[Hi all, James Der Derian has set up a new website at Brown University =in
the US covering all things to do with the events of 9.11 in New York. Web
address and some details below. John.]
====================================================== 
THE INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, WAR AND PEACE PROJECT 

www.infopeace.org  

September 23, 2001


9-11: States of Emergency, Technologies of Terror, and the War of
Networks


A message from James Der Derian, Director ITWP

On 9-11, in the blink of an eye, the United States was plunged into a
state of emergency. In a carefully coordinated suicide attack, terrorist
hijackers transformed three commercial jetliners into highly explosive
kinetic weapons, which toppled the twin towers of the World Trade
Center, substantially damaged the Pentagon, and killed over five
thousand people. Shortly after the attack, in the midst of the horror
and grief unleashed by the tragedy, demands for quick answers to angry
questions escalated: How could this happen? Who was to blame? How best
to respond? 


For a prolonged moment, tragic images of destruction and loss, looped in
24/7 cycles, induced a state of emergency and trauma at all levels of
society. At this point it is important to remember Freud's insight that
while trauma can be re-enacted, even re-experienced, the inability to
understand what is happening, to assign a meaning to the event at the
moment of shock, is characteristic of trauma. This is what Michael Herr
meant when he wrote about his own experience with the trauma of Vietnam:
"It took the war to teach it, that you were as responsible for
everything you saw as you were for everything you did. The problem was
that you didnít always know what you were seeing until later, maybe
years later, that a lot of it never made it in at all, it just stayed
stored there in your eyes." 


In the rush to judgment there has been little time for deliberation, for
understanding the motivations of the attackers, or for assessing the
potential consequences, intended as well as unintended, of a military
response. It is time to take time, to understand the full significance
of the 9-11 attack, and to transform these images of horror into
responsible discourses of reflection and action. 


The 9.11 website is dedicated to providing a deeper, broader, yet timely
analysis, with a particular focus on questions raised by the pervasive
role that information technology plays in these events. What role has
the media played in this crisis? Cell phones, satellite phones, and
videophones? The Internet? Did web encryption provide the terrorists
with the means to command and control the attack with impunity? What new
laws and forms of technological surveillance are likely to result? Did
new technologies of simulation, developed by the military and adopted by
the airline industries, enhance the success of the terrorist mission?
Did a shift from human to technical intelligence in the intelligence
community leave the U.S. vulnerable? Is the 9-11 attack a reaction to or
the product of globalization? Can a military response follow in the
example of the Gulf War and the Kosovo campaign, with high-precision
weapons and low casualty rates (at least for the
technologically-advantaged side of the conflicts)? Or will it be more
like Somalia, a virtuous war with unholy consequences? 


We are soliciting responses from a wide range of experts and concerned
individuals, from the university, business, military, government, NGO
and activist circles, which will be posted on a regular basis. We are
also organizing global online forums around these questions, and we
encourage all parties to participate in the spirit of openness,
civility, and democracy that has been so severely tested by recent
events. We are seeking rapid yet responsible responses. 


This week we are featuring a chronicle of the events as they appeared in
emails around the world. Some of the emails were later published in the
print media, some became the subject of primetime television programs.
They represent the internetís first response. Next week we will feature
international relations and internet expert Ron Deibert on 'Wars of the
Wide Area Networks', a critical examination of the integration of global
communication networks with 21st century forms of warfare. Future
features will include essays by David Campbell on the power of images in
the 9-11 attack; Monroe Price on the contest between Constitution,
circumstance and the internet in shaping US national security policy;
Laura Kurgan on the role of surveillance imagery; Lene Hansen on
European networks; Tom Keenan on media coverage and human rights
discourse; and many others. Anyone interested in writing a feature
essay, forwarding INFOinterventions, or providing links for the website
should contact [log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]> . 


This was, and will continue to be, a war of networks. We will do our
best to expose, study, and counter networks that propagate violence,
fear, and disinformation. 

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