Ground zero, 2004 "The White House has used Lower Manhattan as a campaign springboard for the president's reelection in 2004, and nothing else," says Margarita Lopez, a Democratic city councilwoman who represents that part of Manhattan. "I was willing to give them the benefit of the doubt months ago, but no more. Dealing with this issue has been partisan from beginning to end." Salon

New York City, Two years on Poll after poll shows New Yorkers are still haunted by the attack, and wary that another might follow. Police believe they thwarted a bombing of the Brooklyn Bridge, and large battalions of cops are still often sent into the subways to ward off possible attacks. There was widespread relief last month when the electrical blackout was found to be merely that. The Economist

The Iraqis don't particularly want the UN to manage their money or their security IT IS not just the Americans who question the role of the United Nations in Iraq. The UN questions it itself�and so do the Iraqis. Since May, the World Food Programme has shipped the equivalent of a 25-tonne truck of wheat every minute of every day. On the walls of the Baghdad Convention Centre, home to both the American army's information centre and the American consul, hangs a UN tender for the supply of 841 square metres of glass, part of its emergency assistance programme to Iraq. But the UN's job, say many of its staffers, is to help the world's most vulnerable, not prop up America's occupation of Iraq. The Economist

Two years on ... Wishful thinking is not a policy ONE of President George Bush's best phrases, deployed between the atrocities of September 11th and the American invasion of Afghanistan later that year, was that the effort to win the battle that al-Qaeda's suicide hijackers had launched would consist not of one big victory but rather of �the patient accumulation of successes�. Not everyone, either then or during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq last March, agreed that America's behaviour was truly patient. No matter: it was certainly resolute and pretty relentless, and only the churlish or blinkered could deny that successes were indeed being accumulated. Now, however, on the second anniversary of those terrible events in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, things feel different. �The hapless accumulation of failures� is sounding a more appropriate line. The Economist

The Prewar Intelligence Imbroglio - A Tale of Two Leaders Were politics on either side of the Atlantic burdened with such notions as shame, integrity, or even results, both British Prime Minister Tony Blair and American President George Bush would be struggling for their political survival. Both lied to their electorates in order to prosecute an illegal war against the will of the international community. Neither has a clue how to rebuild the country they have just destroyed, other than with more force, which is resulting in greater loss of life on both sides. World Press Review

Chile commemorates in the pain the inversion of Allende September 11, 1973, a military junta reversed the government of El Salvador Allende and Chile settled during a long time of dictatorship. Arrests, tortures, assassinations: three thousand people died or disappeared during the Pinochet years. Thirty years later, Chilean president Ricardo Lagos, Socialist, chose to commemorate officially the inversion of El Salvador Allende "to show in the world how much Chile changed since the return of the democracy". But this celebration is strongly criticized by the partisans of the Pinochet General, the opposition of right-hand side and the allies of the Christian democracy. The questions of the humans right and of repairs to the victims and to their families remain sensitive. Many denounces "assured immunity" with the of torture ones.
LeMonde

Baghdad blogger: Salam Pax live online on September 12 International media attention focused on Iraq in the run-up to the 2003 Gulf war. But with satellite TV banned and access to the internet heavily censored under the Saddam regime, voices from within the country were few and far between.

Into this vacuum stepped a 29-year-old resident of Baghdad, calling himself Salam Pax. His weblog documenting life in the Iraqi capital before, during and after the US-led invasion achieved world renown, and he now also writes a regular column in the Guardian.
On Friday Salam Pax will be live online on Guardian Unlimited. You can post your your questions and comments for him now, email questions to editor@guardianunlimited.co.uk and join the discussion live at 1.45pm on Friday September 12 Guardian Unlimited

3 Nations Offer Iraq Proposals France and Germany, in a joint proposal, have offered to recognize an Iraqi transition government and endorse a U.S.-led multinational force if the U.S. hands over most of its control over the political transition to the U.N. and the interim Iraqi leaders. Russia presented a separate proposal closer to U.S. and British ideas. LA Times