24
PARTISAN REVIEW
the United States are one hundred percent American. They have nothing
to do with this outrage and are possibly suffering more than many oth–
ers.
It
is on account of this compelling official inclusiveness, this genuine
attempt to affirm loud and clear that Arab-Americans are Americans
like anybody else, that the structure of what has derisively been called
"political correctness" has been, in my view, a major achievement in the
civilizing and emancipatory process of this country. It is in this context
that one also has to see the inclusion of an Imam at the National Cathe–
dral in Washington during the ceremony for the victims of the terror
attack, in the presence of the entire political elite of the country (includ–
ing all the ex-Presidents except Ronald Reagan). I would go so far as to
say that this catastrophe signals the long overdue start of a social and
political coming out for our Arab-American citizens into the larger
sphere of the American public.
There may be other positives in the wake of the horrors. Suddenly,
even a number of anti-statist Americans, most notably George W. Bush,
are noticing that they not only have to tolerate the state, but that they
even sorely need it and should be supporting it, for only the federal gov–
ernment can help the failing airlines, badly damaged by this catastrophe.
And only the federal government can help an economy that keeps getting
weaker, just as it is only the federal government that should finally-as
in some European countries-hire (or at least supervise the training of)
skilled and well-paid security personnel in all the country's airports. Cur–
rently, these security people are hired and paid by the airlines at wages
that often fall below those of fast-food workers. They have virtually no
benefits, thereby leading to a rapid turnover rate. In foreign policy, too,
there are some interesting and promising developments that are worthy
of further observation. Thus, for example, an alliance already initiated
before the terror attack (much too late, as far as I'm concerned) between
the world's two most populous democracies, India and the United States,
has been developing momentously. In addition, there are important signs
of rapprochement between the United States and Iran. Moreover, the
newly framed atmosphere of massive cooperation between Russia and
the United States on many fronts, not least in their joint battle against
global terrorism as well as a reworking of their strategic relationship in
terms of missile defense, must be viewed positively. And finally, it might
just be possible-if ever so faintly-that the events of September IIth
will contribute to the eventual untangling of the completely tangled knot
between the Israelis and Palestinians as a result of this catharsis.
-October
28, 2001
