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UPDATED Thursday, September 13, 2001
1:00 AM Cairo time
Confusion on the second day
by Tarek Atia
Devastating terror attack on the US: New developments from Cairo, New York, Washington, Afghanistan and around the world
A CNN reporter drove home the reality of Tuesday's criminal attack on the US today by reminding viewers that the Empire State building in downtown Manhattan is now New York City's tallest building.
The 110 story twin towers of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan held that title until yesterday, when two hijacked planes were rammed into the towers, bringing them down, and leaving unheard of carnage in their wake.
"The blackest day in America's history", reads the jet-black front-page headline of Wednesday's Al-Akhbar in Cairo. The paper's story, however, seems to have gone to press while details surrounding the tragic events of Tuesday September 11, 2001, were still unclear: other headlines on the front page indicate that either 5 or 8 planes were hijacked, not four. The main story also says that the State Department, Capitol Hill, and other Washington DC buildings -- not just the Pentagon -- were hit by the hijacked planes.
The inaccuracies reflect the confusion that still stains Tuesday's string of hijacks and crashes in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
Al-Akhbar's editor, Galal Deweidar, is clear, though, about who he blames for the tragedy.
After strongly condemning the terrorist act, Dewiedar writes that Israel's barbaric treatment of the Palestinians would inevitably result in an increase in global terrorism that would leave no country unaffected. Washington had been warned by its friendly Arab allies time and again that their lack of serious political will in preventing Israel from continuing its bloody siege and occupation of Palestinian territories would eventually bite them back.
If Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon really wants to help the US -- as Sharon announced -- Dweidar says that the best thing he could do is to honor the principles of international law.
That was unlikely to happen, considering the Jerusalem Post's quote from Sharon spokesman Ranaan Gissin regarding the tragedy. Gissin is convinced there will now be "more sympathy in the world toward the idea that proactive activity is needed against terror, behind the leadership of the US."
The Post continued:
"Asked if he is concerned the attacks could boomerang against Israel - with the US public saying that, if it were not for America's support of Israel, this terror would not have been unleashed - Gissin said he believes the battle will be viewed as one "between civilizations, between the good and bad, between the civilized and uncivilized."
"He said he believes the Americans will realize that the attacks in New York and Washington were not aimed at Israel, "the little Satan," but rather "the big Satan, and all that it stands for."
In Palestine, meanwhile, Israel escalated its "battle of civilizations" early Wednesady, killing nine Palestinians, including an 11-year-old girl, in the Palestinian town of Jenin. Palestinians said the Israelis were using the tragedy in the US as an excuse to attack the Palestinians with impunity.
Even the rhetoric seemed to be escalating. CBC reported that, "on the popular Israeli political program Popolitica, an Israeli general called for the immediate assassination of Yasser Arafat."
The BBC also predicted that the attacks would make the US even more sympathetic to Israel. For instance, whereas before the US (while not doing anything about them) would at least condemn Israel's illegal targeted assassinations of Palestinians, now, having been attacked themselves and anxious for revenge, they may see things more like Israel does.
BBC's coverage portrays Israel as the US's 51st state -- declaring a day of mourning, flying flags at half mast, laying flowers at the US embassy.
Palestinians, on the other hand, are shown celebrating.
At the same time, Qatari satellite channel Al-Jazeera reported that a Palestinian group released a statement urging their countrymen not to show any signs of joy or celebration over what happened.
Al-Ahram's banner on Wednesday was in red, declaring "Shock consumes the United States". Like Al-Akhbar, Al-Ahram gets some of its facts wrong, incorrectly reporting -- amongst the day's shocking events -- that a mysterious fire took place at the White House. The paper predicts a death toll of 10,000, quoting a US congressman. The front page also features an item taken from Sky News in London, which did not rule out the possibility of US home-grown terror being behind the tragedy, a la Oklahoma City. In its coverage inside, the paper recounts the familiar tale of the false blame placed on Muslims after Oklahoma. "After pointing their fingers at Muslims," the story says, "they then discovered the criminal was one of them."
It was clear, though, that Muslims and Arabs were to take the brunt of the blame again this time.
In Boston, where two of the hijacked flights originated, investigators said they had identified 5 potential suspects who are Arab. The Boston Herald newspaper reported that the police had "seized a rental car containing Arabic-language flight training manuals at Logan International Airport." The paper's website said that one of the men was a trained pilot.
"Authorities were informed about the rental car by a civilian who got into a fight with several Arab men as they were parking their car," the paper reported.
Interviewed by Al-Jazeera, the editor-in-chief of Jordanian paper Al-Destour accused the Israeli lobby in the US of being behind the immediate finger-pointing at an Arab or Muslim enemy. The US is looking for an enemy and they need one fast, he said, and the Arabs are the most convenient target.
Arab and Muslim Americans couldn't have been made more comfortable after reading a chilling commentary in the Christian Science Monitor which argued that "terrorist cells of long-standing organizations are likely at work within the United States." The paper quotes a a former CIA counterintelligence officer who asked not to be named for the tip.
With all the finger pointing going on, some feared there would be a violent anti-Arab backlash in the US. Responding to these concerns at one of his press conferences, New York mayor Rudy Guiliani said that minorities or ethnic groups that are likely to be targeted will receive extra protection from the city. NYers are not like that, he said. They should refrain from group blame, or else they're engaging in the same sort of activity we saw today.
With the blame steadily veering in the direction of Osama bin Laden, US president George W Bush's oft-repeated quote that there was "no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them," the most obvious target for US retaliation looked to be Afghanistan.
Trying to gauge America's mood, the Washington Post reported that 94 per cent of Americans supported the idea of taking military action against the "groups or nations responsible for the attacks. More than eight in 10 favored military strikes even if they led to war."
One young man interviewed by the paper said, "I would support a complete slaughter."
An older gentleman interviewed by the paper said if retribution "doesn't come, it's over for us as a world power."
Clearly worried about the potential destruction that may suddenly be rained down upon them, the Afghani rulers, the Taliban, were quoted by Al-Jazeera as saying that they are willing to negotiate the matter of extraditing bin Laden, as long as they are presented evidence of his guilt.
Widely reported on TV and all over the news was the claim made by Abdel-Bari Atwan, editor of the the Al-Quds Al-Arabi newspaper in London, who said he was convinced that bin Laden was "almost certainly" behind the attacks. His belief was based on alleged threats bin Laden had made some three weeks ago about a major operation, which the paper did not take seriously at the time.
Meanwhile, a Pakistani newspaper "said on Wednesday that ... bin Laden had denied responsibility for the terror attacks in the United States, although he apporoved them: "The terrorist act is the action of some American group. I have nothing to do with it," the US's enemy #1 was quoted as saying.
The quotes were unconfirmed.
...Developing...
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Cairenes -- like the rest of the world -- remain glued to their television screens early Wednesday morning, shocked by the events unfolding before the world's eyes.
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