13 September 2001

Terrorist Attack in America Met With Outpouring of Overseas Help

By Jim Fisher-Thompson
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- The terrorist attacks on Washington and New York September 11, which may in the end result in thousands of deaths, have been met with an outpouring of concern and offers of aid from countries ranging from France to Turkey and from organizations like the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU).

Millions worldwide witnessed over cable television the total destruction of the two World Trade Center towers in New York and the damaging attack on the Pentagon building in Arlington, Virginia, by passenger aircraft that had been hijacked and used as missiles.

In Washington, where fires were still raging in the Pentagon building 24 hours after the attack, the federal government organized a blood drive among its employees for the victims. Meanwhile, county rescue teams that specialize in pulling people from buildings collapsed in earthquakes were speeding to New York. Travel was difficult because all commercial air flights over U.S. skies were cancelled immediately after the attacks.

As the two towers that were the fourth tallest buildings in the world collapsed in Manhattan, trapping and killing hundreds of policemen and firemen and perhaps thousands of office workers, offers of aid began to pour in from countries around the world to counter what President Bush termed "acts of war."

France, America's oldest ally, offered its condolences for the numerous victims of the well-planned and well-orchestrated attacks, and President Jacques Chirac pledged his government's full support in hunting down the perpetrators.

Chirac said: "I want to reiterate to the American people the solidarity of all Frenchmen in this tragic test. Our thoughts go particularly to all the victims, their families and their loved ones."

France also offered a 60-person rescue team to search through the rubble of the World Trade towers, whose collapse, some observers said, created a rubble pile between 10 and 30 meters high.

The United Kingdom, through Prime Minister Tony Blair, offered any assistance needed to help survivors. Blair said: "The full horror of what has happened in the United States earlier today is now becoming clearer. We, therefore, here in Britain stand shoulder to shoulder with our American friends in this hour of tragedy, and we, like them, will not rest until this evil is driven from our world."

The German government pledged the use of a 24-member team of search and rescue (SAR) personnel consisting of rescue dogs, power saws, high-speed cutters, drilling equipment, and optical and acoustical devices to locate trapped people.

The North Atlantic Council (NAC), the executive body of the 19-nation NATO Alliance, which includes the United States, met the evening of the attack and issued a statement roundly condemning the attack, offering condolences for the victims and stating that "the mindless slaughter of so many innocent civilians is an unacceptable act of violence without precedent in the modern era."

The NATO statement went on to say: "All allies stand united in their determination to combat this [terrorist] scourge."

The European Union (EU) convened an emergency foreign ministers' meeting the day after the attack and offered assistance, including thermal cameras, blood supplies, and dog rescue teams.

Other nations that are familiar with the aftermath of earthquake damage have volunteered assistance, including Japan, which has offered to dispatch a 100-person emergency response team and 20 doctors. Greece offered to send two fire emergency teams, which helped in the 1999 Istanbul earthquake, to assist with rescue and relief operations. Turkey has placed two SAR battalions on alert that can be deployed to the United States immediately.

The attacks by aircraft filled with enough fuel to get them to California resulted in numerous burn victims, and Belgium has offered to send medical burn specialists to help deal with the casualties in the two cities affected.

The government of Switzerland announced that it can provide, on about 14 hours' notice, up to 100 rescue personnel, search dogs, and doctors, including psychiatric assistance for survivors of the attacks.

Israel offered rescue teams, field hospitals, and any other assistance needed, and its foreign minister said it could have the teams en route immediately upon request. Not expecting an immediate response, the government planned to preposition the teams in Mexico and Iceland.

Expressions of grief and concern by foreign leaders have poured in since the terrorist attacks, including a letter from the president of Benin and a phone call from the Embassy of Sudan indicating that its foreign minister, traveling in Saudi Arabia, had publicly denounced the attacks and reaffirmed his government's willingness to cooperate fully with the United States in bringing the terrorists to justice.

The Chinese government faxed a message of condolence for the victims of the attack to the State Department from President Jiang Zemin to President Bush.

President Carlo Ciampi of Italy summoned the charge d'affaires at the U.S. Embassy in Rome to express his solidarity with the United States and gave him a copy of a letter to President Bush and a statement he had made on Italian television calling for a "fight without quarter" against terrorism.