The Null Device
Recently East Timor, which attained independence after years of bloody repression, held presidential elections. A thought that occurred to me: would East Timor have had any chance of getting its independence today, had it not done so before the World Trade Center terrorist attack? Probably not; given how governments across the world have capitalised on the War On Terror to label domestic pro-autonomy movements (from Chechens to Uighurs) as "terrorists" ineligible for sympathy or human rights, I can imagine Indonesia being given carte blanche to pacify its recalcitrant province by all means necessary, with no interference from the Western media, in return for joining the coalition against al-Qaeda.
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Remember just prior to 9/11 when the WTO officials were 'considering' a public debate with the anti-globalization crowd? I was beginning to look like the negative media/media blackout on those issues was starting to evaporate a little. But all that and many other kinds of nuanced arguments concerning objectionable state doctrine crumbled along with the towers. Sometimes it seems to me all to convenient...