September 19, 2001

JIHAD VS. McWORLD

an Interview with Alain de Benoist

[The following interview with Alain de Benoist, a prominent and controversial leader of the French intellect al right, was given to !orthern "tal#$s %adania& The ' estions were in "talian and the answers in French&( 1) *ow do #o + dge the destr ction of the ,T- towers in America. "s a s#mbolic e/planation for what happened possible. The 0nited States is e/periencing a terrible h man traged#& This traged# cannot be isolated from the political conte/t, which alone can e/plain it& To condemn terrorism against civilian pop la1 tions is obvio sl# necessar#& B t it is also necessar# to ta2e an interest in the ca ses that prod ce terrorism& The tr th is that the American people are c rrentl# s ffering, ph#sicall# b t witho t nderstanding it, the conse' ences of the detestable international polic# cond cted for decade b# their leaders& This polic# has prod ced in the world so great a s m of miser#, nhappiness, and disasters that one part of the world has interpreted American polic# as a declaration of war pon itself& Toda# the most e/treme point of this part of the world has responded b# ma2ing war on the 0nited States& The# do it with their own methods 3witho t an# concern for limits, witho t consid1 eration for their own lives nor for the lives of others) and with their own means 3the co nter1arg 1 ments sed b# the wea2 against the strong)& 2) ,hat do #o thin2 has act all# inspired the action of the terrorists. The terrorists$ ob+ective was, as all the evidence s ggests, to h miliate America, b# showing that its territor# was no longer a safe haven and b# stri2ing in a spectac lar fashion at the most rep 1 resentative s#mbols of its power& This ob+ective, as all the evidence shows, was attained& For America the h miliation was witho t precedent& The conse' ences are still diffic lt to eval ate& The most notable conse' ences will be manifest initiall# in the area of the econom#, finances, and international relations& 4) 5o #o thin2 it is possible that reprisals will set off a chain reaction. There is no do bt that Americans are e/pecting reprisals to be made with e/emplar# force and terrible strength& The attac2 on %earl *arbor, on 5ecember 6, 1971 3with 2,700 dead) was paid bac2 a h ndred times over b# the atomic bombs dropped on the civilian pop lations of 8apan& The comparison with what has happened to !ew 9or2 and ,ashington is not false& The problem these da#s is that we do not 2now who is pla#ing the role of the 8apanese& The first phase of the invest1 igation holds the "slamic :ovement responsible& The# are p tting forward the name of ;sama Bin <aden, who has obsessed the Americans for months& B t a movement is never bo nd p e/1 cl sivel# nor even f ndamentall# with one man, one gro p, or one co ntr#& "t is neb lo s, an el 1 sive networ2& The elimination of bin <aden wo ld give pleas re to ,ashington, b t it wo ld obvi1 o sl# not ma2e the =terrorist threat= go awa#& America has been str c2 b# an invisible enem# which does not have a name& "t has been attac2ed b# =networ2s&= "n the age of networ2s, the fig1 re of the partisan is revealed in all its f llness& The attac2s on !ew 9or2 and ,ashington are acts of postmodern warfare

7) 5oes there e/ist a serio s danger for > rope. 5o #o believe that there can be another s#m1 bolic ob+ective that terrorists can stri2e with similar effectiveness. !o co ntr# is a ref ge from terrorism& That is what we have + st seen& There is no longer an# in1 violable sanct ar#& B t each co ntr# has well nderstood the need to ins re the sec rit# its de1 pendents& The best means of reaching that ob+ect is to decide on its own policies with complete independence, to cond ct, if necessar#, its own wars, b t not the wars of others& For > rope the greatest ris2 is to find itself constrained in the f t re to ta2e part, beca se of solidarit# with America, in a polic# of poorl# targeted reprisals which will onl# aggravate the sit ation, the onl# res lt being that > rope will s ffer in t rn& The > ropeans m st certainl# be resol te in str ggling against terrorism& B t the# m st also have the co rage to tell the 0nited States, a nation that has constantl# practiced state1terrorism for decades, that the# are toda# reaping the fr its of their policies& The fate of the civilian victims of 0S bombings of "ra', the fate of "ra'i children 2illed en masse b# the bloc2ade decreed against their co ntr#, the fate of civilians massacred in Serbia nder !AT; bombings, the fate of the %alestinian people11these are also h man tragedies& ?) *ow do #o + dge how international politics will develop, especiall# the relations between the 0SA, > rope, and @ sia. The 0S is not going to fail to tiliAe these recent events as a prete/t for reaffirming its hegemon# over its allies and for silencing the criticisms which have been raised against it for some time 3in regard to the !ear >ast, the death penalt#, the environment, the global listening networ2 =>chelon= etc&) -onsistent with their past behavior, the# will claim to incarnate and to defend the ca se of =civiliAation&= "t is the d t# of > ropeans to sa# firml# that this =civiliAation= is not neces1 saril# theirs, and that does not e/cl de, in an# case, other models of civiliAation& The worst thing to happen, which is probabl# also the most probable, wo ld be to slip b# s ccessive stages into a str ggle that goes be#ond the ="slamic terrorist movement= to incl de Arab1: slim co ntries in general, then all states or peoples + dged s fficientl# arrogant to challenge the dominant American model& ;ne cannot do bt that % tin in :oscow is also going to se the "slamic threat to + stif# the coloni1 al war he is carr#ing on in -hechn#a& A rapprochement between "srael and @ ssia has alread# been apparent for some time& There is also the possibilit# of a reorientation of @ sso1American relations& B) 5o #o thin2 that, from what happened at the 5 rban -onference, that terrorist attac2s can sharpen the :iddle1>astern crisis11and with what res lts. The principal beneficiar# of the terrorist attac2s seems to be the "sraeli government& "t is going to be able to disarm the criticisms which have been acc m lating for months against it, and it is going to win acceptance, in the name of the str ggle against terrorism, for virt all# an# coercive meas res to be emplo#ed against the %alestinians 3economic bloc2ade, =targeted= assassinations, bombing of civilians, destr ction of ho ses, etc&)& >ver# effort for a reasonable settlement of the conflict will be s spect& ,e are pa#ing the price for American inconsistencies vis1C1vis the Arab1: slim world& <et s not forget that the Taleban in Afghanistan were first s pported and armed b# ,ashington in order to str ggle against the @ ssian arm#, and that ;sama Bin <aden himself, the ltimate iron#, was trained b# the -"A& "n the long r n there is the ris2 of ending p in a planetar# and militar# version of the scenario, =8ihad vs& :c,orld& :# feeling is that we m st re+ect the 8ihad witho t being the tools of =:c,orld&=