Editorial

All Changed Utterly

THE world changed and not for the better on the morning of September 11, 2001. Even two years later we are still feeling the seismic effects and aftershocks of what occurred.

We are no longer as secure in ourselves; we no longer feel that the world will always continue as it has until now. Those who were around New York on that morning realized that the very foundations of life as we knew it had changed forever.

The sight of the Twin Towers collapsing was incomprehensible to many. Most referred to it as like a scene from a movie, as if only unreality could explain the reality we all witnessed. Alas it was all too real.

The ground beneath our feet changed forever. We know now that we are not safe, that there is likely some one else out there, a dedicated terrorist, already planning a biological or nuclear attack on a western target. We have difficulty understanding how some people hate us so much, but we can never doubt again that they do.

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq occurred because of September 11. Young American soldiers are dying in those countries, and there is no end in sight. We are still paying the price for that dreadful act.

Somewhere, we know Osama bin Laden is likely plotting his next spectacular terror attack. While much of al-Qaeda has been decimated there is no question that the organization is still functioning. 

We have seen what their worst could do, as innocent civilians died in their thousands on September 11. It was sheer luck that thousands more did not die. 

As the sirens screamed and the horrific television images catapulted around the world, we were left with a sense of numbness that has still not fully subsided. Could this really be happening? Would our children ever be safe? Was this the beginning of the end of the world?

Each day that we live now, there is a note of fear behind the ordinary nature of every day life. We have seen the evil and we can never forget it. Our world changed forever on September 11, and not for the better.

Into the breach on that fateful day went the finest and the bravest in New York, the police and fire departments whose bravery shall be remembered for all time. A disproportionate number were Irish American, and they gave their lives so that others might live. 

We have read and re-read their stories of heroism and their extraordinary accomplishments on that day. The recent release of Port Authority audiotapes confirms yet again what we knew all along, that many willingly sacrificed their lives to save others. 

No greater love has a man than that. We must never forget them.

Call the Election

DAVID Trimble, the Ulster Unionist Party leader, is beginning to bear a resemblance to Houdini. On Saturday, despite enormous expectations that he would finally lose his grip on his party, he survived a crucial vote.

It was yet another come from behind victory from Trimble, who has now routed his opponents 11 successive times. One would think with that scoreline they would finally lay off and allow him to do his job.

That seems unlikely, however. There is a particular bitterness in this dispute that simply will not go away. However, there must be some limit to the lengths that his opponents will go to overthrow him.

With this victory the way now seems clear for British Prime Minister Tony Blair to call the long overdue Assembly elections which he had previously canceled at Trimble’s behest. There will never be a better time to make a determined effort to restore the institutions of the power sharing Assembly, which collapsed amid allegations of an IRA spy ring last year.