It's exactly two years ago that Al-Qaeda struck the heart of New York. I can vividly remember sitting in the office that afternoon and being shocked as the news came in, indeed I think this will become an event that people will always recall in the way that older generations remember hearing about the assassination of President Kennedy. Incidentally, I personally don't remember what I was doing when that news story broke, probably because I was just under seven months old at the time!
Let's take stock of what's happened since then. The invasion of Afghanistan I can more or less understand - I do think that the Taliban was aiding Al-Qaeda and can see a justification for the action. To my mind, 9/11 did, after all amount to an act of war. However, the invasion of Iraq I do have a problem with. Whatever weapons of mass destruction Saddam Hussein may or may not have had, I do not believe that his regime was involved in the World Trade Center attack. This begs the question, why did The US invade Iraq and I can think of two possible answers;
1. It's a revenge thing - After Bush senior's Iraq war he lost the subsequent presidential election. Does his son see this as unfinished business?
2. This is the one I think is for the conspiracy theorists. The 9/11 hijackers, were, as Bin Laden himself is, Saudi Arabian. Could it possibly be that the US is contemplating action against the Saudis? Having access to Iraq's enormous oilfields would sure come in handy ...
I can see some laudable aims in a US attempt to impose a "Pax Americana". However, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and I fear this course of action could bring more tragedies, not less.