Soon enough, the remembrance parade of September 11 will pass. Right now, as I write, American TV companies and media outlets (and churches, be it said) are gearing up to remember September 11. It's a tricky feat. There are innumerable sensibilities. And the date is still too recent to be able to draw helpful or accurate conclusions about the American response to the terrorist atrocities.
Of course, from a European perspective, America's reaction to September 11 is increasingly looking revengeful. The sabre rattling currently going on with regard to Iraq is controversial, to say the least. In America, statistics of popular support for an invasion of Iraq were until recently highly in favour. Now, even in America, war fever is beginning to give way to the long game and the need for the gathering of allies and all that. There are doves and hawks in the administration. Donald Rumsfield urges immediate action, Colin Powell urges caution, and Bush listens and speaks eloquently.
September 11 is in the process of be-coming an iconic moment in American history. Analogies with Pearl Harbour are regularly made. And emotions run high.
