September 11 terror and the ghost of things to come....

Special to USAfrica The Newspaper, Houston
USAfricaonline.com and NigeriaCentral.com

Shred of all polite, fine talk, the events of September 11, 2001, is an unprecedented, bold, audacious and violent incursion straight into the heart of the U.S. financial capital, indeed, the world's business at that 110-storey trade center in New York, and shortly after at the nerve center of the U.S. defense network (the Pentagon) in Washington DC.

Five additional facts and issues stand out:
First, the handling of the post-terror hits show, admirably, the resolve and resilience of the American people, especially their keen sense for patriotism and resources of its multi-ethnic mosaic. The September 11, 2001, even for all of its macabre and jarring deathliness, showed many American as reflecting true and uncelebrated profiles in and personifications of courage. From the value of tv, radio, newspaper and internet information, I saw men and women rise to the in-your-face challenge of murderous messengers and harbingers of death. It saw men and women give their lives in battle to save those of others.

Second, the canvas, theater and tactics of conflicts and terrorism in the 21st century, and beyond, have all markedly altered the script and primers of "terrorism experts"- placing at danger most human beings who are unwilling fodders for the terrorists.

Third, national security along geographic protections seem to be morphing into an ancient tales about nation-states. How secure are national borders? How secure can any democratic state and modern republic really be?

Fourth, the secretive, undetected (or shall I say, unstopped) conversion of American commercial aircrafts as mobile weapons and mega-size bullets of war against America by enemies of America, loaded with aviation fuel and whatever else fits the maniacal rush and hatreds propelling the terror merchants who claim to be "freedom fighters" for their own clans and groups is an entirely stupefying and mind-boggling turn. Imagine being in the belly of those jets as they were hurtling like speed bullets, raging for its head-on hit at the steely, shiny edifice of the World Trade center, or even the fortifications of the Pentagon. Many would have died before the final impact....

Fifth, comes the question: Are those wanton terror and wholesale visitation of murder and mayhem the ghost of things to come into the U.S. in the so-called new world order? It is, equally, important to note that these terroristic killers simply kill, indiscriminately. USAfricaonline.com and NigeriaCentral.com report that a handful of Nigerians and Africans do business and work at the World Trade Center. In fact, some African-Americans were killed at the terrorists' targets and hijacked planes. Such continental Africans and African-Americans would have been smothered along the path of violence unleashed on September 11. Therefore, this, necessarily, compel our communities to assess and determine our stand against terrorism.

On balance, do such terroristic, bestial brigandage against the twin towers and human beings at the World Trade Center, the slaughter of innocent passengers in those hijacked and crashed airplanes reflect the ghastly prologue to the wars and fights of the future? Or, shall I say, the wars and fights of our times, these crazy times?

Are those the lethal signatures of a world gone awry, the continuing cannibalization of our so-called civilization?
The answers, my friends, are blowing in the wind....
Chido Nwangwu, adviser to the Mayor of Houston on Africa business, serves as Founder & Publisher of the Houston-based USAfricaonline.com,USAfrica The Newspaper, The Black Business Journal, BBJonline.com, and NigeriaCentral.com. He is the recipient of the Journalism Excellence Award, 1997.

AFRICAN LEADERS CONDEMN ATTACKS ON WTC TOWERS, PENTAGON BY TERRORISTS. In the aftermath of the terror hits which took down World Trade Center in New York, destroyed parts of the Pentagon in Washington DC., and left thousands decimated and charred, African leaders have been expressing their condemnation of the attacks. Among them, Kenya's President Daniel arap Moi condemned it as "this heinous and evil apparently co-ordinated act of terrorism." In 1998, the bombing of the U.S embassy in his country's capital, Nairobi, left more than 200 dead. On his part, Tanzania Foreign Minister Jakaya Kikwete said "we feel and understand what the Americans must be experiencing." Islamic Youth Organization in Zamfara in northern Nigeria has a different view as their leader told BBC's Ibrahim Dosara the attacks offer U.S some payback for its actions in the Middle East. The World Igbo Congress (WIC), based in the U.S., has informed USAfricaonline.com that the it considers the attacks on the U.S. as "sadistic and devious." Its newly-elected chairman, Dr. Kalu Kalu Diogu, said during the USAfricaonline.com exclusive interview, "there is no justification for such wanton decimation of innocent lives. It is simply wrong and unacceptable." USAfricaonline.com and NigeriaCentral.com can also confirm that a handful of Nigerians and Africans do business and work at the World Trade Center. But no deaths and major injuries involving any continental African have been announced. Send such information to newsroom@USAfricaonline.com U.S. UNDER ALERT AS NATION BEGINS TO MOURN, BUSH SAYS COUNTRY IS UNSHAKEN. President Bush says America remains unshaken by what he called "acts of war." Pentagon which lost hundreds of its members and the certain death of the passengers in the hijacked plane has also announced that military jets will fly the skies over New York and Washington for the next several days. LITERATURE As Chinua Achebe turned 70, the world's intellectuals, leaders pay tribute to the master story-teller and lucid essayist. MUSIC The sultry and smoking voice of Nigerian-born international singer Sade Adu, simply known as Sade, is already rocking the world, again, with her latest album DEMOCRACY'S WARRIOR Out of Africa. …The cock that crows in the morning belongs to one household but his voice is the property of the neighborhood. -- Chinua Achebe, Anthills of the Savannah. An editor carries on his crusade against public corruption and press censorship in his native Nigeria and other African countries. By John Suval. Will Arinze be the FIRST BLACK AFRICAN POPE? INSIGHT Slavery report in modern Africa more complicated than the media tells. By Jonathan Elendu

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