Articles of the Month

One year later: It's not over, not by a long shot

The September 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S created a massive wave of emotion that birthed a new state of global uncertainty. One year after this event, both the world and it's future remain quite uncertain.

The trauma in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks left many people searching desperately for methods to cope with the plethora of uncertainty generated from having witnessed the twin towers and over 2000 people quickly collapse into a twisted heap of molten metal and billowing smoke.

From engaging in touching acts of family togetherness, to attending church, North Americans sought some answer to deal with the loss of the idea that their nations were invulnerable to external terrorism.

One year later, though church attendance has quickly plummeted nearly to their pre-Sep.11 levels, and Sep.11 induced acts of familial bonding no longer draw the attention of the headlines, the future of the war on terrorism and consequently that of the world remains a dubious question.

The fate of Afghanistan is a one that draws a considerable amount of uncertainty. The U.S and U.N face a Herculean task in attempting to create a single stable government from a multitude of deeply divided armed factions separated along religious, ethnic and familial lines. Afghanistan has been devoid of any semblance of a stable government since an invasion by the USSR in the 1980's.

The fate of this country, though no longer directly a huge player in the fate of the war on terrorism, is the testing ground where the U.S claim of a benevolent war against terrorism will be tested. If Afghanistan collapses back into chaos, this will reduce the potency of that claim, regardless of whether the creation of a stable Afghan government was or was not within the realm of possibility.

Another looming question is whether the U.S will invade Iraq.

With Iraq's dictator apparently only years away from having the capability to build nuclear bombs, a credible reason exists to support an invasion. As evidenced by the recent nuclear standoff between Pakistan and India, any country possessing nuclear weapons with few scruples against their use should be a prospect of great concern.

A potential invasion also faces the threat posed by the fact that the nations neighboring Iraq, particularly Saudi Arabia and Turkey refuse to allow U.S bases on their territory to be used as the beginning of an invasion.

But what if the United States does not invade?

It is known that Al-Qaeda certainly has ties at some level with Iraq. Mohamed Atta, one of the alleged hijackers in the September 11 attacks, met with a senior Iraqi official a few months before his fateful mission in New York. If Iraq were able to develop nuclear weapons, the prospect of a terrorist attack with nuclear weapons would certainly not be impossible.

An old Chinese curse translates as "May you live in interesting times."

Especially after the September 11 attack, this curse seems ludicrously appropriate. Few people would choose 10 years of prosperity over 10 years of question.