The World One year from 11 September
Rarely before has the whole world been tranfixed with horror as it was on 11 September last year.What happened to the innocent people trapped in the twin towers of the Would Trade Centre that morning,and in the planes that became flying bombs, was unspeakable,unforgettable and, except for the infinite mercy of God, unforgivable.It was an attack on humanity as much as it was an attack on the United States. Rarely before has there been such a sense of solidarity with the suffering of the ordinary people who were the terrorists' primary target,those who died and those who had to continue their lives without them.

Sadly, this moment of solidarity was bound not to last.A world united in shock and sympathy quickly became divided again inthe months that followed, as explanations were sought and remedies proposed, principally President Bush's"war on terrorism". It is a measure of the incalculability of human affairs that the principal beneficiaries of the events of 11 September tuned out to be the people of Afghanistion,whose trannical and fanatical government was quickly overthrown, paying the ultimate price for sheltering the perpetators of horrors,the al-Qaida terrorist when Israel

The chief losers were the people of palestine,when Israel felt emboldened -post11 September- to mount its own version of the war on terrorism by the aggressive seizure of palestinian territory and suppression of the people living there.None of this would have been obvous that dreadful day. Nor was it obvious that within a year and in the name of that same "war"-a dangerouly ill-chosen word - the United States would be he4ading towards actual war with Iraq.

But the solidarity was not just lost: it was thorwn away. An reckless and divided Bush administration seemed simultaneouly to be making friends and enemies of the same people. White trying to build coalitions for military action on the one head, it was undermining the common purpose of the international community in respect of whole rangh of other vital issues.As a result the United States has lost far more friends then it has made.No longer the American President spoken of routinely as " the of the free  world".He is now widely perceived to be part problem,not the solution.

The British Prime Minister has been given his due for seeing the risks of this and exerting steady pressure,on Mr Bush himself. above all to pull America back from its reflex isolationism.The picureof Tony Blair as America's poodle is a caricature.His restraining hend helped to produce a measured American response in Afghanistan.It is surely in part Mr Blair's influence now that made Mr Bush decide to address the United Nations this week,and to seek a consensus in the Security Council for action to neutralise Iraq.And pulled. It is a crucial change of tr-ack,setting in train a different process which the United States cannot controland  nities for flexible response to the threat it poses,including perhaps a formal warning to Norht Korea against the provision of long-range weaponry to part well.It is not when it stands alone that America is at its greatest, but when  it is in the company of friend.
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prayer for rain In Australia

Heavenly father, maker of all things and protector of your people look upon us in your love and give us your help.

Open the heavens for us and give us the rain we need.
Teach us to live for you and to share your gifts with others.

Ease our burdens, Father, and give us your strength. Hear us in our need, for we come to you through Christ our Lord.
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