 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  | | On 11 September 2001, at 8.46 am and 9.03 am local time, two planes hijacked by suicide bombers crashed into the towers of the World Trade Centre. (© picture alliance / AP Photo / Amy Sancetta) | |  | | Twenty-five years ago today, Islamist terrorists hijacked four US passenger aircraft and attacked key symbols of American power. Nearly 3,000 people died. The attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon triggered lasting changes in international security and foreign policy. Europe's press discusses the knock-on effects. | | | |  | | | | Attack on the pillars of humanityBasic human values took a severe beating in the wake of 9/11, Giuseppe Notarstefano and Sandro Calvani of the Toniolo Institute for International Peace Law lament in Avvenire: “Along with the Twin Towers in New York, the very pillars of the rights and the dignity of every individual were severely damaged, to the point of bringing down even the towers of justice and peace that had been under construction since 1945, the year of the United Nations Charter. The terrorists not only wanted countless innocent people to die, above all they wanted to spread global terror. … Twenty-five years on, we can and should ask ourselves who has won, or whether we have not all lost something, all over the world, in a manner just as irreparable and inhumane as the attack itself.”
| | | | Share on | |  | |  | | | | | | | | | | | | |  | | | | Security mania has become entrenchedEl Periódico de Catalunya criticises outdated security checks and excessive surveillance: “Some of the consequences of 9/11 continue to shape everyday security measures – from airport checks to surveillance and the exchange of information between states. The wars that began back then continue to affect entire regions, and some of the measures taken to combat terrorism have outlasted the threat that once justified them. Meanwhile, it remains unclear how societies can protect themselves against cross-border threats without turning exceptional measures into permanent practices or undermining the guarantees of the rule of law.”
| | | | Share on | | | | | | | | | | | | |  | | | | Caught in the revenge trapTrump and the US are now behaving exactly as the Islamists wanted them to all along, the Kronen Zeitung emphasises: “It was a declaration of war by resurgent jihadism against the US, the global policeman. And the US fell into the trap of revenge: Iraq, Afghanistan – two lost wars. 9/11 marked the beginning of the end of the American century. A blind display of power against blind fanatics who had nothing to lose. The US fell victim to imperial overstretch, the loss of its deterrent capability, a complete derailment of policy, and a plunge into the delusional world of Donald Trump. A superpower is tearing itself apart – along with half the world (and its economy). This is exactly how the jihadists wanted it: David against Goliath, the sword against the atomic bomb. Reason has fallen by the wayside.”
| | | | Share on | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  | | | | Yesterday's proud sense of unity is no longerToday, the US would be powerless in the face of such an attack, Corriere del Ticino surmises: “When Al-Qaeda terrorists destroyed the Twin Towers in 2001 killing almost 3,000 people, an America struck to its very core knew how to respond – united as one, with courage and determination. The West rallied round its most powerful, but also its most admired, democracy. With a steady hand at the helm. Islamist terrorism was ultimately defeated, even though it gained strength as a result of the disastrous Iraq War of 2003 and the failed campaign in Afghanistan. If, God forbid, such a tragedy were to happen again today, we fear that an America torn apart by divisions and mistrust would be unable to rediscover that dignified and proud sense of unity.”
| | | | Share on | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  | | | | Wrong reactions only made things worseMoskovskij Komsomolets examines the consequences of 9/11 for global politics: “Blatant fabrications served as a pretext for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 – and it was probably at that very moment that the hopes born of the collective shock of the 9/11 tragedy were dashed. ... Instead of bringing peace to the Middle East it brought only chaos, death and misery. The emergence of new terrorist networks. The destruction of states. The fiasco of American policy in Iraq. The chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. And, looking ahead, an even harsher confrontation between the West and Russia than during the Cold War years.”
| | | | Share on | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  | | | | We risk a repeatThe West is ignoring the terrorist threat from Afghanistan, warns journalist David Loyn in The Spectator: “Twenty-five years after 9/11, Afghanistan is ... a haven for international terrorists, where madrasas turn out a generation of suicide bombers. Al Qaeda's global headquarters is in Kandahar, and eye-witnesses have described seeing former Nato bases close to Kabul now full of foreign fighters. I started reporting from Afghanistan in the 1990s, when it was known as 'the forgotten war.' It took 9/11 to show the folly of that path. Western countries risk making the same mistake again if they continue to ignore the flashing red warning lights coming from the country. It is time for a different policy: make space for the opposition, including armed resistance.”
| | | | Share on | | | | | | | | | | | | | |  | | Share on | | | | | | | | | | | In the run-up to the Swedish general election on Sunday, the centre-left opposition comprising the Social Democrats, the Left Party, the Greens and the Centre Party is leading the polls, ahead of the centre-right coalition of Liberal Conservatives, Christian Democrats and Liberals, which cooperates with the right-wing Sweden Democrats (SD). However, both camps have been hit by new scandals shortly before the vote. | | | |  | | | | A threat to national securityAccording to media reports the partner of Gustav Gellerbrant, a leading member of the Sweden Democrats, has been spreading pro-Russian narratives online for years. She herself is also a Sweden Democrat official. Aftonbladet is outraged that Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has promised the party a place in a new centre-right government: “How can it be that a person who has been spreading pro-Russian narratives for many years has been entrusted with a key role within the Sweden Democrats? ... The Sweden Democrats have had problems like this for years. A host of high-profile SD politicians have already had to step down as a result. Ulf Kristersson knows this but has nevertheless promised the party ministerial posts. ... He knows that ministers from the Sweden Democrats pose a threat to our national security, but he does not consider this important enough to say no.”
| | | | Share on | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | The Left Party is not ready to governFollowing allegations of terrorism and antisemitism within its ranks, the Left Party has removed more candidates from its lists. According to leading Social Democrats, this calls into question the party's participation in any new government. They are absolutely right, Dagens Nyheter concurs: “As recently as August, [party leader] Nooshi Dadgostar had stated that the list candidates 'represent us very well' – after the party had expelled two dozen people following revelations of antisemitism and support of terrorism. Time and again incidents of this kind have come to light, whereupon the Left Party's leadership insists it is taking the matter seriously. And then the same thing happens again. Either these ideas are widely accepted within the party or the leadership has lost control of its members. Either way, it proves that the party is still a long way from being ready to govern.”
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