Tuesday, August 30, 2011
9/11 Remembrance Guidelines Minimize Al Qaeda
A Postmodern Observance?Ahead of the 10th anniversary of 9/11, the White House has issued two rather peculiar and seemingly politicized sets of guidelines to government agencies--for domestic and overseas use--on how to commemorate and talk about the worst-ever attacks on the United States on U.S. soil. Click here and here for the story and here for one blogger's critical response.
The guidelines advise officials to minimize the role of the organization that attacked the U.S.--Al Qaeda--and to make every effort possible to universalize the event.
Readers can decide for themselves if the guidelines are in line with the Obama administration's pronounced tendency to avoid singling out radical Islam--i.e. rightwing political Islam, or Islamism--as an enemy, taking the Bush administration's War on Terror label to a new level of obfuscation, and to downplay and discourage any suggestion or hint or notion of American exceptionalism, even with regard to unique historic events.
Regarding universalizing the attacks, the advice reminds this reporter of the Communist conspiracy to steal the legacy of Anne Frank.
