At 8.50 a.m. (EST), the American City of New York witnessed the most dramatic and devastating terrorist attack on the North tower first and fifteen minutes later the south of the tallest buildings, The World Trade Centre. The buildings built in the late seventies were not only America’s icon of business and finance but also the workbench of thousands of people who work in and out on a daily basis. They include people, perhaps of all the world nationalities, be it Chinese, British, Japanese or any other. Simply ordinary people like the rest of us.

What is most significant in this attack is that the terrorist had the temerity to attack the United States in the underbelly thus making a mockery of the indestructibility of the most powerful military might in the world. Absolute disbelief and total humiliation.

There is no doubt that the full might of her resources would be put to punish those allegedly responsible for this daring attack and a similar or greater number of innocent lives would be lost elsewhere.

We are only too familiar to terrorism and terrorist attacks for the past twenty years, civilian targets such as the Maligawa, Galadari, the Central Bank and the Sri Maha Bodhiya being some of them. And to justify these attacks on civilians the warring party would indignantly argue that our security forces have done the same by aerial bombing civilian targets in the north and deprived civilians of essential food items and so on. There is therefore, neither a beginning nor an end to this bloody argument.

The Americans for the first time and countless times over here the same paradox exists as to how to deal with it. To respond appropriately and decisively. For the best part USA or the SL Govt the balance of power rests with them and not the terrorists. Yet govt’s are like the elephants in the jungle attacked by a swarm of wasps. The elephant has all and yet little resources to deal with this wasp but in rage, storm through the jungle and destroy everything around but the wasp. The predicament of the USA and SL are similar. In the coming days or weeks, the prime suspect Bin Laden will pay the price, and the host country with him - Afghanistan. That may in itself be the beginning of a prolonged war engulfing millions of innocent lives.

In an almost identical parallel, the Americans will not perhaps, find the true masterminds of this dastardly attack as much as the SL govt is unable to find the headquarters of the Tigers. Is it in the Wanni, Boston, London or Toronto? For the American the question is it: — Bin Laden, the Islamic Jihad or the associates of them. They may be completely wrong.

G. Mahen P. Siriwardena
Colombo 5.