&#91EDITORIALS&#93Sept. 11 plus 2 years

Thursday marks the second anniversary of the 2001 terror attacks in the United States. The attack came just as the world was looking forward hopefully as the 21st century dawned.
After its victory in the Cold War, the United States was promoting freedom, democracy and a free-market economy under the banner of Pax Americana. The fact that the attacks took place in the heart of that Pax Americana left the world in shock from the repercussions.
After Sept. 11, 2001, the world has undergone a drastic change. It is still uncertain how that change will affect the world and where it will lead, because the wheels have just begun to turn. Coping with the fear of another horrible terror outbreak, the human race may begin to ignore the contributions that unique cultures and civilizations have accumulated. If each country is obsessed with building a system of security for its own safety, we may win an external victory but end up the losers internally.
After Sept. 11, the biggest problem facing the world is that it suffers from an obsession with terror. The obsession of never being free from terror, and the measures devised to cope with that fear have caused many unexpected sacrifices. Such sacrifices include not only tangible ones, but also intangible assets that the human race has accumulated through centuries of painstaking efforts and sacrifices, like human rights, freedom, and tolerance and trust toward other religions and races. Because the Iraq war is prolonged and the United States tends to act unilaterally, we see allies divided and the United Nations made obsolete.
If the situation is not reversed, we will be the losers in the war on terror. We can end up losing the common values of the human race.
The recent gestures by the United States for cooperation with the UN may not satisfy everyone, but they are surely a welcome change and a catalyst for the international community to come together. Whatever the purpose, terror is the common enemy of the human race. We should remind ourselves that it is destined to fail.