I have no wish to diminish the importance or the appalling horror of the events of 11 September 2001: it was an horrific act, a crime against humanity.
But I do want to point out that today also marks another anniversary: that of the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende in Chile by General Pinochet; encouraged, organized and supported by the US government of Nixon and Kissinger.
This, too, was an horrific act, a crime against humanity. Ten thousand citizens were rounded up and kept in the National Stadium. And if the precise numbers of deaths during the coup are still not known, and probably never will be, it is clear that, under the Pinochet regime, the number of the executed, the tortured, and the 'disappeared', is huge: far, far more than those killed in 2001.
Subsequently, the cruel economic experiments of the "Chicago Boys" monetarists inflicted yet more suffering on the population. Just a few weeks after the military takeover, the military Junta ordered a hike in the price of bread from 11 to 40 escudos, an overnight increase of 264%, whilst at the same time freezing and even cutting wages. This "economic shock treatment" drove 85% of the population below the poverty line.
It would take a quarter of a century to restore democracy and civilisation to the country.
As Kissinger boasted, "the illegal we can do right now; the unconstitutional takes a little longer."
At the time, he reported to his boss (Nixon) that the horrors inflicted on Chile by the Junta were "a matter of no great consequence".
The media's priorities in recent days would appear to reinforce that assessment. I have seen much footage of the 2001 actions and the consequences of it in recent days. I have seen nothing about the events of 1973. (And nothing about 9/11 1993 events in Haiti either, come to that - another US-backed coup.)
Today, it is important that the first 9/11 is remembered, and the victims mourned, in the same way that we are remembering and mourning the victims of the second.
The lessons of both must be learned. Because, it seems to me, they are of at least equal historical significance. And one of the lessons is that the foreign policy which initiated the first also provoked the second.
Today's listening: Dick Gaughan, a brilliant British folksinger who is an inspiration for my friend Archie Robertson, and now, as a result of listening to the album Handful of Earth, for me too.
But I do want to point out that today also marks another anniversary: that of the overthrow of the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende in Chile by General Pinochet; encouraged, organized and supported by the US government of Nixon and Kissinger.
This, too, was an horrific act, a crime against humanity. Ten thousand citizens were rounded up and kept in the National Stadium. And if the precise numbers of deaths during the coup are still not known, and probably never will be, it is clear that, under the Pinochet regime, the number of the executed, the tortured, and the 'disappeared', is huge: far, far more than those killed in 2001.
Subsequently, the cruel economic experiments of the "Chicago Boys" monetarists inflicted yet more suffering on the population. Just a few weeks after the military takeover, the military Junta ordered a hike in the price of bread from 11 to 40 escudos, an overnight increase of 264%, whilst at the same time freezing and even cutting wages. This "economic shock treatment" drove 85% of the population below the poverty line.
It would take a quarter of a century to restore democracy and civilisation to the country.
As Kissinger boasted, "the illegal we can do right now; the unconstitutional takes a little longer."
At the time, he reported to his boss (Nixon) that the horrors inflicted on Chile by the Junta were "a matter of no great consequence".
The media's priorities in recent days would appear to reinforce that assessment. I have seen much footage of the 2001 actions and the consequences of it in recent days. I have seen nothing about the events of 1973. (And nothing about 9/11 1993 events in Haiti either, come to that - another US-backed coup.)
Today, it is important that the first 9/11 is remembered, and the victims mourned, in the same way that we are remembering and mourning the victims of the second.
The lessons of both must be learned. Because, it seems to me, they are of at least equal historical significance. And one of the lessons is that the foreign policy which initiated the first also provoked the second.
Today's listening: Dick Gaughan, a brilliant British folksinger who is an inspiration for my friend Archie Robertson, and now, as a result of listening to the album Handful of Earth, for me too.
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