NEW YORK�"My thoughts and prayers go out to all the families of the victims, as well as the families of the police officers and fire fighters who made the ultimate sacrifice trying to save their fellow New Yorkers," said New York State Comptroller Carl McCall.

"As unimaginable as this tragedy is New York will come back, our hearts are heavy but our spirit is unbroken and our resolve is stronger than ever."

A week after its violent collapse, parts of the rubble that was the Twin Towers of New York�s World Trade Center still smoldered.

And emotions are still running high in the national Black community: mourning, anger, suspicion. Yet, New York City is in recovery, in the devastating aftermath of the two plane crashes that took out the World Trade Center�s twin towers Sept. 11.

While government-inspired, media-pushed jingoism and some xenophobia rampages through the nation, there comes frantic flag-waving and fanatical calls for war against an accused, but still unproven perpetrator of the Sept. 11 Twin Tower and Pentagon bombing. Saudi-born, Afghanistan-living Osama bin Laden has been fingered and declared wanted "dead or alive," by President Bush on Sept. 17.

Infatuated though she is, with multi-million dollar death-destruction-disaster movies, America was not prepared for the calamity which rained down on downtown Manhattan.

Momentarily paralyzing the city with shock and fear, by 9:10 a.m. two deliberate plane crashes had altered the famous New York skyline forever, causing thousands of deaths and injuries.

Two hijacked planes were flown into the World Trade Center: American Airlines Flight 11, a Boeing 767 crashed into the first tower at 8:47 a.m. Reportedly it had been hijacked from Boston, that morning. At least 92 people were thought to be on board; the second plane, a United Airlines 767, hit the second tower around 9:05 a.m.

It was reportedly hijacked from Newark Airport.

Meanwhile, another plane was flown into the military wing of the five-sided Pentagon building, the initial death toll was put at 800.

A fourth plane devastated more of the east coast landscape, when United Flight 93, a Boeing 757 from Newark to San Francisco, crashed in Pennsylvania, 80 miles north of Somerset County Airport.
President Bush called the crashes, "An act of war."

At press time the search, rescue and recovery efforts continue, as does the federal governments pursuit of people they deem to be associated with bin Laden.

While the government has released the identities of the 19 men, who they claim to be the hijackers, sporadic retaliation against the nation�s Muslims continue.

While the government stands on its position that it has no doubt (nor conclusive evidence actually) that bin Laden is involved, activist Rev. Al Sharpton warned against "racially profiling," suspects.

"It is critical not to go into blame game," he said during a radio interview. "At a time of trauma and crisis it is easy to accuse somebody. Saying, �They did it, let�s go get them,� will not solve the problem."

It could turn out to be the actions of American citizens, he added, "a knee jerk" reaction of accusing or even bombing a �Middle Eastern� nation, like Palestine cannot be the answer.

At some point, Sharpton said that a sit-down meeting with Mr. Bush is necessary, and that America�s "global policy needs to be dealt with."

Many observers have cited America�s confrontational foreign policy as a source of international discontent.

"Black people better get ready for what is about to happen," said activist Abubadika Sonny Carson. "We don�t know to what lengths these people will go to under the auspices of tracking down so-called terrorists. The Black community is no stranger to every day para-military action in the form of police action, imagine that ten fold," the chairman of the Committee to Honor Black Heroes continued.

The attack on the towers happened the very day of the New York city council and mayoral elections. Some people had already voted by the nine o�clock hour when the planes hit, but the tragedy overshadowed election campaigns.

Mayoral hopeful Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer said, "As a country, we have faced many crises in the past�none of this magnitude�and there is no question that the strength of the people of The Bronx and the entire city will come together, and emerge as a stronger, more united city in this time of great loss."

Since Mr. Bush has called for up to 50,000 National Guard reservists to be called up, there is some talk of the government possibly eventually moving towards drafting its citizens.

"Right now, I don�t think we will need it, because people are enlisting like crazy because they�ve got the American fever," observed community activist and Vietnam vet Atim Ferguson.

"But, as this thing escalates, it will come eventually. In it�s celebrated arrogance, the rolling government of the United States, never expected an attack like this on their own soil. This woke the people and this government up."

"This was not a direct strike at the people of America, this was an act of warfare. It was a strike at the government. This is what happens when people retaliate," said cultural activist and Washingtonian Weusi Baraka.

"The U.S. has either sanctioned, funded or is directly responsible for the deaths of tenfold the number of casualties that we recently sustained. The U..S has stained the truth of democracy by being borderline imperialistic," he said.

Bebee, a teacher and poet from Harlem, added, "Of course we all mourn the loss of life, particularly since so many members of the Black and Latino community were also victims, but we cannot be sure that these attacks were not perpetrated by the government itself. It would not be the first time, that the American government has sacrificed it�s own to further an unknown agenda."