As parts of america gear up for a series of independent media conferences (see  http://seattle.indymedia.org) two commentaries point to the serious need for such convergences:

"What Americans have learnt - and not learnt - since 9/11"
by Noam Chomsky September 7 2002
 http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/09/06/1031115935105.html

Endless war poses a far greater danger to the United States than perceived enemies do, writes Noam Chomsky.

September 11 shocked many Americans into an awareness that they had better pay much closer attention to what the United States Government does in the world and how it is perceived. Many issues have been opened for discussion that were not on the agenda before. That is all to the good.
It is also the merest sanity, if we hope to reduce the likelihood of future atrocities. It may be comforting for Americans to pretend that their enemies "hate our freedoms", as President Bush stated, but it is hardly wise to ignore the real world, which conveys different lessons.

The President is not the first to ask: "Why do they hate us?"

----
PLUS
----

"Why we still don't get it, one year on"
by Mark Hertsgaard - The Guardian
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,789970,00.html

Perhaps the greatest lie told to the American public about the September 11 terrorist attacks is that they prove the outside world hates us. President Bush, for example, has repeatedly warned Americans about foreign "evil doers" who loathe everything we stand for. The US media has been no less insistent, referring time and again to "Why they hate us", as one Newsweek story put it.

Americans are ignorant about the outside world mainly because most of what we're told about it is little more than semi-official propaganda. Our political leaders portray the acts of our government, military and corporations in the best possible light, and our news media do little to challenge these self-serving declarations.