Tom Crumpacker writes: "Modern Mythology and Osama bin Laden



Myth-men do not die when their bodies are destroyed...



they often grow more powerful as time goes by.... Their story has
many versions, and although the characters are different, the plot
is the same. They usually stand up for the weak and poor, like St.
Joan and Jesus, and they often outwit established power, like Robin
Hood and T.E. Lawrence.



MODERN MYTHOLOGY by Tom Crumpacker



If our government has any evidence of a link between last week's
attackers and Osama bin Laden, it should make it public now, so as
to justify its upcoming attack of Afganistan. It says it has such
evidence, but so far the only thing made public is that one of the
attackers, Muhamed Atta, was seen in Germany last year talking to
an Osama follower. Last year Osama already had thousands if not
millions of "followers."



The real Osama was virtually unknown, except to some CIA operatives
and Mideast people, until July, 1998. The myth-man Osama was born
then, when the CEO of the world's only superpower, fresh from
answering questions about having sex in his office with an intern,
rained down 75 Cruise missiles on a phamaceutical warehouse in
Khartoum and some camps in the Afgan mountains. He said that Osama
was responsible for bombing US embassies in Africa. Like a fox,
Osama had left the camps before the missiles arrived. US intelligence,
military and political leaders said that he owned or controlled
the Khartoum warehouse and that his weapons and bombs had been
stored there. They had the evidence to prove this, they said, but
they chose not to disclose it. A year later they quietly admitted
there was no such evidence and compensated the families for the
people they had killed.


The thing about myth-men is not only - do they not die when their
bodies are destroyed, but also - like Joe Hill - they often grow
more powerful as time goes by. The reason is that influential
leaders are always to some extent the creations of their followers,
because they represent ideas. Their story has many versions, and
although the characters are different, the plot is the same. They
usually stand up for the weak and poor, like St. Joan and Jesus,
and they often outwit established power, like Robin Hood and T.E.
Lawrence.



When the Mexican Federales ambushed and machine-gunned Emiliano
Zapata, they left his barely recognizable body in the town square,
hoping that the people would understand he was dead. Unfortunately
for them, his white horse ran away and many thought they saw him
on it. The same with Ernesto Guevara when he was run down by the
CIA and shot by Bolivian soldiers. They published numerous photos
of his bullet-ridden body, but when I was in La Paz a few months
later, many people in the streets were sure it wasn't him. Today
Emiliano and Che are much more powerful and influential than they
ever were in life, because they represent the hope of liberation
for millions.



Last week's attack was not primarily motivated by religion or
culture or even anti-Americanism, as our media is proclaiming. It
resulted from the extreme poverty, disparity and lack of social
mobility and participation in Mideast societies, which in turn
results from the unjust way the neo-liberal global corporatist
system is operating. In the process of continuous enrichment of
the rich and impoverishment of the poor, there is always going to
be domination and struggle for liberation. Any country which assumes
the responsibilty of enforcer, by empowering authoritarian regimes
or trying to bomb or starve people to promote system functioning
(which also promotes its own economic interest), is rightfully
going to blamed for all problems.



What many Mideast moderates, progressives and radicals have in
common is the desire for autonmomy - to get the US out of the area
militarily and otherwise. The experience of the last 50 years is
a clear demonstration of why, given the present state of development
of world political economy, only an international agency like the
UN would have any hope of functioning as system enforcer.



The nineteen suicides who pulled off the attack unjustifiably killed
thousands of innocent people. Any who helped them should be brought
to justice, but it's irrational to punish nations for the crimes
of individuals. They also as tricksters destroyed the seats of
global financial and military power. What the world saw when the
towers came crashing down was the the crumbling of the international
empire which happens to be centered in New York City and Washington.
It doesn't matter how soon the the towers are rebuilt, the world
has seen the emperor without his clothes.



We have to start from reality if we're going to change things in
a progressive way. Starting from our own myths can only lead us
into other myths. If the people who run this country could understand
this, we'd all be better off.



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[Tom Crumpacker lives in Miami Beach, Florida. He can be reached
at Crump8@aol.com ]"