911: Ten Years into the New World

There will be plenty of articles written around the world to commemorate the tenth year anniversary of one of the most infamous days in modern history, it is an appropriate thing to do. It is a rarity in one’s lifetime that you can pinpoint a moment in time that changes the course of history, the events of September 11 was one of those moments.

The fall of the Berlin and the defeat of communism marked the end of the cold war and it seemed that the world had finally moved past the geo-political tensions that had dogged generations were finally over. The tearing down of the Berlin wall symbolized the dawning of a new era and a whole generation looked forward to a future free of tyranny.

Just under 12 years later on a clear autumnal New York morning tyranny returned and the world would change again, this time for the worse, perhaps this time forever.  The murder of 2,983 people would shape the of lives of all of us from then until now.

The twisted plot of a twisted man in the now very much dead Osama Bin Laden, a Saudi millionaire from a privileged hatched a plot to attack America and therefore wake a sleeping giant propelling it into a “war of terror”. A war that would eventually be fought three fronts Afghanistan, Iraq and the secretive covert war being fought around the globe in the desperate gathering of intelligence that may prevent further attack.

The attacks on New York, Washington and United Flight 93 shook the world. Anyone who was around on that day can remember where he or she was and what he or she was doing. The collective shock that permeated across the globe was palpable. It was one of the few times that I had sensed a global connect and it was clear that around the world countries and people were with the United States in its time of need.

We all know what has happened in the subsequent ten years. There have been further attacks in Bali, Madrid, London and Egypt. These attacks have taken hundreds of more lives. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have claimed over 100 thousand more, mainly civilians. 

The misguided invasion of Iraq was not only served to destabilize the already fragile middle east but more importantly lose the goodwill felt around the world towards the US and its allies. It has also seen the US bogged down on two fronts, in two unfunded wars that have cost American taxpayers trillions of dollars that has been partly responsible for the economic position the US is now in.

The times in which we live in are now framed in a time of war, where competing ideas backed up by military might remain in an ever evolving contest. Can we now asked who has won, who is winning?

The answer? No one can profess to know. What we do know is that Al Qaeda is greatly weakened, America’s involvement in Iraq has seen a strengthened and resurgent Iran and Muslims around the world now have live under the spectre of suspicion and paranoia.

The sad fact is that it will only take one more terrorist attack to take the world back to ground zero, to again heighten the anxiety of nations and individuals around the world. I for one think that humanity and decency will win, the challenges that confront the world unite us more than divide us.