Five Years On

(not Charlton related)

Five years have now passed since the terrible events of September 11th 2001. Whatever your views on the geopolitics that preceded the events and then followed them, it's an opportune time to step back and remember the 3,000 innocent people whose lives were extinguished that morning.

Although few New Yorkers are more than a couple of degrees separated from someone who died that day, if the terrorists hoped to snuff out the city's famous dynamism, I can confirm that they failed miserably. However, the anniversary will bring emotions back to the surface for the bereaved, whilst for those not directly involved the terrifying confusion of that day will be replaced no doubt tomorrow by silent reflection.

Despite the enormity of the 9/11 attacks, there are still some who believe the West should appease or understand. Although the US could have been accused of being asleep to the threat in 2001, it is worth remembering the attacks were unprovoked and a response was required, as clumsy as it transpired. If however a poignant reminder of 9/11 serves as a renewed wake-up call to the threat we all faced then and still face now, then the victims won't have died in vain.