After the collapse of Marxism—;that
old siren song that so moved the hearts of intellectuals
for a whole century—anti-Americanism became
the one refuge for the near-totality of the
educated. It was the obverse side of all those
lost hopes and, who knows? the threshold beyond
which lay fresh illusions.
Wretched and obscene. Wretchedness
of the single cause. Wretchedness of the "antis."
Wretchedness of anti-ism. One might have thought
that faced with the barbarity of the deed and
the sufferings of America the big bass drum
of anti-Americanism might have been muffled.
Especially when you consider that for people
who think of themselves as children of the Enlightenment,
Islamic fanaticism offered no great attraction.
Wrong again. The contrary happened. The sorrows
of America filled the hearts of the chattering
classes with glee. (. . .) Bloody
Americans! To have that happen to them, mighty
must have been their sins. Where the man in
the street simply danced on the ruins, the intellectual,
a man equipped with knowledge, introduced a
rule of proportionality. A refined thinker,
he thought America's punishment was in exact
proportion to her deeds. Rather than arousing
pity, this urban cataclysm became an accusation.
This is an old story, as ancient
as the Old Testament. When the God-fearing and
rich Job is struck down by God, his friends
(who of course all wish him well) gather round
his bedside! "There's something not quite
right with your story, Job! Look deep in your
heart, brother! Search. Tell the truth. If God
punishes you, it is because you have sinned
greatly." Fine people, each and every one
of them!
Perhaps you think I'm exaggerating?
Embroidering? Allegorizing? I refer you to the
sprawling rhapsodies published in le Monde
by the likes of Arundhati Roy, the Indian novelist,
by Jean Baudrillard, an illustrious French historian,
and by John le Carré, unidentified. Or
to the manifesto signed by 113 French intellectuals
from the extreme Left, among them Pierre Vidal-Naquet.
All of them go on about it endlessly: America
is all-powerful, hence America is all-guilty,
and bin Laden is the scourge of the Lord. Which
of course is exactly what that great white spook
with the fevered eyes and prophet's beard, his
white tunic of innocence so media-friendly,
says.
