spirit of terrorism

7/27/2019 Spirit of Terrorism

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!-IV(0'/ :'0 I.6 73

~ AO "l. "'"',........d ......... ;Wl...LAJ"') ~ """":1002 C ' . ~ ' . ~ ~ ~ a . . . T ........ 'IOO1 ~..... - ar.. pd!ohod """" >0010\"" '1001T, ..........e T",.....- 1O}1

n.. , . , ~ , , _"_ irR f . ' ~ " " ' d .,('"" ... 'W*_ 0 Edln"ru r;.r;u" 2001" '- j. - ,. , 1 . . _Ilrn pobI, ......

11


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Whcn it cume5 to work! evcnts, wc Ju.d Ottn quitca From the death of O;"lIa to tho:: Worl

,


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" . . N ' ' ' U ( ) ~ 1 L 1 ' ' . ( )

r rade Ceu,I',. in New York, We might "'"cn be uidto ho.,.., before u, the ~ I > $ o J u t e e...,nt. 'he 'mOlho"r'of all " ~ t n l l , tho" pure e>'"nt uniting wi!hin i l ~ l r

the (>'''''15 Iha l nCYior tah " p J ~ .

The .... I>ole pl.), of hi!loty and p m ' ~ r i. di .rupted by lhi. c ~ c n t , /,,,, !n . t

I h ~ 1 (u",,;tllngly) l e r r o r i ~ l i e imaginationwhich d"dl . in all of UI.

The f ~ < ; t lhal we hove; drcamt of Ih;, ""cnl,tha, e"crvone wilhout ex""'plion ha. dreamt ofi t - b e a . u . ~ nO can a,'oid druming of thede't rucl1on of any power thai hecme hege.monic to lhi. d"gr., . - i . u n a < " C ~ p l a b l . , 10 theWrnern m " r a l ~ . Yel il is. r'L1., .nd one",hich can includ be "'CloSured by the emol;ve ";0Ienenu:moogor;" of 1 few f"natia. and all thatwould Ihen remain would I>e to e/lmin.te them,)\0,,", " X' know ,..,.)' well thaI " , i ~ I, not how it is.,


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Which e x p l . l I l coun terphobic rOling.about C x u r c i ~ i n g . . . il: it i . hecouot' h is I h ~ r eC1ctY"'here, lilt . . n ob,cur'!' objeCI of de,in,.Without Ib ;, dccp"e. t"d cumplkill' the C'"emwould not ha, .. h...1 the "",,,l1I .complicity.

nu . fu beyond halrro for- tk domi/WItworld f ' u \ \ ' ~ r among ti,e di . . nhcriled a, ,,1 theupIOit"'!mong ~ who ha,e mdt:d up OIl ~wrong ,ide of the glol.ol order. E"cn Ih""e who.hArc in the ad,'onlagel of Iha, order ha,-.. thismalicio\U d c ~ i r e in thdr h"uu. AII ..rgy 10 anyd . nnil;w order, 10 an)' ddinitj,"c power. is _ hap _pil) - Un;'"ersll, and t/,.. ,,,.., I"wen of !he " 'widT ...dc Centu wtore J>erfect c m b o d i m e n t ~ . in th(.l rYeT} !"-IM"", dthot ddinith'" order

No n ~ . then, fo r . de"th drl"e or 3 d",struc_Ii,'" i n " , i n ~ t . or ,"'''n for p m ' ~ in the p O W ~ T of power Might,,,'" the willto destroy i l . And it " .. . po.rly 10 il$ own dcsu-uction When d ~ t"'O to""U colbpoc:'L )"ou h.d the'mpres.ion tJut th . - w u ~ re.ponding In the .. .1.cionOl ,1--...,1.,,,on Hlmoc:lf.' Well. H ~ c ~ n . n.e \\I(o.t, in me, 1""1-(ioo of GO

T h ~ count!"", di""'''T TTle-


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!HN .... UO" ," " "O

mO,.., thu! al1ad, on the Ptmt.ogon _ hodgrcatClt ~ y m b o l k impa.nd culture,) ,hat h.,epa,d ,,-ith theh deaths for lite installation of a(lob,1 circulation gO\-erned by a .ingle po"'''' ace!>lung thdr T


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I I A ~ I A U O ~ " l A . O

the Isbmk "lOuse - ""count for Ihe o:-nertt'"'hieh fuels I ~ r r o r . lbe";m .. 110 longer e\C" 10ransform the world. bUI ( .. t h ~ " " r e . i ~ s did inthd , ,by) 10 udin l iu world by 5;lcrifjce.W I M ' r e ~ , the "y",ern aim. to realize it by fwtt.

Ihrori!11l. li ke ..;ru,.", e v e r y \ \ " h c r ~ . Therei. a glohJ I ptrfuSioll of teTm,i,"" which Akf"Clure (Ind the hltrn!) thaI pits uploitedand the undtrdcl"eloped globally g ~ J " S 1 theWC$\crn "'orld "'CTdly ~ o n n c c t s with thelu,",-, Inter",1 to the dominant "y"-em , That '}'I'

\ ~ m ~ ' a l l f ~ db,,"n an) , i b l ~ 'ntogll"ilm. /jUIa g ~ l n H the olher kind. which io "iral in_\ruclf. 'The first 'w o ,vo.-id w ~ r s wrIT.ponded tothe claSlical i m . g ~ of " u. The first ended.upremacy of EUTOp'" I nd tho:- 001001,1 era. The. .cond put an end 10 Nazism. The thin!, whichIt"" indeed taken piau, in form of cold war

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md d e t e r T < : n ~ , put ~ end ( 0 Communism. Withuch ,ucct-t-ding ".r, We h ~ ' - e mo,-ed further(owud. i JIngle " . , , ~ I d order, T o d o ~ (h.1I order,whitan. SuI lheFourth World War i . d",whcT


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to be GoOO 'Ince, by Ie;2ing for illelf glowlmonopoly of pow>::r, it gj'"n rue, by that very K't ,to bl.... l>ad 0 , " , proportio ... . 'ioIcOCt:.

In traditional uni,cr.." there ""3.$ Itill iba1>nce bet"c('n Goo


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~ h ~ n g e f lOw is Ihal the I ~ r r o r b u hi,-., C < c ~ e d 10COfflmU suici


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nAN IAUOR'UARo

ror Ihcre Ij 'y",bolic obUg.tion upon both tl a~ , . . I C ' " ao,l PO"-er /I, P < ' ' ' ' ~ I ' I , anludylng with .heir f a r n i l i ~ " ,bef"rt aCli,.ling thcm.e[>'e. s u d d ~ n l ) - l i k ~ lime

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bornl. The f ~ u l d C M m""tery of mi, clmde't;nestyle of o p e r ~ t i o n i. almost "" turorinic . . the'p''O:ucul .. iICI of September 11 .m.c.- it ca." .u.picion on any and c"cry i"dhidual. Might not anyinofferu;;"e person be po'(ntial t(rrori . ? If ,Mycoul


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O\h.:,... And, ~ , ~ n ill thi, caS('. U in any ... iona]organi"lllion or "'"1.ttl "''''i


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enemy n u m b ~ r on ( of Irulh. Admiuedh- Ihdr,-J e ~ t t u . pro .:: nothing. bul in a 'ystem u ~ r e trulh

i l ~ l f i . du.;'" (o r do ...., d.,, , , 10 POlS"'" it?),,l>eu is nothing to pro>e. Mort t t ~ r d o m of the, 'ktim. of t h attack pro,e. nothing ("Ilher, andthere i, sorn(thing ~ m l y ane! obot:ene in m.ak.ing I moral argument 01'1 of it (thi. i.o in no way todeny their suffering Ind deoth).

Anowr ugument in bad rlilh: theS


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J IA N A U O O

with the opposing po""r. It is that power w h i ~ hhumiliated )"ou, so it too mus t be humiliated. Andno t merd)" ntcrm inatcd . It has to be made tolose face. And you ne ,'Cr achie>e th.t by pureforce and elim in.ting the other I'artl ' it must ,r.ther, he t.rgeted and wounded in gcn" indy.dHnar i .1 rdation . Ap.r t from the pact thathind, the tcrmrist ' together, there is .Iw some-thing of " du.> l pa


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if real it;, i, c" " 'ywher" infiltrated by images, "ir_and finion; In the pre,ent case, we thought

we had seen (pe rn . p' with a certain relie!) a resur gence of the real, and of the k n o f the real ,in on alkgedl)' drtu.l universe. 'There', an end \.0all YOl,,- talk ahvut the virtual - th is is something

Sim ilaTly, it was po s.. ibk l< l see this a< a resur rectio n of hiowr)' beyond it , p roclaimed end.But does reality act ually out st ri p fiet i,,,, , If it...,em, to do " ', this is because it h. . absorbed fiction 's energy, and ha, il$d f becomc fiction. Wemight almo ' t say th. t reali ty is of fiction ,th.t the re.J is je. loll ' o f the image It is a

of duel bet ween ~ m a contest to see whichcan be t he mO'!t unimaginable_

l b e collapse of the Worl ,l T, . , l


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JI ...N .... UO . ' UUO

lhe bliCk magic of lerrori.m; 11K: whilt light of~ im.ge uod 11", bbek light of lerrorlsm_

\\'., try retw'pect i,.cl,. to impole I()mC kind ofmuning on iI, 10 find some kind of inltrpreulion. But t h e ~ is none. And h Is Ihe r a d i c a l i ~ of

~ 5f"'CIiCk. tht brutahty of the : i p e ~ u d e , "himalOOle is origirul and irrcdociblc. The .ptttade oftcrrorh,,,, for-o:s the lerrorism of J ~ c t ; l C l e uponu" And, against Ihi. immoral fascinltion (e"en if itunleashes a un"..,. . .1 mo",1 rC/oetion), 11K: polilicalorder can do nothing. 1m . is OUt t l K : ~ l r e of crudIy. the only on e we ha'-e lefl _ U t r a o r d i r u r ~ inW t il wti\fI the moer . Is no po . di.tinctiol1. U I.,,-d of i m a g ~ s and information,be t ween th e ' p " c t . c u l ~ r .nd Ihe symbolic, nopoSSible distinction bet",een the 'crime ' .n d thecrlckdo"'n. And it i . this unconlroll.bl., unleashing of r e , - ~ ... b i l i t ~ that is terrodsm', Irue ,-icta 1')". A Yietory thaI is ,i"bl., In the ,,,bt.,rune.nr.mifoations and infoltnliol11 of the e'-ent - notlUI! in the d i r ~ c t .,conomic, polltic.l. fin.nci.1,lulOp in the w h o l ~ of the system - .nd t hcr(IU lling monl and psychologic.1 downlurn

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but in tht. .Iump in th., , 'alue-'ptem, in th"whole ideology of fr""dom, of fTee drcubtion,."d 10 on, on w the WeW,'Tn world pridediudf, an,1on w h it drew'" cxcn It! hold o'-ertm- ~ . s t oflhe "orld.

To the point tlut the ilion. With all theI"'nic c o " K q u ~ n ~ . . , . which e n . ~ if. in the "'-'""nt..,lh .. " .score, ' the hy>teri' spreads spontaneouslyby instantaneous crystallization, l ike. chemicaloolutloo . t the me", ""'\tact of a molecule, this i.b e c a u ~ the whule 'plCm hu ,ached a criliQImau which makes it ,-ulnerable to Iny aggrnsiOll.

Thlo t." " . "', iu ." in 0...01"" lOO t ".1 ",bti>hl ;n 1-


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j

i. no n ~ d y for this extreme ,itu . tion,and war i . cer t. inly not. solution , it m " , d ~olTers a rehash of pa'I, \\1th the same d d u g ofmilitary lorees , bog", informatioll, ",mel"" born.bardm'mt, em otive and deceit ful bnguage, technological ,kl'loyment and brainwashing, Lib tl,eGul f War: a non _e"",>I, an event that doe< notrea lly take pl.ce.

And this indeed i, its ,ai,on-d '" ,, : t( ) substitute,ro'- real ""d formidable, unique ",,


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A v . " ion of th is paper w"' Saudrilia,d', contribution to a debate on the events of Septembn ''''")''i. of it .... 1< no t .n explm.ti"" . . Idon't think t h ~ T < i . ' 0 )' po , ,,bi< 0 to 'p",l , .n ,0,1),,;, which might ~ h I ) 'be . . Ollll.looll in more Qr Ie" tk . .m. w.)','


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It m ~ y , then, be useful to l>egin with a historicaland architectural analysis of the Twin Towers, ioorder to grasp the symbolic ,igoi/kance of theirdestruction.

First of .11, why the Twin Towers?to,,'er. at the World Trade Cenler?

Wh" two

All Maohmon's tall bUilding. had b.,en content to confront each other in a competiti"e "erticality, .n d the product of thi ' was an OTchitec-tural panorama reflecting the capi talis t'ystem itself - pyramid.l jungle, whose famousimage strelched out heror" you as H>u ani, 'cdfrom the 'Ca, That image changed . f t ~ r 1973,with the building of ,h" World Trade Cen'er, Theeffigy of ,he 'PICrn wos no longer the obelisk andthe pyramid, but the punch card and the statistical graph, This architectural graphism i , tlteembodimen! of a system that is no longer com_petiti'-e, but digital and countable, ."d from

" 'OU I I ... 'O R T H ' TWIN TOWH ,

which competition has disappeared in f,\,our ofnc


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two lOwers signiflul , none the I"" , a halt to ,w ti cal ity , T h , , ~ not of the same breed as theo ther bu ild ing'_ Th


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of attraction and r"p u l,ion, and henc e , some-where, > secret desire to them di .. p e ~ r , In thecase of the Twin Tow"", ""m"thing particular isadded : p reci,ely the ir s)'mmetry dn d the ir

w i n _ n ~ , " " . There is, .dmittedly, in this cloning andperfect s ~ m m e t r y an .esthetic quality, a kind ofperfect crime against form. a tautology of for mwhich c. n gh'e ri,e, in a dolent reaction, t thetemptation to bred that ,)"mm,'lr),. to ""tore anasymmetry nd henc" a , ingul .ri':'.

ThClT d c " r u ~ 1 i o n itself re'peClffl the S)mmetn' of the lowers: a double ' Hack, separated by dfew minutes' imer",l, with a sense of su'pen,ebe l ween the Iwo imp.cts_ After the fiTOt, on ecould still believe i t , , ~ . n acci,jent. On l)- the ""c-ond impact confirmed th" t" rr or;,t au . ck . And inthe Queens air crash a month later, the TV sta_lion' waited, "a)'ing with the stor)" (in Fr.nce) forfour hom " waiting to broadcast a possible SCO)nd~ T > , h 'live' , Since that did not Oolic in tit< , , ~ . k

"' ' ' ' ' ' , bo, , )""l>olio, for . 11 ,ha,'_


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global ~ c o n o m l c libtouli.nt). The architecturalobj1 ,,-os des\royeS


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l"g,1I m..c),}, has M,com" .uickbJ, and d e c l ~ r e dwar on Il.&elf,

Evcn in ,heir fa ilure, ,hc tcrrorlsu .uc.,.,edcdbeyond their "'ildest hope", in bungling theiranack on the While H"".., (while succewing farb e ~ o n d their objecth'u on the to\\ers), ,heyd ~ m o n > , u l c d u n i n t e o n ~ l I y that that "'as notthe ",", 'n,i. l target, that polhinl power nOlonger meon. much, and ru l p"wer lies elsewhere, A. for \\ hal should be buih in ploce ofthe to"-':rs, the problem i. in'lOlubk Quite sim-1'1)" because one can imagine nOlhing "'luinlenlth . . would be worth destroying Ihat ....,ould bew o r l h ~ ' "fhe ing destroyed. The T\,in Towe"""re .....or lh de.tru}ing. On c cannOI uy the meof many a..,hilecturol ,,'Oru. Most thlog. are note,'cn wOTth o o t r o ~ ' i n g 0< sacril'icmg. O n l ~ ' work;;of preilige de"'' ' 'e that fate, for it i. an honour.Thi. pr"po."ion is nol as paradoxical a. il.ound" ~ J " I it r.i,e ba,ic issue for . .ch itee

. ,OU l f " TH I T W I ~ TOw, " ,

ture : one ,hould build only thOle things which,by Iheir e xcellenc e, He wonhy of being,Je,lro}'cd. Take. look around "lIh ,hi. radie.1proposition in mind, and J'ou wi ll ..,e what a pa. ."-.: ha,'c come to. Not much .....ould with.tand

Thi. bring. uS back 10 whal should hehasi c question for arehlleClu.c, which .rehitecISne,'e. formulate: is il norm,1 10 huild and con_llruct? In fact il i . not, and we should pre",,,',, tt..absolulely p r o b l ~ m u i c a l character of the under_ulting. Undoubwlly, the 1m of archi\eCture - ofgood archilecture is to efface itself, to i ~ p l " ' a ras luch. The l o w ~ r . for Iheir p.rt, na\'e di.


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W h . t ~ , ' e r bomn of ,ho, global o m n i p o I ~ n ~ . it,,-ill "" 'e llN;n < k " ~ ""'" for a mom ... .

MO n.'o,er. although the Iwo low"" ha,'c tli.a l ' l ' u r t ~ l . Ilk'}, h ~ " c not bun .nnihil.ted. F."cn intheir !,ul l'er ;,.,'y. I 1" !H:um:

"

HYPOTHESE S O NTERRORISM


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S q > t ~ m b < , r II COlUtitutw mud)' an accident orinci ~ r s i h l ~ glomUntion. Anul!im.td), de.pairing h)l)()tllcsiS, .i""", 5 O m ~ t h i n g,cry ~ u u o r d i n occurred there, md 10 den) it i.10 ;,dmit that henceforlh nothing can c,'cr constitutean e ' ~ n t , Wt doomed to pl.y OUI tIu: fl.,, Ins logic of a glob.oJ p""'cr c a p a b l ~ of . ~ r h i n g

~ n i n g i b e l f ~ 50 doing - the lerroriJl act merdy1 . Jlening the pl.""tu)" ascend.nc )" of singlepowe nd a 'ingle "-'y of thinking.

"HOT " ' ' ' ' ON TEUOO IS '"


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,I

Countc rp


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,mul.lhl"'e in,,=nteI!

Her"le"':r in adding to it . 0.)(' ~ ' ' ' ru" ,the ri,k , by !hI. additi" " .1 dloorder, of rdnforOllg

police and s e ~ ' U r l control 'y",cml, a! ,' .-e ""eon . 1I wb today.

Rut perhap' that ;. the terrorim' dream: lhedn:am (>f an ;nunorl.l.l enemy. For, If the """my no


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l o n g ~ r ~ ~ i : n J , it b e r o m ~ . difficult 10 destroy il. Ataulology. admllltdly, ho,t ~ r m r i s m i. ~ u t o l o g k - a l .and ils condusion i. a p" . ()Xic;tl ~ y l l < > g i s m , if ,heSl>lt, n':all}' existed. it ",ouk! gh-e a political munlng10 t e r m r i ~ " , . Sin"" terrorism manifc"I)' has none(tMllgh it has nlher m">,, ing') . thl< i, proofthat Ille

S t . l ~ doc., nOI ~ x i s l , .nd that il> powtr i, deroory.

What , then, ;. the terrorim' ~ t _ . . . .gc? In aN. .n. .klin story. We . . , ~ him crossing frontier,,",ch ,by with muleJ Ja


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irreducible 10 th is inexorable m", '"mcnt towards acompleted global order.

A ' 't.1 countcrforce groppling with the deathf o r ~ p ofth" 'p h ,m. A fMcc of defiance to a globality totoll)" w luhk in r ~ u l . t ' o n or exch.nge. Aforce of,n irrcducihle ,ingularity. the mote violentas the ,ystem extend, its hegemony up to a rup 'tural e'ent like th, t of Scpteml>er 11 . which do int of paroxysm, It exacerbate. a certain slate ofthing . a certain logic of violence and uncertainty.Tn.- 'y ,tem itself, by 'p"culau \'c extension of al lexchange, the random and ,ir tu.l fo r m i. im]>eration, now. and calculationwhich th" Twin Tower. embodic


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invi 'ible enemy, What pTnail, then' i , meTd)" theA m n i ~ ' a n people'. immen,e comp""ion fOT iwelr ",;th , tar p.mgbl hanneTS, oommemomtivc mes _sages, the cult of victim, and Df tho"" pDstmoder nhcrDCs, the firefighter; and thc pDlice. Compassionas the nation.1 passion of a people that wants to bealone with God , and prefer; to sec itself struckdown b} God than by " 'me ""il pow" r. 'God blessA m e T i - - . . ' ha, heroor thc)" .uffer"d an aet of war, not > ,yml,ol;c.lIack). An i(kal Tc"er", of fortune foc a nat.ion atlast wounded.t;1> heart and free , ha"ing .toned for

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I IHOH I [HS ON H U O ~ ' U .


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iI, 10 c x ~ n its p o w ~ r in all good C O < I O < i ~ n " " ' A situation I d ~ n c e fiction dreamed of frombeginning: m.t of some obscure f o ~ wt "'Quidwi!," Ih"m 0 ,,1 ."d which, until that point, m ~ r d ye ~ i , , ~ d in their ""con,,";oo' (or $Om" olhS)-d.op.11h or crank,want to he different, irremeJi3bly different, with out c,'en. de,ire to sign up 10 our unh'ernl &"'pdl

Such is the orroganco: " f Empin: _ u in Borges',ollq;oT)' (\:M mirror- people'), .. he", II . defuled

~ I arc exiled into the mirror rrom ...hI:,..,they .,.., rooonnr>e


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jihadi"' :' 'We proouced ym" jihadists and terror,i,ts, and you will end up prisonerS of resemb lan


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hen in '"Cflgt:n i\ mml be redu""d toimpotence. In I word, 1.1.10 i. not w .... il ought tobe. And "hal, then, of the W ~ t ?

Thtrc is thc ",me inabihty to cont . mplate forone moment that I h e ~ 'fanatics' might commit

..

them"d,..,. entirdy 'frttly', without in any waybeing blind, mad or rnanipubt


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Hence the abrurdity of the,epi the t 'cowardly' th.t isapplied to the terror ists: cov.ardly for h"ing cho""nsuicide, cowardly for having sacrificed the innocem(wh"D we don't accuse them oftaldng ad,'antage ofthis to reach parodi..,).

All the same, we should try 10 get b ~ y o n d themor.l imperative of unconditional respe ct forhuman life, and concei,.e that one might respect,hoth [n the other and in oneself, something otherthan, and more than , life (existence isn't everything, it is ,,,'en the lea't of things) : a destiny,


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in,,,.sloo of the n u " - n " - . I ~ , , , ...,Lotion,,},ip_ Inp . , mutn" ""as the on e ,,1.0 " .. . x ~ to

1 .",1 )ouUi back )'our phontom values, )'our phanlom

. ' ' ' ' 'y. your "integrity", which you sct again" . . ,,,d,.,. \liking 'sim'

.. ,",". refe",nts (the '",,-en. ttle markel, the" " , , " m ~ g a r u l t u r - e ) for "",I ones. Agam", the."m,""> of mtegral e ~ c " ' n g t . they are once

inaugurating. metaphyslcs of truth (following


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'

CaroIirw:= Hdnrich he", 'lill)_ Now, ,ho: poin' ill no tto . J c ~ it OIJt on " m u l ~ t i o n , but to..,h iI " " .h..mth '''''!f The",; ' 1>0 poin t_c l ing m u J ~ , IfIt nlconS fIlling b;l d into truth. n.e", i , nO point.t,,,,,king the "irtual, if it means falling back inlsymbolic ",,1 ..... ide'.The luroristo are making 0" attack "l)()n ' l i temof integral ,..,.lity by au .c t whlth hn , in thc ,erymoment of il< perpetration, ncither true muningnOr ",reTellntbo:r "",..k!. The;ojm is ,,;mplyto w,..,.,k thc: sY".cm _ itself ,n


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There is, r n o r ~ o y e r , no need to )", an Islamist ,or (0 appeal to a higher truth, to find this glnb.lorder unac"""I'L,hle. [,um;st or nOl. we share thi'fund.ment.l rejection, 'lld there . re many signs offr.c tu re lor! disarray of fragili!)' ~ at the , , ~ n ofthis power itself. Thi, i , the ' truth' of the terrori'tact. Thec lraded in . s y s t ~ ' " of clifferen"'" and gen

e r , l i z ( . ~ exchange. J)iffncn,'e and indifference canperf,'< 1.>." 1,/0",


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me",ly to "" ruponding 10 this ",drelic demmdfor r e ~ J ; t y .

f"Or Philippe Muray, too, Ihe jihad,,,.' terror_i.m i, merely Ihe la. t stirring of a dying _Ihe a f t e r m ~ l h of dram.tic hi


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Ab


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" " ~ n as .nti.American, and .booh'es the terroristsfro m blame? (But to absoh'e them from blame is toreli""c them of ~ s p o n s i b i l i l ) for the e,'ent, whichcome, wck round agai n to the ~ } f l . e m p t u o u . "iewthat the 1,larni'" would ne"er h,,'c bee" capable ofsuch a feal.) No, it i., rather, the 'denial' pect ofth is theory that expla ins the violence of the ruc-tion . The deni.1 of reality is terroristic in itself.Any th ing is kiter ,h.n to contest realit}, as such .What ha, to be .aved ;' , alx",,, aI! , the r ~ a l i t y prin ,cipk '1\ega.ionism i< public ~ n c m ) ' numocr one .lNow, in fact, we al ready h e largel}' in . neg.tion .is! society. No event is 'real' any longer. Terrorattac \:J; , tri.ls, wor" corr uption, opinion polls -there', nothing now that isn't rigged or undecid-able. Go,'ermnent. the .uthorities and institutions

\ Th< Frmch tign"'" ,... .in Engluh is ailed 'Holocaust


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War, of founh world war impriming iudf uponbodies and morc.,

Th"., for ulmple, th" world', l e ~ e r l melrently In Rome to , Ign 'Te"Y which, !My .11p r o < ; l ~ i m , pliU f i n ~ 1 en


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Current terrorism is not the d"""endant of traditional hiSlOn- of a""rc h , nihili ,m and fanatici,m. It

" "i,


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t c c h n o l o g market, touri,m and information,Globaliz.tion ,,;erns inc.-er,iblc, wncre",he uni' -"r",l would ""em, rather, to be on 1he wa)' om, Atleast as ; t has constimted itself as . ,}stem o!'",lueson the scale of Western moderni1)', w h i ~ h bas nOeguivalent ;n any other u l t u r e _

An)' " u l t u that uni'-crsalins lose, it. ,ingulac_ity ,nd This is how it is wit h , II those we havede,troyed hy forcibl), assimilating them , but it isalso the Cilse wi,h our own culture in its pretensionto uni"ersality, The difference is tI", the other cuitme, di,,:! of,he;r ,;ngul>rity, which i, a r , n ~ d ~ a t hwhereas OI T dying of UK 10"' of, \I n g " l ~ r ofthe cx[


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onl,'"r1 it>df i$ global iled; democracy and hum.nrigbt. i m . l l ~ t just like any other global productlike oil or capital.

Wb.1 o o m ~ 5 with the traruition fTom Ihe oni.vo:r"..llo the global i. both a b o m o g ~ n z a t i O l l 01'1'ersalis . hattored. BUI this is pcrlupn opportunily. forin the fragmenu o/"thiulutlerW mirror, all the lingubrities ar'e 10 be

threatened arc s"n'iving, while those we thought tobe eX linct ore re.-i,ing.

The , ilnation i, I>

The ,,,,hcr,..1 hu had its historiQI ~ h . n < - . : butloday. oonfromed on the one hond with a gloo..lorder to which there is no alternalivo: IIlId, on theother. with singularities drifting ofT 00 their own or

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V ' O L f N C I O . T HE G LO. . , l


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rising up against the system, the concepts of freedom, democracy and human rights cut a '-cry pale

f i g u r ~ , being merely the ghosts of a ".nished uni versal.

The uniwrsal " ,," a culture of r a n o c e n d ~ n c c , ofthe subject .nd the concept , of the Real and represcntuion. The ,' irtu.1 space of the global is the'p"';e of the ."rcen .nd the network, of immanence. nd the digit.l, of a m ~ n . ' p a ( ~ l i m ~ Inthe uni,e,,,,l. there w"" .,ill a natu",1 c f ~ r c n ~ e tthe world, to the body and to menlOry, A kind ofdi.lectica l tension .nd critic.1 mo,'ement whichfound !heir form in historical.nd rcvolutionary "io

~ - . : : . It i, the ~ x r u l s i o " of this ~ r i t i c . 1 neg.tivitywhich open, On to . not he, kind of o k n ~ c th e"iolence of the global: the '''premacy of positivity,lone and of teclmic.1 efficiency, total organization .integrol circu lat ion, the equiva lence of . l lcxchange, _Hence the end of the ro le of the intellectu. l. hound up with the E n l i g h t ~ n m c n and th


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Henex: thi, violence of the global. The \'iolenoeof a ' ptem that hounds out any form of negali'-ityOf ,jng"larily, including thaI ultim'le fo !'m of ,in g"urily Ih .t i. death i ~ l r . The "iolene


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ti,"c i , to curb deregulation. Its political impact m.ybe eonsider>ble, but its symbolic imp>


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of o thers. E"cn w ~ r o - for eumple, Ihe " ' -U inA r g h ~ , , - aim initially, ~ h o v c an.1 beyond politic.1 or C< ."()nomic strategies, to norm.lize ... 'agery,to knock . lItcrrilorie. into alignment. The ohjecth'e is to quell an)' refractor), WIle, to ro lOfli: . '" unhoear.ble 10 the r< imaginaliont" "" of cr i",inal .,..igin: . . . . . . . . cul


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abould not >pp1, w ~ .... ... 10 " ' ... _...." all our usu..l war' ofoe


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u l t ; m ~ l d y ~ " o h aoo death). E"en God left roomfor ,acrlfice , In the tr . ditional order, the,.., i. sti llthe pol$ibility of gi"ing something hack to God, to""n.u'e, or to w h a t e ~ " r it might b.., tn the form ofsa , l l o w ~ 10 l i ~ e . and '"'"" boundby a debt that cannol be repaId. All thU can functionfor> long time thanks 10 Our insertion inlo rdation!of r> l rule wino out. T1Ien to !hi, posith"transference there ine>ilably comes a Tesf>OlU" inthe form of a negali"" counterlran.fe,..,nce, a ,iI>.lent abreaction 10 thi. capl;,,, life. 10 thi . protected

e x l s t ~ n c e , to thU ....ruratiO


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ca(w m""". in D < > S " " " ~ ~ y , Now thi, is e:uclly\\"1,,1\ the terrorists cond(nlll in OUr ~ u l t " r c _ hell""the echo tCI"rori.m Ands ~ m o n g u. and the f.sd",,lion II cxert

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profusion for which nothing is gi"cn in return a.ndthis forced re,oluti"n uf conflicu, then the ide. ufutirpating it as m objective (,il i . a loW Uiul.iQn.i....,." such as it is - in Its absurdIty md it t memoinglew>c", - it is !he "udiC\ thi, society pas'" oniueif. its self.condemnation.

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spirit of terrorism

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