It all went by so quickly, the morning of September 11th. Witnesses simply stared, hands over mouths, the intellect hyperventilating for explanation, for definition.

“Terrorism,” even now the word seems inadequate, “savagery” “barbarism,” those are terms of another time. On that day, at that moment, one word did fit. It was “evil.” Those who did it were evil. Those who planned it were evil. There was, in the simple act of seizing on that word, a half-breath of reassurance.

It has now become, however, the word emblazoned on the banner under which justice is being sought. And with such cultural divisions already separating the combatants in this pending battle, the word “evil” means very different things.

Guests:

Robert Thurman, Professor of Indo-Tibetan Studies at Columbia University

and Alan Olson, Professor of Philosophy at Boston University.

If the hijacked aircraft attacks on Washington and New York were strikes of lightning from a thundercloud of evil, then American flags like a fresh field of defiance springing up in the days after the storm.

It is a public embracing of Old Glory, not seen since a time when Americans squared off against Hitler and Stalin. The flag was a symbol of national pride at a time when the evil was easy to identify and what was right and what was wrong was rarely the subject of debate. The speechwriter, Peggy Noonan, says patriotism is a love of one’s country, binding all Americans together. The poet Horatio Smith, would have disagreed. “Patriotism,” he wrote, “is too often the hatred of other countries disguised as the love of our own.”

Guests:

Michael Lind, author of “The Next American Nation”

Kathy Gannon reported from Islamabad that the Taliban is unlikely to turn Osama bin Laden over to the United States for trial, without certain conditions. One of them: international recognition of the Taliban as the governing body of Afghanistan. Jerald Post described Osama bin Laden’s upbringing, shedding light on his aesthetic practices and powerful rhetoric, both of which inspire his growing number of followers. The program ended with a press conference in which President Bush thanked American’s for coming together in the face of last week’s tragedy, and urged them to embrace a spirit of renewal and hope.

Guests:

Kathy Gannon, Associated Press reporter in Islamabad

Dr. Jerrold Post, Professor of Psychiatry, Political Psychology and International Affairs at The George Washington University and founder and former director of the CIA’s Center for the Analysis of Personality and Political Behavior

and Charlie Sennott, Middle East Bureau Chief for the Boston Globe.

NPR’s Scott Simon shared thoughts and observations from New York, where the destruction took place just one week ago. In a moving, heartfelt conversation, Peter Grier, Jeff Tagliaferro, and Serge Schmemann endeavored to make sense of last week’s attacks. There was talk of prevention, reflection, and restraint. Guests and callers expressed hope that the United States Government will not rush to action.

Guests:

Peter Grier, Washington Editor at The Christian Science Monitor

Serge Schmemann, United Nations Bureau Chief at The New York Times

and Jeff Taliaffero, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Tufts University.

NPR’s Scott Simon shared thoughts and observations from New York, where the destruction took place just one week ago. In a moving, heartfelt conversation, Peter Grier, Jeff Tagliaferro, and Serge Schmemann endeavored to make sense of last week’s attacks. There was talk of prevention, reflection, and restraint. Guests and callers expressed hope that the United States Government will not rush to action.

Guests:

Peter Grier, Washington Editor at The Christian Science Monitor

Serge Schmemann, United Nations Bureau Chief at The New York Times

and Jeff Taliaffero, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Tufts University.

Lynette Ormentson outlines the differences between current anti-Arab American sentiment and the treatment of Japanese Americans following World War II. Then, she says, the U-S government officially sanctioned discrimination against Americans of Japanese descent. Now, however, American political leaders are encouraging tolerance, respect, and understanding with regard to Americans of Arab descent. Guests and callers criticized the media for its representation of the terrorist attacks, emphasizing the lack of coverage of anti-Arab Americans violence. The entertainment industry was also criticized for misrepresenting Arab-Americans as either terrorists or wealthy people. All guests expressed the conviction that the media will play a crucial role in preventing future race-motivated attacks.

Guests:

Sher Singh,one of the three men handcuffed and escorted by gunpoint, detained and questioned at the Providence, RI train station

Hussein Ibish, Communications Director for the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee

Lynette Clemetson, A reporter for NewsWeek Magazine

Representative Mike Honda, California

and Mohamed Nimer, Research Director of The Council on American-Islamic Relations.

Pam Fessler reports that President Bush is pleased with the progress of his conversations with foreign governments as he starts the process of tracking down the authors of the attack on the World Trade Center. Reporter Margot Adler describes the small memorials and shrines that have appeared in Manhattan, including a chain link fence strewn with ribbons, notes and poems. She describes people holding bouquets of flowers at the scene of the destruction. Ric Burns joins the conversation and says the loss of the twin towers as a metaphor for the loss of life. A caller warns “we shouldn’t turn Islam into yet another criminal community”

Filmmakers and photographers consider the worldwide implications of the September 11 attack on New York and describe the act of recording horrifying scenes through the eye of a lens. “Frontline” producer Lowell Bergman says he is thinking about people in Islamic communities around the world anticipating a military strike. He asks how destabilizing it will be for those regions. AP photographer Richard Drew describes recording the collapse of the twin towers and callers applaud his work to “honor the dead and warn the living.”

Guests:

Mario Cuomo, former Governor of New York, Dorothy Samuels, Editorial Board, New York Times. Gay Talese, Best-Selling Author, The Very Reverend, Nathan Baxter, Dean of the National Cathedral. Lewis Lapham, Editor of Harper’s Magazine, Ric Burns, Producer of “New York,” a documentary for PBS, Richard Drew, AP Photographer, Lowell Bergman, “60 Minutes” Producer and producer of a “Frontline” documentary about Osama bin Laden, and Jon Alpert, journalist and documentary filmmaker.

Edwina Currie from the BBC and WBUR’s Michael Goldfarb link studios across the Atlantic to bring you a special Connection to talk about last week’s tragedy, with guests and callers from Britain and America. 6:30 to 8:00 pm (EST)

Guests:

Guests in Boston:
Juliette Kayyem, expert on terrorism at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard

and Brigadier General John Reppert (Ret.), from the Kennedy School of Government.

Guests in Britain:
Rahul Tandon, BBC Ethical Affairs Corresondant

and Dr. Azam Tamimi, lecturer on Islamic Politics with Leicester University.

The first war of the 21st Century. That’s what president Bush is calling it. Second Day of Infamy. That’s what some newspapers are calling it. But when Pearl Harbor was bombed declaring war was relatively straighforward.

A businesslike exchange of letters between the U.S. and its enemies took care of it. But today: to whom do you write? How do you build alliances? The old Cold War alliance NATO stands shoulder to shoulder with the U.S. But in the rest of the world alliances may be more difficult to sustain. Prime Suspect Osama Bin laden operates in 34 countries and some of those nations are our allies, or at least countries we don’t consider enemies.

It’s easy to say choose sides, them or us. But in fragile democracies, teetering monarchies that choice may bring down governments and create more enemies for America.

Guests:

Lawrence Eagleberger, former Secretary of State, Bush Senior Administration

Joseph Nye, Dean of Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government

and Ruth Wedgewood, Professor of International Law, Yale University

and Joe Joffee, editor of Die Ziet, the largest German Weekly.

War used to be so simple.

When General Wesley Clark was a first-year cadet at West Point in 1962, he says he was required to memorize and recite, again and again, these words from General Douglas MacArthur: “There is one single message,” MacArthur said, “one sole idea, written in red on every beachhead from Australia to Tokyo: there is no substitute for victory.” That, of course, was before the lessons learned in Vietnam, the Gulf War, and Somalia: Win, but with no body bags, and get clearance from everyone up the chain of command, including the lawyers

General Clark learned these lessons himself as he led the first and only war NATO has fought, against Slobodan Milosevic in Kosovo.
(Hosted by Jacki Lyden)

Guests:

General Wesley K. Clark, U.S. Army (Retired), Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, NATO, 1997-2000.