September 11, 2008
Posted: 1000 GMT

NOTTINGHAM, England – The ripple effect of 9/11 has extended far and wide and even, seven years on, reached right out and overwhelmed Rizwaan Sabir as he worked away on his laptop.

"I felt that I was some big-time nutcase, some terrorist who just planned 9/11 or something, something so bizarre," says Sabir.

Sabir is a 23-year-old graduate student born and bred in Nottingham, central England. He attends his hometown university and is researching extremism for his PhD. But back in May, Sabir says, he was arrested on campus and held for six days as police picked through his life and his family home. Eventually he was released without charge. Watch what happened to Sabir.

What did Sabir do? His homework.

He downloaded a copy of the al Qaeda training manual from The Federation of American Scientists Web site. Its source: the US Department of Justice. And it's a document that is still available to anyone on the Internet.

"This is not the way to fight the war on terror, by locking away innocent people," Sabir said. "You are radicalizing more people and you are ostracizing more people and you're breeding discontent and disenchantment. It might just drive them over the edge and before you know it, you've given birth to 1,000 Osama bin Ladens."

Sabir was arrested as a result of a tipoff from Nottingham University, where he studied. Neither the university nor British police would comment. All charges were dropped and Sabir continues as a student at the same institution.

But it is difficult to separate the legacy of 9/11 and what happened to Sabir. The Bush administration is categorical that there will be casualties of war. And U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey has always said vigilance will be important because 9/11 changed the global security landscape forever.

"As September 11th recedes into the past, there are some people who've to come to think of it as a kind of singular event and of there being nothing else out there... we are the victims of our own success... that another attack has been prevented." Mukasey said in July.

But Sabir points out that al Qaeda is an ideology - not a country, not an army, not a singular enemy that can be bombed into defeat.

" I want to quash them as much as anybody," he says, "but by the government and police services arresting people like me, they're not helping anybody apart from the real terrorist and that's the truth and it will bite them again, and again and again" he warns.

Sabir says he's much more guarded on the computer now, believing that everything he looks at or downloads could possibly be mistaken as a weapon of war.

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mysterion   September 11th, 2008 1125 GMT

I'll tell you something.After the event on 9-11 worldwide there was a moment that everybody looked around to see if he could find some terrorists running around.At that time i was working at a Railroad Station,which is as you know a very sensitive place for possible terrorist -attacks.And what d' you know ,I discovered loyees in al layers in the hierarchic structure of the Railroad company. That, when they would have be just alittle organization they could have done a lot of damage to the Dutch Economy just by Sabotage of the traffic without being noticed ,because all of them turkish employees had to do just a simple task , just like when you have to bolt a scew ,for instance, you "accidentely " oversee this.When you however see the chain of all these "small tasks, it could lead to fatal railroad accidents that could sincerely slow down the national traintraffic and thus transportation of im- and exportgoods and thus economie with no direct Suspect.I was the first person to reveal this possibility to my authorities.Guess what! ....they fired me.As if i could not eventually organize( which i don't of course) it for instance, for revenge.I was highly surprised .not only me ,but also a lot of colleges were fired ( but none of them were foreign workers).From that day on,because i was one of the first to take this war on terror very serious,I rekconed that there was something "odd "about this terrorist -thing ,what whas confirmed when the U.S.army invaded Iraq to socalled throw Saddam Hoessein from his throne,that ,everybody in Europe knew this ,was created by the U.S secret servises.This had, whatsoever ,totally nothing to do with the terrorist attack.And the Fact that the U.S.has put it self above the law by violating all human rights as a "result"from the attacks has also nothing to do with it. This facts shows that the war on terror was a politic motive to intervent Iraq and to disrespect human rights for economical motives.Which ,By the way,was confirmed when the "Major Suspect" ,Who, only after two years later ,claimed to be responsible for the "Terrorist attacks". and turned out to be a "former" CIA agent .Never heared of somebody ,working for the CIA ,that has quit,and is still alive.So My theory is that this bloke Bin Laden is nothing but an CIA"Actor."And when they "find " and "kill" him who's gonna verify if it's really him or not?I mean they bomded the whole Area in Afghanistan,even with clusterbombs (forbidden by the geneva convention) as also had been used by the Dutch Army in Yugoslavia,but with the uppermost technical advancements the were not able to kill him(i think they let him get away as a part of the deal ,if you know what i mean) .A sort of Robin Hood story ,though in this version ,Prince John succeeded to turn the public opinion against Robin Hood by demonisizing him into a Terrorist ,And "Robin Hood" had to Hide for the people .I hope that writers of the script of the War on Terror- Movie have at least thought of a happy ending?(It's so Roman)

mysterion   September 11th, 2008 1253 GMT

How safe is the world any way,how sure can you be, to be alive in one Year,one month ,one day one second.from now.You can step out the door of your house, start walking ,a car ,which breaks are to old en snap,at the moment you walk there, it catches you,you die.Or you have this itching in your knee you go to a physician,investigates the complaint :tuns out you have a agressive kind of carcinome.He tells you, that you die within half a year .One year later you're still alive.I use to think ,when you die ,that's the end.But actually ,there no proof for that. It might be most likely ,but if it is the end, remains speculation.So when it could be safe ,for how long can you maintain this safety.In 1985 a nephew of mine ,i had found out ,had started to use heroine,at the age f 15. So i visited him to tell his that he should quit ,because his parent were very worried.And he actually did. Later when i met his Parents they thanked me for that, but also told me he had passed away."How" I asked surprised. They told me, that they were so thankfull for his reque that they had given him a motorbike at his 16th anniversary,that he went for a testdrive and had a lethal trafficaccident.How sad ,don't you Reckon,when you consider that when i didn't talk him off using heroine ,that he still might have been alive!

shawn-NYC   September 11th, 2008 2101 GMT

MYSTERION, dont you have a job?
And a heroine addict is better off dead..sorry to put it in your face.

fred   September 12th, 2008 551 GMT

I am so sorry for the victims of 9-11 and to think it is still not investigated like it should be is a disgrace. Now the 9-11 mastermind has shifted to Bin Laden to some dude in Pakistan. What is up with that??
http://www.infowars.com/?p=4492

Barbara Wasenius   September 12th, 2008 712 GMT

9/11 was an inside job. Get real!!!!!!!!

Anne Martin   September 12th, 2008 1135 GMT

No sympathy for this guy. All my sympathy goes out to the families of the victims of 9/11, and all other 11, 832 deadly islamic terrorist attacks since that horrible day.

Dhalmo   September 12th, 2008 1357 GMT

The true tragedy of 9/11 is the loss of moral principles in our country, an insult to those who lost their lives at the various sites. Terrorism, whoever psychologically effective it is, is NOT a military problem, it is a criminal problem, that needs criminal investigation and enforcement, with due process.
Terrorism is a result of geo-political forces. 9/11 woke up America to the fact that we are not invincible, that our government's actions around the world to manipulate events and peoples for our 'interests' can have severe consequences. When will we learn and address the historical grievances visited upon countless people around the world and begin to affect positive change by contributing to the poorest countries and allowing them to harness their own resources for their own 'interests', then we will reduce the chance that America will be viewed as exploitive and hence be a target for terrorists. This selfishness, if not addressed, will be the downfall of the greatest nation on earth unless we realize that only a true thoughtful and moral position on all human matters can defeat terrorism.
Are we on the right path now? Look at todays news and you will see drone strikes on villages in Pakistan, an indiscriminate action that had no due process and affected innocent civilians to try and kill militants. This is simply ammoral and unacceptable and will only perpetuate the cycle of violence and resentment that will eventually revisit us. War is just an excuse to avoid being accountable to justice.

Mr. Latypov   September 13th, 2008 2122 GMT

Hey! Amerika!
Your president is os stupid that he couldn`t stop terrorism in your country.
I'm greatly sorry for people died 9/11.

I am russian. And our President Vladimir Putin was among the first people who expressed sorrow.

I am disapointed of amirika, because after that attack your country begin War in Afganistan and Iraq. You was looking for terrorist there? You must know the address of THE GRREATEST TERRORIST EVER. This adress is Pentagon! This address is White house.

Giovani Fereira   September 15th, 2008 1409 GMT

Some people are jsut idiots...the same way America knew about the Japs coming to attack Pearl Harbor and they just let it happen...that was considered a consiparcy theory until 1993....what about some of Bush cronies back in the 60's suggesting a US airliner get shot down over Cuba giving them an excuse to invade....alll you have to do is read the history books my friends...the same was the NY fire department are not allowed to speak about the events of 9-11 freely....isn't it amazing how the flight recorders of all these flights are destroed yet the one from every other crash in the world survivied including the one from the Space Shuttles....wow...but a fully intact passport survived where no black box suvivied.....40 ton steel engines vapourized but a paper passport survived...didn't you ever read about Prescott Bush who help build Hitler's war machine....like I said all you have to do is read....what about the McCarthy Era...America was supposed to the home of the free....but it's more like whomever is ruling decides who the free is. The same way I would never stand for the American anthem....it's the same anthem that was sung as my people where enslaved...

Aditi Mishra   September 16th, 2008 400 GMT

Mr. Latypov,

I am truly disappointed to read your comment. I am neither American nor russian, however i strongly offense your straight comment about a nation and a president. One man is never enough for fighting against an issue like this. And as far as Mr.Putin's expressing sorrow is concerned, the whole world did it. The question is, did anyone come with an actual POA?

And terrorism is not just America's fight with Iraq/Afghanistan. It includes the entire humanity.

Neel   September 16th, 2008 1601 GMT

Mr. latyov and Aditi

This was always a inside job as said by Barbara. They biggest terriost of all CIA who kept funding all the countries in the world to fight each another. Take it North and South Korea, India and Pakistan, Mexico and Cuba ,Iran and Iraq............ these are just a few am sure you will find half of the world like this and to my surprise when bin laden attacked america why did bush go after Iraq and then decided ohhhhhhhhh i have got the oil supplies now lets go and find bin laden........

Ali Anwar   September 18th, 2008 336 GMT

My opinion is,
US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen air-dashed to Pakistan on Tuesday night to ease the controversy over unilateral US attacks inside Pakistan ostensibly on terrorist hideouts, though these attacks resulted in the killing of innocent people, including women and children.

The Mullen Military Mission (MMM) has gained added importance as one of the most significant strategic visits, which was preceded by his threatening statement about carrying out military operations inside Pakistan against terrorists.

The US carried out strikes inside Pakistan, and Pakistan's leadership, both military and civil, announced that these strikes were more than a case of violating its sovereignty and, as such, these would not go unnoticed.

The US Embassy termed the talks "extremely frank, positive and constructive". The embassy statement was more or less a cover-up for the embarrassment Mullen had met in his interaction, as he faced angry Pakistani leaders, insiders say.

"The Pakistani leaders reviewed the progress of Pakistan's efforts to combat militancy, violence and terrorism," said the statement.

The Mullen mission arrived in Pakistan soon after President Asif Ali Zardari met British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in London. Zardari took the principled position that no foreign force would be allowed to launch an attack inside Pakistan.

"Admiral Mullen appreciated the positive role that Pakistan is playing in the war on terror and pledged continued US support to Pakistan," said the statement.

Following the talks, the US launched another missile attack inside Pakistan. This shows that the US would continue with these attacks without prior information to Pakistan.

Highly-placed diplomatic sources told The News on condition of anonymity that Prime Minister Gilani left the meeting with the visiting US admiral after making it clear to him that Pakistan cannot go along with the changed US policy.

He told the visitors that Pakistan was successfully distinguishing between the militants and tribal people but the US attacks are bringing them back together by attacking on the basis of flawed intelligence.

People in the area have started supporting action taken by Pakistan but unfortunately the US attacks are compelling them to change their minds.

The US admiral assured the Pakistani side that the US political leadership would be briefed about Pakistan's position and subsequently an announcement would come from Washington. The prime minister was assisted by COAS General Kayani, Defence Minister Chaudhry Ahmad Mukhtar, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Adviser to the PM on Interior Rehman Malik, Adviser on National Security (NSA) Major General (retd) Mehmood Ali Durrani, Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir and Defence Secretary Kamran Rasool while the US CJCS was assisted by his commanders and US Ambassador to Pakistan Ms Anne W Patterson. Prime Minister Gilani reportedly asked the US admiral that Washington has been loudly talking of friendship with Pakistan throughout but its attitude demonstrates that it does not have trust in Pakistan and 'there is no room for mistrust in friendship'. He assured the US delegation that Pakistan is fighting against militancy considering it as its own war. He was of the view that Pakistan cannot be indifferent to the war against terror being fought in Afghanistan.

kingsley osuji   September 29th, 2008 1450 GMT

I pray terorrism should be a thing of the past, innocent people are dead due to this wicked babaric act of hard hardened individuals we all should put hands together not only America to stop this wicked act before it gets out of hand.

Lara   September 29th, 2008 1942 GMT

Hey, Shawn in NYC – can't you be a little nicer, wasn't the point of this article "tolerance'?

Anna Aquino   October 2nd, 2008 649 GMT

These are the questions that America needs to search out deep and high to free themselves from the ongoing economic crisis:

1. Why does the crisis happen at such a time?
2. What is its relation to the colonization of America over Iraq?

I believe that the answers to these questions will liberate, at least, the White House. And the effect should be like a domino.

John Wood   October 9th, 2008 219 GMT

For the record, I am a 70 year old British citizen, and an atheist. I have no interest in any religion and actually consider it a scourge of the earth. I have lived in Islamic countries for the past 30 years and have witnessed the attitude towards the American people change – for the worse – since the first invasion of Iraq by Bush senior. Your cowboy attitude is still deeply entrenched in your society.

When I watched McCain move around the stage during his recent "head to head" with Obama his gait was that of a very old man. When he and Obama spoke of how they would deal with Bin Laden, McCain spoke like a man on the verge of senility. Obama, like the good politician he is, just pampered to the will of the average American.

Both candidates clearerly stated what their objectives are on the capture of Osama Bin Laden. For stupidity they follow in the footsteps of their president. McCain even said he has a plan. He knows how to capture and kill Bin Laden! Is it a secret Mr McCain? No matter what his ramblings are, have we not learned anything from the history of religion.

If we were to believe in the scriptures – as most Americans seem to do, from the top down – then it should be learned that when Jesus was captured and crucified, christianity didn't stop. It grew to become the world's greatest power.

Bin Laden is an icon. Millions around the world have faith in him and his preachings. There is no evidence to prove that he is alive or dead, but that doesn't matter. In the hearts and minds of the Islamic extremists his fight goes on.
________________________________________

Democracy:
"A system of government that allows all people of a country to elect their representatives."

Therefore these representatives are (or should be) presenting the will of their supporters within their constituency, when they vote for or against a change in the law. The USA is the world's largest and most powerful democratic nation, yet one man has the controlling vote. Your president's veto has control over the peoples' wishes. And we all know the mistakes he has made since entering the White House. Very strange democracy.

Bush junior is despised throughout the world. This feeling is also felt, rightly or wrongly, towards the American people. They seemingly support his policies. This is the reason they are at risk whenever they travel. Especially to Islamic countries.

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Paula Newton and Andrew CareyNews and observations on the threats to international security and the challenges posed by terrorism to societies around the world. By CNN's International Security Correspondent, Paula Newton, and International Security Producer, Andrew Carey. From breaking news to background stories, from serious analysis to casual asides, if we think it's interesting we'll post it here.

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