Dear Guardian,

In the coming days let us not forget the other 9-11: the anniversary of the day when the twin towers of socialism and democracy were brought crashing down and over three thousand people were killed, or disappeared, beneath their ashes. I am referring, of course, to the CIA-backed coup in Chile, on September 11th, 1973. The terrorists who instigated this barbaric act are still at large today in their hideouts at Langley, Virginia and there is little danger that they will ever appear before a Hague Tribunal or the International Criminal Court. Let us not forget, either, that Orlando Letellier, Allende's ambassador in Washington, was murdered on US soil, under the very noses of the CIA, whose director at the time was George Bush senior.

In the memorials in the US for the dead on the anniversary of 9-11, there will be no mourning for the thousands of socialists who were killed on 9-11 in Chile by the CIA and its Chilean henchman Pinochet. The fact that these two events took place on the same date may be just an ironic coincidence, but there is in fact a more tangible political connection between them. So long as the US continues to interfere in the internal affairs of Third World countries in order to undermine the agenda for democracy, egalitarianism and economic development, we should not be surprised if enraged citizens of these countries continue to be driven to commit other desperate acts of revenge. We can expect more attacks like the attack on the World Trades centre in which, as is too often the case, innocent civilians pay for the crimes of their political leaders.