What makes 9/11 so special anyway?

On September 11 2001 2977 people were killed and more than 6000 others injured in the United States when two planes hijacked by 19 terrorists were crashed into New Yorkrsquos World Trade Centre and the Pentagon A few days ago America marked the 20th anniversary of that day with reminiscences analyses and opeds A whole generation had been born and reached adulthood since 911Eight years earlier on March 12 1993 terrorists bombed 12 places in Bombay as it was known then Over 1400 people were injured and 257 people died It was the first time ever that 12 terrorist attacks had been perpetrated on a single city in a coordinated way within a few hours But nothing happens in India on 312Mumbaikars go about their business as though it was just another day in paradise There are no interviews with survivors or poignant stories of loss and transformation No one in the USA has any idea that 312 happened way before 911My question du jour is what is so special about 911 that it has become a landmark in world history It was neither the worldrsquos first suicide terrorist attack nor its most catastrophic though perhaps it was its most cinematicI remember watching it in Nairobi baffled astounded watching Americarsquos two tallest buildings with planes sticking out of them smoke billowing out and chaos everywhere There is no question that the terrorist attack was dramatic and theatrical like a scene from an apocalyptic Hollywood movie The firefighters who put their lives at risk would become frontline heroes and their stories would be told and retoldA day can go down in history as unforgettable because a large number of people died Is 2977 a large number You could ask compared to what Compared to 257 Mumbairsquos 2003 death toll it certainly isHowever it is smaller compared to 4431 the number of American soldiers who died fighting for George W Bushrsquos misdirected war of revenge for 911 against Iraq a country that had nothing to do with 911 In other words more Americans died avenging 911 than during the terrorist attack itselfAs of January 2007 500 US troops had been amputated Toes and fingers were not countedIt is also smaller than 4127 Thatrsquos the number of Americans who had died till March this year from gun violence Now wersquore talking of Americans killing Americans with their own guns However this is only a 4digit number Letrsquos aim higherA considerably bigger number is 19380 the number of Americans who killed each other with guns in 2020 even while a deadly pandemic raged over the worldShall we try for six digits While hammering the wrong country in revenge America caused the violent deaths of 601027 Iraqis Over 18 million Iraqis fled to other countries and 16 million lost their homes within Iraq itselfThere are no memorials or wreaths to the millions the tens of thousands the thousands the hundreds or even the dozens of innocent bystanders killed as collateral damage at the hands of American guns planes and dronesWhat makes 911 such a hushed moment for a country with so much blood on its handsIgnorance and hubris In my eyes America is guilty of both Its own swollen image of itself is as exceptional and unassailable But few Americans know that the al Qaeda was nurtured with money funnelled to bin Laden from the CIA during a different war In that conflict to prevent Russia from taking over Afghanistan the USA chose to fight by proxy using Afghan jihadis freedom fighters whom it trained armed and paid handsomelyAmerica sowed the seeds of 911 at that time Afflicted with profound historical and cultural ignorance the average American is aghast that anyone would dare strike the US so blatantly on its own soilmdashand succeed But the country is the cause of the consequenceIf a memorial is erected perhaps it should be to Ali Ismail Abbas target of one of George W Bushrsquos precision strikes He was 12 in his hovel in Baghdad with his five months pregnant mother when there was the whistling sound of an American bomb headed towards them The number of family members dead varies the highest being 17 but the rough truth is that no one survivedExcept Ali When they found him he was a charred black child with 6037 thirddegree burns One of his arms had melted into a twisted claw the other arm had been burned off the elbow leaving two protruding bones Official photographs released after he had received prosthetic limbsmdashwhich he later rejectedmdashshow a boy with porcelain eyes shocked numb robbed of everything a child needsHere viewed from there C Y Gopinath in Bangkok throws unique light and shadows on Mumbai the city that raised him You can reach him at cygopigmailcomSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper