NOT even a bird stirred at 11 o'clock on Friday, September 14, as a wave of silent remembrance swept over nation upon nation.

If these terrorists wanted attention, they got it this day; but a page in history was turned and it seemed to me as if there would be no going back to the good old days, whatever they were.

As with Pearl Harbor, America had felt cocooned, superior to world affairs: it was other states who made travellers suffer the indignity of metal detectors, body and baggage searches at their airports. But not any more: the mighty Eagle has awoken.

If these terrorists hoped for compassion in terms of territorial injustice, or human rights violations for the Muslim world, then by this single abhorrent act they have set the clock back into the darkest of the dark age.

If these terrorists lay claim to be staging a 'holy war', then we will all be dragged back into that medieval abyss of the Crusades when, in God's name, man's inhumanity once more will rear its ugly head.

This time, however, because this faceless terrorist knows no scruples or boundaries, it will affect every man, woman and child on this fragile planet who wants to live in a free civilised society. Turning swords into ploughshares seems abruptly to be an impossible dream for mankind.

We must all pray that (as Bob Dylan put it): "If God's on our side, he'll stop this next war."

Phil Shepherdson,

Chantry Close, York.

Updated: 10:43 Monday, September 17, 2001