of Islam is disappearing off the bookshelves.
The horrors of mass murders, epidemics, panic, and general chaos, have always intrigued the motion picture industry. They naturally lend themselves to the dramatic, the violent, and the spectacular. A perennial children's favourite, The Secret Garden by Frances Hogston Burnett, the story of a little English girl who loses her whole family to the bubonic plague, in Bombay, India, has been made into several movie versions and a Broadway musical hit. The Andromeda Strain, a bestseller written by Michael Crichton was adapted for the screen in 1971. Directed by the distinguished Robert Wise, it revolves around a top-secret team investigating a viral threat from outer space. This unnerving suspenseful film became a classic among the genre, and is worth seeing again and again. Outbreak, 1995, directed by Wolfgang Pederson, has Dustin Hoffman a virologist with the Centre for Disease Control, chasing a capuchin monkey smuggled illegally and running loose in Small Town USA. The monkey is the carrier of a deadly virus fashioned after 'Ebola'. The AIDS epidemics shook the world at its very foundation, producing a score or more of films treating the sensitive subject; most poignant amongst them is Philadelphia, 1992, which became a smashing critical and commercial success. The blockbuster of 2000, Mission Impossible II, dealt with the search for a vaccine for all flu viruses. The film provides a good deal of sensation as well as information, and features the animation of a virus infecting a cell, which left viewers even more breathless than did the heroics of Tom Cruise. While these suspenseful and titillating dramas maybe entertaining on the screen, they are most definitely unwelcome in our lives.
The attraction of bio-weapons is irresistible. They are relatively inexpensive, hard to detect, and easy to transport. While the nightmarish scare of anthrax sounds ominous, it is perhaps the good news in this grim global picture. It is treatable by antibiotics, is not contagious, and degrades within minutes under ultra-violet rays. On the other hand, a benign sounding disease like small pox is the most terrible of all the ministers of death. Smallpox afflicted mankind, as no other disease had since the beginning of time. Though it was virtually wiped out by 1980, through a vigorous vaccine campaign by the World Health Organisation, it has killed 500 million in the last century alone, more than all the wars and national disasters put together. Two highly secured laboratories in Russia and the US are known to keep hundreds of small pox samples, but according to a report by the CIA other countries, such as N. Korea, Iraq, China, Cuba and Israel, may retain samples of the virus. An ordinary infected man walking in a crowd can spread the virus and the endless domino effect becomes unstoppable.
Fear is more deadly and more contagious than the deadliest virus. It spreads like wildfire, it poisons the air, and is inhaled and absorbed by all - young and old, strong and weak. A nation is gripped by fear, eating at its heart and soul, destroying its body and mind.
Simple objects of yesterday, such as a commercial airplane, a letter from a friend, a baby's talcum powder, are today's weapons of terror. What was once surreal has turned real before our very eyes, and our world has become a far more dangerous place than it ever was before 11 September. None of the freedoms can be fully enjoyed without "freedom from fear". It is the rarest and most precious of all.
Yet, fearful and intimidated, we flinch at the threatening deadly cobra coiled in our midst, ready to spread its venom and ruin, as we cower and quail at what our dark tomorrows may bring. The eloquent Mr. Roosevelt stated 'More than an end to war, we want an end to the beginnings of all wars'. Therein lies the only bright ray of hope for our children and grandchildren. As for now, we sing our mournful song, and may God have mercy on us all.
© Copyright Al-Ahram Weekly. All rights reserved
 |
|
|||||||||||||||||
| ARCHIVES Letter from the Editor Editorial Board Subscription Advertise! |
WEEKLY ONLINE: www.ahram.org.eg/weekly Updated every Saturday at 11.00 GMT, 2pm local time weeklyweb@ahram.org.eg |
 Al-Ahram Organisation |
Recommend this page