Today marks the fifth anniversary of the horrific incident that changed our world irrevocably. The outrage of 9/11 and the destruction of the Twin Towers suddenly plunged the west into a War on Terrorism that, five years down the line, we are no closer to winning.
We feel less safe today than we did in the days that immediately followed September 11, 2001.
Everyone was horrified by the images flashed to millions of television screens of those two aircraft hurling themselves into the doomed World Trade Centre, and a sort of controlled panic gripped the West.
When it became clear there would be no follow-up attack, however, we calmed down. Life started to return to normal.
But we reckoned without Bush, Blair and the War on Terror. A war in which our leaders appear to have made every wrong decision that could be made.
Things in Iraq have gone from bad to worse, with the country now on the verge of civil war.
In Afghanistan, where the US assault on the Taliban was the opening shot of its war against Islamic extremists, the British Army is finding itself sucked into an increasingly bloody struggle with no obvious end in sight.
At home we have suffered the horror of the London Tube bombings, while our security forces talk of a long list of foiled near-misses such as the recent alleged plot to bomb passenger aircraft in flight.
Policies
In the United States President George Bush will go on TV tonight in front of a nation increasingly unhappy with his policies, in particular the war in Iraq which has so far cost nearly 2,700 American lives.
Back in the UK, Tony Blair’s slavish devotion to his ally has cost the lives of hundreds of British people, both civilians and service personnel. His fatuous claims that there was no link between the London Tube bombings and his actions supporting the US in Iraq and Afghanistan convince no-one.
We are all horribly aware that every decision made by Bush and Blair since 9/11 has left us more at risk, not less.
And what of our own borders? While security precautions on civil aircraft are taken to absurd lengths, our physical borders have been reduced to a line on a map and nothing more.
Hundreds of thousands of people enter the UK illegally every year. While the vast majority come to work and better themselves, it is impossible to tell how many have come here with the express purpose of causing death and mayhem.
Instead of improving security at home with proper, sensible and practical measures, our Prime Minister has embarked on an overseas adventure that has served only to make the situation worse.
More worrying, the only solution suggested by Bush and Blair is more of the same. And it isn’t working.
No end to war on terrorism
Today marks the fifth anniversary of the horrific incident that changed our world irrevocably. The outrage of 9/11 and the destruction of the Twin Towers suddenly plunged the west into a War on Terrorism that, five years down the line, we are no closer to winning.
We feel less safe today than we did in the days that immediately followed September 11, 2001.
Everyone was horrified by the images flashed to millions of television screens of those two aircraft hurling themselves into the doomed World Trade Centre, and a sort of controlled panic gripped the West.
When it became clear there would be no follow-up attack, however, we calmed down. Life started to return to normal.
But we reckoned without Bush, Blair and the War on Terror. A war in which our leaders appear to have made every wrong decision that could be made.
Things in Iraq have gone from bad to worse, with the country now on the verge of civil war.
In Afghanistan, where the US assault on the Taliban was the opening shot of its war against Islamic extremists, the British Army is finding itself sucked into an increasingly bloody struggle with no obvious end in sight.
At home we have suffered the horror of the London Tube bombings, while our security forces talk of a long list of foiled near-misses such as the recent alleged plot to bomb passenger aircraft in flight.
Policies
In the United States President George Bush will go on TV tonight in front of a nation increasingly unhappy with his policies, in particular the war in Iraq which has so far cost nearly 2,700 American lives.
Back in the UK, Tony Blair’s slavish devotion to his ally has cost the lives of hundreds of British people, both civilians and service personnel. His fatuous claims that there was no link between the London Tube bombings and his actions supporting the US in Iraq and Afghanistan convince no-one.
We are all horribly aware that every decision made by Bush and Blair since 9/11 has left us more at risk, not less.
And what of our own borders? While security precautions on civil aircraft are taken to absurd lengths, our physical borders have been reduced to a line on a map and nothing more.
Hundreds of thousands of people enter the UK illegally every year. While the vast majority come to work and better themselves, it is impossible to tell how many have come here with the express purpose of causing death and mayhem.
Instead of improving security at home with proper, sensible and practical measures, our Prime Minister has embarked on an overseas adventure that has served only to make the situation worse.
More worrying, the only solution suggested by Bush and Blair is more of the same. And it isn’t working.
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