Attacks in US

[Tabouli]

No: HPFGUIDX 26046

Still in shock.  I've seen footage of those planes hitting the WTC from every possible angle over and over but my brain just won't take it in.  Like so many people said, it was like a movie set, a mini-New York built to scale and attacked on camera for a disaster movie.  These things just don't happen in countries like the US and Australia, we're removed, we're complacent, we comment on the horrors of the world from a safe distance, they don't come to us, we go to them with our camera crews and our commentators and our rescue teams and advice.

I looked out my bedroom window yesterday morning after my radio alarm switched on and told me the news.  The streets were very still, and there was a smudge of grey smog along the horizon.  I grew up in the eighties and have been haunted by post-apocalyptic dreams all my life, and they all share that same silence.

I'm very frightened.  I'm afraid for the human race, afraid that that there will be a war, afraid of the implications for air travel security, afraid of a monstrous backlash against Islam and anyone who looks even slightly Arabic.  I'm afraid that this may only be the first of a series of hideous attacks, and that something like this may happen again.  Beyond this my mind has stalled.

I'm in Australia, miles and a time zones away, and all I can do is express my compassion and support for the American people, especially those in New York City and Washington, and those whose friends or relatives have been involved.  Take care.  I hope everything is OK.  My thoughts are with you.

Tabouli.


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]