1. The people of the Middle East - if they are the perpetrators - have a right to fight back, and this was certainly an audacious blow against the imperialist heartland;
on the other hand,
2. Terrorism is an anti-democratic by-passing of the masses (though I guess the masses of the Middle East didn't seem to disapprove);
but,
3. It would be infantile to take vicarious pleasure in a strike against New York that was delivered by an unseen hand;
and,
4. The possibilities of generalising this as a blow against US imperialism are pretty low;
On the other hand
5. In essence, the attacks are an internal problem of the US, played out on an international scale;
Because:
6. If Osama Bin Laden is the initiator, he was trained by the US intelligence services;
7. The likely perpetrators are either Americans of Arab origin, (or perhaps white supremacists, though that seems unlikely) reacting to the American targeting of Arabs;
8. The perpetrators had no other power than the productive capacity of US capital, turned against itself, and their own determination;
9. The West has operated a foreign policy modelled on permanent war- footing, it would be surprising if it did not provoke a reaction;
The likely reaction (which will tend to reaffirm underlying trends, rather than becoming a wholly distinctive turning point):
10. Initially, token actions against Arab targets abroad and persecution of Arab minorities in the US;
11. Public paranoia and repressive 'safety' measures (more for public anxiety than any specific purpose;
12. Initial support for government will give way to angry demands for security, and questions over its failure;
13. Self-doubting reflections on the hubris of the financial and military overreach that could not even defend its own - in moral terms the attacks will be seen as 'Pearl Harbour', or maybe the 'Fall of Singapore';
14. Public sympathy in European capitals will be tinged by Schadenfreude that the US has finally got its comeuppance (not necessarily a positive sentiment);
15. The attacks, which ought to be tangential to the productive economy of the US, will nonetheless become the catalyst for a generalised destruction of values in the form of falling share prices, which will have a knock-on effect around the world, becoming a generalised alibi for the failure of the economy;
16. America will become engulfed in helpless self-doubt, characterised by long periods of public mourning and therapeutic self-examination; -- James Heartfield