Posted by
Michael on Monday, September 11, 2006 1:57:00 AM
From Christopher Hitchens'
9/11 memorial:
Five years ago Taliban and al-Qaeda sympathisers were busily
taking over Pakistan from within, and had even infiltrated its
nuclear program. Five years ago, the A. Q. Khan black market in
fissile material for dictatorial regimes had not been uncovered.
Five years ago the secretary of state Colin Powell was giving
grants to the Taliban for their co-operation in the "war on drugs".
Five years ago billions of Saudi dollars were openly financing
madrassas and training schools for Wahhabi ideology all around the
world. Five years ago George Bush and Richard Cheney were discussing
lifting the sanctions on Iraq and Libya (bad for business) and
scorning the liberal illusion of using American troops for
"humanitarian intervention". Five years ago Saddam Hussein was
publicly boasting about the bounty his regime paid to Palestinian
suicide bombers. So I can think we can safely say that, yes, the
events of September 11 did indeed change the world
considerably.