Fifteen Years On From September 11th

For in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's futures. And we are all mortal

John F Kennedy, June 1963

It is a decade and a half since barbarity struck on September 11th 2001. Hijacked aeroplanes were used as weapons, striking at the symbols of American power in the early 21st century. The twin skyscrapers of the World Trade Centre, the centre of American economic might, were brought to the ground. The Pentagon, the ultimate symbol of the military supremacy of the Pax Americana, was left with a gaping hole. A fourth airliner came down in a field in the countryside, as the hostages and crew fought a last ditch battle to regain control of the aircraft. Nearly three thousand people were killed.

I was 11. I'd been at school all day. My mum had come to pick me up, halfway home, as per usual. The person that told me was my brother. When we got home, we put the TV on. I can't remember much after that. It's hard to separate what you saw from what you later knew had happened. But even at the age of eleven, you know these things are major. I remember the numb shock. The stunned shock at the appalling violence, at the slaughter of countless people. If I felt that at 11, Lord knows what people felt as adults.

What I didn't realise at the time was the unanimity of this reaction. In the fifteen years since, it is nearly impossible to recall or imagine the range of nations and groups that rallied around the people of the United States of America. The response of America's allies, the democracies of the Western world, was one of grief, shock, and offerings of support. More telling were the public shows of solidarity. In Belgium, a chain of people held hands around the Belgian World Trade Centre. In the UK, the guards outside Buckingham Palace played the American national anthem, and for the only time ever, the BBC's Last Night of the Proms did not close with God Save the Queen, instead fading out to The Star-Spangled Banner. Everywhere, there was public mourning, rallies and moments of silence. I remember our school holding a minute's silence.

More surprising was the outpouring of support from elsewhere in the world. Countries which have spent years pitted against America were offering comfort and support. Russia and China, America's old and new foes, were shocked, and there were scenes of genuine grief on the streets. Cuba, which languished for 50 years under American sanctions, offered medical facilities to help treat the injured. In Iran, a country which still describes America as the Great Satan, the president and the Ayatollah condemned the violence. The next international football match was marked by a two minute silence, there was a candlelit vigil in Tehran. North Korea sent its condolences. Colonel Gaddafi, whose Libyan intelligence agencies had carried out terrorist attacks against American targets in the 1980s, condemned the attacks. Even the Taliban government of Afghanistan sent their condolences, and they were sheltering the culprit. In fact, only one country broke this show of unity, and that was Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

Candlelit vigil in Tehran, September 18th, 2001

But it wasn't just countries. The UN Security Council pledged to do all it could to uphold the United Nations Charter in the aftermath of the carnage. Religious leaders of every faith denounced the shedding of innocent blood in their sermons. Groups which are classified by the West as terrorist organisations lined up to denounce the attack, such as Hezbollah, the PLO, and Hamas.

I can't think of anything, before or since, that has united such a diverse range of interests and groups, who were often at each other's throats. Unfortunately, the years since have not seen this alliance maintained. George W Bush, for whatever reason, decided to attack Iraq in 2003, destabilising the Middle East, wrecking the country, and squandering nearly all of that goodwill. But, however briefly, we saw how the world could be different, and that, deep down, there is a way to unite us all.

Today we should remember the 2996 people who died on that awful September morning, fifteen years ago. The best way we can honour their memory is to strive to recreate the world that existed as the sun set on September 11th, 2001, when the world spoke with almost one voice, to show their shock and their anger, and to pledge support for people they had never met.

I think the last words go to Jon Stewart.