Five Years On

Looking back at my diaries, the date Sept 9th always brings back memories of how a singular event can change not only the world but also how it has impacted on my life in so many ways.
We all remember where we were when the planes hit the WTC, but it was the events that followed in the twenty fours that probably shaped more of my life. Within hours of the attack I was given the simple message of "Go Pakistan Now" that was all the message I got and the next afternoon I found myself standing on the roof of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad and outside the gates of the Taliban Embassy down the street from the hotel.
I had been in Afghanistan in May 2001, four months before the attacks and had travelled around Afghanistan and seen the Taliban in action for nearly three weeks. It was a nation under the control true fundamentalism where time was going backwards .
I have been thinking about what to write about in the times between current assignments and wars, and the five year anniversary of the attacks has given me the impetus to start a series looking back to those times, so thanks to everyone for still reading and in the coming days and weeks I will be going back thru my diaries and writing a series on those days, when nobody had used the words "War and Terror" in the same sentance
Mal
Jerusalem