Four-Star Connection: From 9/11 to Edward Snowden

Four-Star Connection: From 9/11 to Edward Snowden
United Daily News editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
June 26, 2013

Summary: Why speak of a connection between 9/11 and Edward Snowden? The 9/11 incident of September 11, 2001, was the most horrifying act of terrorism in history. It was the most anti-American single act in history. The current US manhunt for Edward Snowden is the most appalling human rights violation by a government in the Internet era. The U.S. government argues that it is using Internet spying to fight terrorism. This leads us back to 9/11.

Full Text below:

Why speak of a connection between 9/11 and Edward Snowden? The 9/11 incident of September 11, 2001, was the most horrifying act of terrorism in history. It was the most anti-American single act in history. The current US manhunt for Edward Snowden is the most appalling human rights violation by a government in the Internet era. The U.S. government argues that it is using Internet spying to fight terrorism. This leads us back to 9/11.

The 9/11 incident had its roots in Arab and Islamic world hostility toward "American civilization." The Snowden incident exposed the dark underside of the American system of constitutionalism and the rule of law. The 9/11 incident was an example of Samuel Huntington's international "clash of civilizations." The Snowden incident is an example of an international, Internet "clash of civilizations." The content and form may differ. But both represent landmark "clashes of civilizations."

Between 9/11 and the Snowden incident, we had the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq, and the 2007 Wall Street financial crisis. All four events are links in a chain. All are acid tests of America's democracy and free market economy.

The 9/11 terrorist attacks earned severe global reprimands. But the United States should also ask itself why the murderers harbored such hatred for the United States. For a long time, the United States, with its powerful military, has been engaged in an unequal conflict with vastly weaker civilizations. No Arab or Islamic country can resist the power of the United States government. But terrorists have broken out of the framework of state to state military conflict. Their conflict is not part of a nation vs. nation conflict. Instead, it is a person vs. person conflict. It is asymmetrical warfare between the weak and the strong.

Bush Jr. invaded Iraq. He turned a person vs. person conflict back into a nation vs. nation conflict. This is where America has the advantage. But this also provoked intense controversy. Afterwards, facts proved that the U.S. military invasion of Iraq was an act of naked aggression, rationalized by lies about "weapons of mass destruction." Seven years later, when U.S. troops pulled out of Iraq, they left behind an Iraq in ruins, spiritually and physically. They left behind hundreds of thousands of widows and orphans. When America sent troops over there, it may not have realized it would inflict even more harm upon Iraqi than Saddam Hussein. It left behind powerful doubts about America's "civilization." One. How could America spout such lofty moral rhetoric, yet initiate on such a lose-lose war of aggression? Two. How can the United States' boast about its advanced democracy, yet countenance such flagrant abuses of power by George W. Bush and his cronies? Three. Was the invasion of Iraq really nothing more than a "misunderstanding" between civilizations?

These events were followed by yet another "civilizational misunderstanding." In 2007, the financial tsunami struck Wall Street. Too much freedom and indulgence in the financial markets aided and abetted unscrupulous Wall Street vultures. These vultures devised pyramid schemes that caused many the world over to lose everything. Families were shattered. People perished. The very foundations of the nation were shaken. This extreme form of capitalist [mercantilist] "civilization" was nothing more than a meat grinder. The US government's rule of law could not prevent this horrible disaster. American civilization could not prevent the Wall Street vultures' barbaric conduct. The financial tsunami shook many peoples' faith in "capitalism." It undermined many peoples' faith in the marketplace. Today the impact of the financial tsunami continues to be felt. The question in many people's minds is, "Is this really civilization?"

Snowden exposed the Prism Surveillance Program for what is was -- unbridled and brazen criminal conduct by the US government. Ironically, some have compared Snowden to Chen Guangcheng. In order to silence Chen Guangcheng, Beijing virtually sealed off Dongshigu Village. This led to denunciations by democracy activists, foreign and domestic. Eventually a hapless Beijing handed Chen Guangcheng over to the United States. The Beijing regime lost face. Now however, the US government's Prism Surveillance Program ordered the world's largest information technology companies to conduct "stability maintenance" programs at little political and monetary cost to itself. This enabled the US government to keep its hand clean while engaging in illegal activities.

The U.S. government granted Chen Guangchen political asylum. Meanwhile, they have done everything possible to extradite Snowden. This too invites questions about what constitutes "civilization." One. What are the America's core value? Are they the US government's "right to rule," or are they human rights? Are they freedom, democracy, and a long list of other values? Two. Can the US government violate the spirit of the US Constitution and order civil servants, including outside consultants, to violate human rights? Do whistleblowers have the right to disobey and reveal the truth? Three. Suppose state power has a "clash of civilizations" with human rights. Is a country such as the United States really more "civilized?" Will it treat Edward Snowden worse than Beijing treated Chen Guangcheng?

In recent years, the U.S. has been sliding downhill. Its military might is increasingly inadequate and unreliable. Take for example, the invasion of Iraq. Even more importantly, its ethical foundations are being called into question. Take for example, the financial crisis. The US may have the Prism Surveillance Program to prevent a recurrence of 9/11. But such programs undermine the United States' image as a model of civilization. This is not a question concerning a nation's power. This is a question concerning a nation's soul.

America is still a free and democratically ruled country worthy of respect and emulation. But somewhere between 9/11 and Edward Snowden, it arrived at a turning point. Can American civilization reform itself? Can it validate itself? This question concerns the very nature of civilization.

四星連線：從九一一到史諾登
【聯合報╱社論】
2013.06.26 04:34 am

為何說可將九一一與史諾登連成一線？二○○一年的九一一事件，是史上最驚悚的恐怖活動，也是史上最駭異的反美事件；現在正進行中的史諾登事件，則是網路時代最駭人聽聞的政府侵害人權事件，美國政府解釋監偵網路的理由是反恐，把根源推到九一一。

九一一事件源自阿拉伯伊斯蘭世界對「美國文明」的敵意，而史諾登事件則暴露了美國憲政法治燭台下的黑暗角落。九一一事件固然是杭廷頓所指的跨國界的「文明衝突」，而史諾登事件則是國家與網路世界的「文明衝突」；二者在內容及外觀上迥然而異，卻皆可視為具有「文明衝突」指標意義的大事件。

其實，從九一一到史諾登，其間尚有二○○三年的美國侵略伊拉克，與二○○七年揭幕的華爾街金融海嘯。四者連成一線，皆是對美國標榜的民主體制與資本主義自由經濟的嚴酷檢驗。

九一一的恐怖攻擊受到全球嚴厲譴責，但美國亦應省思為何凶手對美國仇恨至此。長期以來，在美國那種藉著武力支撐的強勢文明，和其實主要是軍力不如美國的弱勢文明之間，一直存在著力量不對稱的衝突。沒有一個阿拉伯伊斯蘭國家能夠以政府之力抵抗美國，但當恐怖分子跳脫了國家與軍隊的框架，那就不是國與國的衝突，而是人與人的衝突，也是弱者與強者的不對稱鬥爭。

小布希侵略伊拉克，將人與人的衝突又拉回到國與國的衝突；這是美國的強項，卻引發了強烈的文明爭議。事後證明，美國揮軍伊拉克，是裹著「查有大規模毀滅性武器」謊言的侵略行為。七年後，美軍從伊拉克抽腿時，留下了一個在精神及實體上皆幾近廢墟的伊拉克，及成千上萬的孤兒寡婦。美國出兵時也許不會想到，它對伊拉克造成的實質損傷恐猶逾於海珊政權。這裡又留下了一個「文明」的問號：一、為何在美國崇高的道德論述下，卻仍會出現這種損人不利己的侵略戰？二、為何美國這種自稱先進的民主，也會被小布希及其身邊的野心家所利用？三、這難道只是一場「文明」的誤會？

接下來又一場文明的誤會，是二○○七年自華爾街爆發的金融海嘯。金融市場的自由與寬縱，給了金融兀鷹肆無忌憚的空間；兀鷹們買空賣空，卻造成了全球多少人血本無歸、家破人亡，甚至國本為之動搖。在此，資本主義的「文明」極致，儼然只是刀俎魚肉；政府的法制防範不了這種慘禍，美國的「文明」更無能阻擋金融兀鷹的「野蠻」。這場金融海嘯，使人們對資本主義的信仰動搖，更使市場上人與人的信任關係受到重創。如今，海嘯仍餘波盪漾，人們心中的疑問是：難道這就是「文明」？

史諾登所舉發的「稜鏡計畫」，則是政府肆無忌憚的罪行。諷刺的是，如今有人將史諾登與陳光誠作比較。北京為了制伏陳光誠，幾乎封了東師古村，引來內外民主人士交相責罵，最後無計可施地把陳光誠交給美國，北京政權面子裡子皆失。然而，像「稜鏡計畫」這樣的政府行動，只要向大科技公司下達命令，即可進行政治成本及金錢成本皆低的「維穩」方案，政府作盡髒事，卻不留汙名。

如今，收容了陳光誠的美國政府，卻千方百計要引渡史諾登。這裡又觸發了幾個有關「文明」的疑問：一、美國的核心價值究竟是「統治權力」，抑或是「人權」（包括自由、民主等一長串概念）？二、政府可以違反憲法精神指使公務員（包括外包人員）侵犯人權，但受指使者卻不能有不服從或舉發的權利？三、當「政府權力」與「人權」發生「文明衝突」時，像美國這樣的文明國家，會不會使史諾登受到比陳光誠還不如的處遇？

近年美國國力滑坡，一方面固然是因軍事力量愈來愈不足憑恃（如出兵伊拉克事件），更重要的則是因其倫理道德受到質疑（金融海嘯）；因而，遂有稜鏡計畫以防範「九一一」的再發生，但這卻使得美國的文明典範地位更受重創。這已不是「國力」的問題，而是「國魂」的問題。

相對而言，美國依然是一個在自由民主的尺標上值得尊敬與效法的國家；但是從九一一到史諾登這些年來的轉折卻顯示，美國文明確亦面臨了如何自我改善及自圓其說的問題。這當然是一個「文明」層次的問題。