No adjective would perhaps be powerful enough to convey the enormity of the tragedy that
befell the American people on September 11, when three hijacked planes were crashed into the World Trade Center in New York and Pentagon in Washington by unknown terrorists. With tens of thousands of people dead and financial damage running into billions of dollars, the coordinated attacks on the three important buildings have pushed Pearl Harbour to second place in America’s catalogue of calamities. As a wounded nation America declared it would retaliate against those who engineered the attacks and sought support from the world nations to wage an all out war against terrorism.

Members of the UN Security Council unanimously adopted resolution calling on all states to help bring the perpetrators to justice. The 15-member Council in its resolution, regarded the attacks “like any act of international terrorism, as a threat to international peace and security.” The council called on all UN member-states “to work together urgently to bring to justice the perpetrators, organisers and sponsors of these terrorist acts.” It stressed that “those responsible for aiding, supporting or harbouring the perpetrators, organisers and sponsors of these acts will be held accountable.”

Almost simultaneously, the NATO Council met in Brussels and for the first time in the history of the alliance invoked article 5 of their Treaty, which states that an armed attack against one or more of the Allies in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all. The NATO ministers condemned terrorism as a serious threat to peace and stability and reaffirmed their determination to combat it in accordance with their commitments to one another, their international commitments and national legislation. They said the NATO allies stand ready to provide the assistance to the US that may be required as a consequence of these acts of barbarism.

Reports that the hijackers were Arabs or Arab-Americans sent a were of anger in US and Europe against Arabs and Muslims. President Bush in his first utterances after the tragedy declared the United States “at war” against barbarians who led the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington and called the Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden prime suspect in the attacks. “We’re at war,” said Bush, and asked his top national security aides to plan “sweeping, sustained, and effective” retaliation for the attacks. “The conflict will not be short,” he said five days after the attacks in the US. For the first time, Bush confirmed what senior US officials had been saying all week: bin Laden, a Saudi extremist who allegedly runs a global terrorist network from bases in Afghanistan, “is what we would call a prime suspect.” “If he thinks he can hide and run from the United States and our allies, he will be sorely mistaken,” Bush told reporters, vowing to do “whatever it takes… for as long as it takes” to hunt down and punish those responsible.

The President also warned the countries which harboured the terrorists or gave them protection of action by the US. He specifically mentioned the Taliban regime in Afghanistan which had given shelter to Osama and his men and asked them to turn over Osama to the US for trial. America also asked Pakistan for cooperation and help in tracking down Osma and his protectors. Arab nations while condemning the terrorist attacks on US urged Washington to be careful in how it retaliates. They also insisted on a settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict which would help ward off terrorism.

The fallout from attacks were at the heart of talks on September 18, in Egypt between President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan’s King Abdullah II, as well as at the core of meetings in Saudi Arabia on September 17, between Arab League chief Amr Mussa and Omani Foreign Minister Yussef bin Alawi. Mussa said that the Arab countries supported the United States in its war on terrorism, but had reservations about military operations against countries suspected of backing terrorism, such as Afghanistan. Mubarak believes, the United States must be careful in retaliating for the attacks and in taking steps to build a coalition of countries fighting terrorism. Mubarak also reiterated his call for an international conference to draft an anti-terrorism convention.