Il-ġurnata tal-11 ta’ Settembru tas-sena elfejn u waħda hija pjaga fil-memorja tad-dinja b’mod speċjali għall-familji ta’ kważi tlett elef persuna li tilfu ħajjithom f’dan l-attakk.
Fl-għoxrin anniversarju ta’ dan il-jum imdemmi, ONE News tkellem ma’ Raymond Cassar, Pulizija Amerikan irtirat b’dixxendenza Maltija, li fil-ħdax ta’ Settembru ta’ għoxrin sena ilu, kien jaħdem mal-Pulizija fi New York, l-NYPD.
Huwa qal li dakinhar ma kienx xogħol, u filgħodu ċempillu r-raġel t’oħtu biex jgħidlu jixgħel it-televiżjoni u jara l-aħbarjiet.
“I thought they were showing a repeat of what just happened with the first tower because I was in denial, saying ‘No, this can’t be.’ I thought they were just rewinding what they had just seen with the first tower, but all of a sudden, I hear the announcer on the TV say ‘The Empire State Building is now the tallest building in New York City.’ And that made my heart sink.”
Huwa mar l-għassa fejn kien stazzjonat, fejn sab xarabank mimli Pulizija sejrin lejn is-sit tal-attakk, u mar magħhom.
Meta waslu ħdejn it-tifrik li kien fadal, tant kien hemm trab mal-art li ħassu miexi fuq il-borra.
Hawnhekk ra xeni li se jibqa’ jġorr miegħu tul ħajtu kollha.
“And then by the time you get there, to Ground Zero, you see mountains and mountains of debris, and you know that it’s unstable. When we first got there, we were there to keep the surrounding area clear and when you walk near Ground Zero, you could see some body parts and a lot of clothes ripped up, but there was no body.”
Dan l-attakk wassal għal gwerra kontra t-terroriżmu, li laqtet lill-Afganistan, fejn it-Taliban kienu qed jospitaw lill-moħħ wara l-attakk, Osama Bin Laden.
Meta mistoqsi dwar kif iħossu dwar l-iżviluppi fl-Afganistan, l-eks Pulizija esprima r-rabja tiegħu lejn il-fatt li t-Taliban reġgħu lura fit-tmun tal-pajjiż.
“Alright, the war is over in Afghanistan, there is a right way to do it, and a wrong way to do it. The first thing that we need to do is get all the Americans out, get all the Afghan people out of there, that helped the military for 20 years. Because if you don’t get them out first, these people are going to become hostages.”
Għoxrin sena wara dan il-jum li tappan l-istorja, id-dinja nbidlet kompletament, iżda s-sitwazzjoni fl-Afganistan qed tħasseb lil bosta madwar id-dinja li wara żewġ deċenji, il-gwerra kontra t-terroriżmu ma ġabet ebda bidla.
