From Black September to McCarthy and Spielberg's Munich

Today I was planning a post on Steven Spielberg's new upcoming movie Munich after reading current issue of Time magazine. However when I logged in I found the news about senator McCarthy's death at the age of 89. Interestingly, I have found a common theme about Black September-Munich-9/11 and Senator McCarthy's remarks about 9/11.
In his myth breaking movie Steven Spielberg takes us to new heights of action and reality---but remember it is not another terror movie-like good guys vs bad guys. Withstanding his reputation he gives us new insight into the lives and motives of the assassins and the tragic implications of their actions (I am desperate to watch the movie which is being released on Dec 23. I hope it is going to steal luster from George Clooney's Syriana which is generating a shockwave of political messages). David Brooks rather searches for political motives in Spielberg's movie in his latest article What 'Munich' Left Out. Well we know that movie makers have to combine some fiction to keep their viewrs engrossed.

He says Steven Spielberg's new movie "Munich" is innovative, sophisticated and intelligent. But when it is political, Spielberg has to distort reality to fit his preconceptions.

The Time magazine provide us some interesting details of the 1972 Massacre of Israeli Athletes in Munich by a squad of Palestinian terrorists named "Black September." ---OK!---the historical accounts are surprising me as I read more about it. Black September kidnapped 11 Israeli Athletes on Sept. 5, 1972 (see all the bold text). The Newsweek in its article on the movie writes:

A team of five (5) men is assembled, led by a young Israeli intelligence agent named Avner (Eric Bana). They're given a list of 11 Palestinians living in Europe, each said to be involved in planning the Munich killings.

Very interesting to find out how these numbers are related together and to our contemporary history (some fiction may be there owing to movie making however some of the numbers are historical reality). Now, in our contemporary history what I see is that 29 years later same month different place, different date (Sept 11, 2001) becomes a "Black September" Day in the history of USA--Do you believe in coincidence?---I don't and this is surprisingly what I finally found in the Time article as well (I read the last paragraph of the article later after my conclusion on no coincidence).
Looking back at Sept 11, 2001 in Wikipedia article I have found the following. It says that 19 hijackers took control of 4 planes. However, 27 members of al-Qaeda attempted to enter the United States to take part in the September 11 attacks. In the end, only nineteen participated. Other would-be hijackers are often referred to as the 20th hijackers. If that is true then there is a possibility that they would have planned 5 planes to re-enact the history of Munich in a different way. Well! Spielberg also conveys similar message in a subtle way.

"Spielberg is at his best in visualizing a world he believes to be more menacing than it has ever been. That is more than a matter of noirish shadows. It is the hint of suspicious movement in the back of the frame, a pan that goes on a few frames longer than necessary, suggesting the possibility of a menace that may be present. Near the movie's end, a casual pan along the Manhattan skyline reveals the World Trade Center buildings. Had to show them, the director says. They existed at a historical moment in the mid-'70s. But there is more than historical veracity at work in that shot. The Twin Towers are the symbols of our new age of high (and endless) anxiety. Maybe there is, as Spielberg insists, no resonance between the fate of the Towers' victims and the fate of a few athletes in long-ago, faraway Munich. But inevitably the destiny of those Towers tinctures our thoughts, however much we wish to deny them." (I hope his next movie will be on Sept 11. If not then he should seriously think about this because he is believed to have marvel this theme so I encourage him to do so. In addition to that he has a tradition of doing two Movies back to back but on the other hand it is true that he would rarelly make a movie with same theme).

So, 9/11 is more than just OBL. OBL is just a new player in this same old game. But OBL seems to be very clever to put all these historical numbers in context while planning 9/11. Very surprising!
Related: 1968 Presidential Upstart McCarthy the man who changed America forever died today at the age of 89 said after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001:

"the United States was partly to blame for ignoring the plight of Palestinians. "You let a thing like that fester for 45 years, you have to expect something like this to happen," he said in an interview at the time. "No one at the White House has shown any concern for the Palestinians."

McCarthy did not blame OBL rather alluded to the presence of Palestinian Black Spetember behind 9/11, 2001 attack. I believe that Black September members would have taken part in the attack planning as Time article suggests that some of the Black Spetember members who participated in "Munich Massacare" are still alive.

The most beautiful and astonishing thing about McCarthy I would say is his remarkable denial of Vietnam war and finally a rebuttal of "You are with us or with them doctrine" in a less subtle way.

1968 Presidential Upstart McCarthy Dies: "WASHINGTON - Former Minnesota Sen. Eugene J. McCarthy, whose insurgent campaign toppled a sitting president in 1968 and forced the Democratic Party to take seriously his message against the Vietnam War, died Saturday. He was 89. " In an interview a month before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, McCarthy compared the Bush administration with the characters in the William Golding novel "Lord of the Flies," in which a group of boys stranded on an island turn to savagery."The bullies are running it," McCarthy said. "Bush is bullying everything."

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy says:

I admired Gene enormously for his courage in challenging a war America never should have fought,"

Ok! At the end back to square one of Spielberg movie. Alas! It is a never ending story.

More significantly, Spielberg wonders if the Israelis and the Palestinians will ever find peace.

Somewhat related: Yes! Unfortunately it seems like is never ending story as Va. Muslims and Quakers Pray Together for Safety of Hostages. Spielberg believes that in our World with inherited history peace seems really difficult but he has a prayer for peace and so do I.