America's response to 9/11 was as damaging as the attack. It's not too late to change course
CNN
On that ghastly day, September 11, 2001, I never saw what happened in real time. I was on assignment in West Africa, in the midst of Sierra Leone's civil war. But I recall vividly as I was interviewing the hacked-up victims of the Revolutionary United Front guerrilla army -- their lips, ears, limbs macheted off, their stories too awful to imagine -- something big was happening on the other side of the world.
We had no mod-cons like social media alerts or even proper mobile phone connection. But my London-based producer was trying desperately to reach us, with the first news of a plane -- maybe a small prop plane, maybe an accident -- hitting the World Trade Center in New York. And that I should be prepared immediately to redeploy. Easier said than done in a place with no functioning airport, no scheduled flights, no live TV to monitor events. We eventually chartered a puddle-hopper out and got first to the Cote d'Ivoire Ivory Coast airport up the coast. There the full horror was now evident to see on huge screens carrying CNN live.More Related News