9/11 20 years ago

Twenty years ago I just came to Barbados, not knowing at all that I would spend so many years in this island. Clavère and I arrived on August 6, and my official appointment at the Cave Hill Campus took place on the following day. No real happened as the first semester started. 9/11 was actually my second week of teaching at the University of the West Indies. I taught French language in 1st year, African literature in 1st and 2nd years and co-taught Francophone Culture and Translation. A heavy teaching load. On that day, I was between two teaching classes when Clavère called me to tell me that New York and the Pentagon were bombed. I did not realize the depth of the event thinking that she misunderstood or exaggerated until I went into the faculty lunch room. I noticed that my colleagues were all appalled by this incredible destruction of one of the most prestigious symbols of the West hegemony over the world. America was hit and thrown down to earth, to ground zero as they used to say. Being new in this Anglo-Saxon universe made me feel quite a stranger. I was still in the process of discovering my new life and work environment. It made me aware of the different perception of the world I had as an African coming to live in the Caribbean. That culture shock showed my difference as an African per se. In the meantime I made my professional and social way at the Cave Hill Campus.

Twenty years later. I still live in the Caribbean. I read history from various perspectives enriched by a quite long experience of the Caribbean and its culture. I see things differently. I was in my forties, today I am in my sixties. The world apparently remains the same but history has changed. Or history remains the same but the world has changed. All depends on the view prisms. Because of September 11 America tried to change the face of the world. The United States invaded Afghanistan, chased the Taliban from Kabul and hunted for the most wanted leader of Al Qaeda: Usama Ben Laden (Osama bin Laden). We heard how this extremist Saudi Arabian was killed in Pakistan. In the process Irak was attacked, Saddam Hussein was overthrown and killed. The aim was to bill a new era of freedom and prosperity. Since August 31, 2021, the Taliban are back in Kabul, the regime imposed by the West has collapsed after the US and their allies have decided to withdraw their armed forces from Afghanistan. To me this return of the Taliban to Kabul is a victory over the forces of the West, although America does not see it as a military defeat. And this twentieth anniversary of the bombing on the World Trade Center Twin Towers occurs amid the turmoil and the controversial restauration of Taliban power in Afghanistan. The fact that President Biden is defending his decision of withdrawal shows the discrepancy between the priorities of the US presently and two decades ago It is very difficult to say how it will continue. Back to the starting point. 

9/11 is to be remembered as a dagger in the heart of the Western Civilization. May the souls of all the victims rest in peace. The United States of America remains the superpower of the whole world although their retreat from Afghanistan remains a subject of debate. The principle to impose a new world order forms a dream sold for ideological purposes but will never succeed. It is an obvious proof that peace can never be imposed by force. The Taliban lost the war against the West but resisted to the bones and never gave up. They are at present back to power in Kabul. History is written in letters of blood. This sentence was true, is true and will remain true forever.