9/11 anniversary - Sea change required in US policy

THE waves of silence that swept across America yesterday were a deafening reminder of man’s inhumanity to man when planes hijacked by terrorists crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York five years ago.

Amid the first spell of silence at Ground Zero, there was a poignant reminder of those appalling events as relatives intoned the names of the 2,749 people who died there.

But even as the world recalled the heart-breaking anniversary, a chilling al-Qaida video urged Muslims to increase resistance against the US.

It was a stark reminder of the futility of the so-called “war on terror” being waged by US President George W Bush.

If anything, with Iraq on the brink of civil war, and Lebanon and Palestine in turmoil, America is now a recruiting sergeant for terrorism. There is a compelling need for a sea change in US foreign policy.