For almost the whole of February, an orange rectangle glowed ominously in the lower right corner of American television screens. On the five-color threat scale introduced by the newly formed Department of Homeland Security, this means "very high probability." The probability of terrorist attacks. Only a red stripe is more frightening, meaning that a terrorist attack on America has already begun.
The population of the country's East Coast, especially in New York and Washington, is falling into a semi-hysterical state, trying to conscientiously follow two contradictory recommendations from the authorities. On the one hand, people are persistently urged to stock up on a set of food and everything necessary in case of an emergency. On the other, not to change family and personal plans, to live an ordinary life, as if nothing special is happening.
"Do you know where these two calls lead if you follow them simultaneously?" asks Daniel Creson, professor of psychiatry at the medical school of the University of Texas in Houston. "That's right! To madness..."
Scotch tape against anthrax
When on February 7 the government announced that it considers the probability of terrorist attacks as "very high," many parents in Manhattan stopped letting their children go to schools. "We looked into the face of the supposed danger with eyes wide shut," one parent told The New York Times, punning on the title of Stanley Kubrick's last film. "We hid in our homes to overcome our anguish and fear."
In general, the "orange" level of danger had already been declared once by the administration – during the days of the first anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks. But everything passed somehow matter-of-factly, without particular frights or shocks. The current alarm, however, proved incomparable to that one neither in duration, nor in scope, nor in the intensity of external manifestations, nor in the psychological reaction of society.
Military airplanes and helicopters have been put into the air over Washington and New York. Around the capital, the Pentagon has placed air defense systems. In Washington itself, near some government buildings and historical monuments, mobile Avenger air defense systems and portable launchers for Stingers have appeared. The police presence on the streets of New York has been noticeably strengthened. National Guardsmen have joined police in patrolling bridges, tunnels, 468 subway stations, and other important city facilities. Additional sensors for detecting the presence of gases and dangerous bioreagents have been installed in the city, especially in underground structures.
In schools, universities, many institutions, office and residential buildings of these two cities, as well as in other populated areas of the East Coast, evacuation drills and first aid measures for various emergency scenarios have been conducted. Legislators in the Capitol did not avoid the briefing either. Congressmen were recommended to prepare an "evacuation kit" with the most important documents and phone numbers. They were also advised not to display their status too much, replace government license plates on their cars with ordinary ones, and avoid driving to and from work along the same routes.
The head of the Department of Homeland Security, Thomas Ridge, personally explained to the population how to prepare for upcoming terrorist attacks. First, one should take care of creating reserves of food and water for a period of at least three days, acquire an "emergency bag" with a battery-powered radio, flashlight, candles, first aid kit, etc. Second, keep cars ready with full tanks and have an agreed family plan of where to meet in case of something. And most importantly, equip a separate room in the house or apartment for emergency situations. In it one should keep emergency supplies and cellophane sheets cut to size, so that in case of a bacteriological or chemical attack, they can cover windows, doors, and ventilation grilles. It is recommended to fasten pieces of cellophane and also to isolate small holes and cracks with adhesive tape – the silvery variety that is especially beloved by housewives.
The population reacted accordingly. Within hours, water and soft drinks were bought up in grocery stores. There were no lines for vodka and wine, but whiskey, according to sellers, was taken more than usual, with awkward excuses about "medical purposes." Adhesive tape was simply swept away. It became a kind of symbol of these semi-fantastic days. In short, there finally emerged an opportunity to clearly explain to local citizens what a shortage is.
Moms and dads sat down at their desks to leave farewell letters to their children, roughly the same in content as the note from Lynn Smith, a resident of Dunwoody (Georgia), addressed to her two little ones: "My dears, do not grieve. God has taken Mommy to Himself."
Sales of gas masks jumped in about the same proportion as sales of adhesive tape. At the beginning of the month, in the rating of the e-commerce company Amazon, demand for them stood at 11,000th place; in a week it rose to 4,600th place, then in another three days to the 300th rung, and stopped at the 13th position...
Strategy of Fear
In the midst of all this turmoil, more and more Americans are seeking help from psychologists and psychiatrists. The number of such requests in the past month has even exceeded the level recorded after the September tragedy in New York and Washington a year and a half ago. "I am also alarmed," says Dr. Mary Schum-Brody from the capital suburb of Arlington. "Alarmed by how many of my patients are asking for tranquilizers. I prescribe pills for some, and ask others to pray. I assure them that the war has not yet begun and that there is a higher power over the world, higher than Bush and Saddam."
The older generation of Americans recalls that they have already experienced something similar. At the height of the Cold War, from the mid-50s to the early 60s, the civil defense agency conducted exercises at least once a year to train the population in case of nuclear strikes. Moreover, the scenarios were disseminated through the local press without indicating that the alert was a drill. For example, opening their city newspaper on July 20, 1956, residents of Buffalo could read a chilling story that two nuclear bombs had apparently been dropped on them, "the center is in ruins, 125,000 people died." Even then, Secretary of Defense Charles Wilson was forced to acknowledge the dubious value of such methods, stating that "we are frightening people without purpose or benefit."
The goal, however, then and now, was quite pragmatic: to bring society into a state of "combat readiness" on the eve of a seemingly inevitable war. Almost half a century ago, the notion that the confrontation between the USSR and the USA would end in a nuclear conflict was more widespread than ever. And even if it did not, the fear-fueled hatred of the ideological adversary would not be superfluous - at least, that is what the authorities believed. Civil defense in this respect is the most effective means.
In the USSR, they built collective bomb shelters and periodically conducted large-scale exercises among the civilian population. In America, its inherent principle of individualism prevailed - personal underground bunkers sprang up like mushrooms after rain across the country. "Bunker mentality" turned the entire country upside down. The first exodus of city dwellers to the suburbs began, which were considered safer in terms of the consequences of nuclear strikes. Finally, at the highest level, the possibility of introducing legislation allowing the use of firearms against a neighbor who had not shelled out for his own shelter and forcibly breaks into someone else's refuge was discussed quite seriously.
And so the history and psychology of fear in America have reminded themselves again. Moreover, politicians and especially security experts are well aware that you cannot protect yourself from a large-scale terrorist attack with duct tape. Just as a bomb shelter built in the backyard would not help in the event of a global nuclear conflict. But the current American administration has managed to create the necessary psychological background in anticipation of a small victorious war.
It is much harder for George Bush's main ally - British Prime Minister Tony Blair. In the UK, anti-war sentiment is stronger than in the US. Therefore, they have to resort to quite extravagant measures, such as deploying armored vehicles to London, as if the British authorities fear that an Iraqi landing force will descend on Heathrow Airport any day now.
However, even George Bush at some point felt that the people making up his national security team - Tom Ridge, Vice President Dick Cheney, Attorney General John Ashcroft, CIA Director George Tenet - had clearly gone too far in whipping up fear. The president addressed the nation with a reassuring statement that, however, did little to defuse the situation.
"People are frightened without any need for it," Michael Cherkasky, president of the private security agency Kroll, told Itogi. "They don't know what they should do." The practitioner is agreed with by Barry Glassner, a sociologist-theorist from the University of Southern California, author of the book "The Culture of Fear." According to him, "if the authorities' warnings do not specify what and whom people should fear, then such warnings do only harm."
Official references to certain intelligence data no longer convince anyone of anything. Some believe that the main reason for the periodic alarming of Americans after September 11, 2001 is quite innocent. Historian Kenneth Rose sees it in the bureaucratic over-insurance of the newborn Department of Homeland Security. "When a terrorist attack does happen," he says, "no one will be able to reproach Tom Ridge's agency for not having warned the country. So officials just in case periodically issue warnings about various levels of danger." True, this strategy is lousy, the historian is convinced.
Other commentators see a deliberate intent in the actions of the Bush administration. Writer Lydia Rogers calls all these announcements "a big lie with one big goal - to justify a war that no normal person in America wants." The New York Daily News expresses bewilderment: why are Americans being hammered with the assertion that new threats come from bin Laden, but at the same time they are being called to go to war against Saddam Hussein?
The question, however, is rhetorical. US administration officials have said that George Bush will make a decision on the start of a military operation within a week or two. And therefore the psychological manipulation of both wavering European allies and its own population will increase day by day.
Nikolay Zimin.
Washington, USA.