By David Walsh

19 October 2001

As various commentaries posted on the World Socialist Web Site have

explained, the American establishment has seized upon the tragic events

of September 11 as an opportunity to implement policies both at home

(attacks on democratic rights) and abroad (expansion into Central Asia)

it had formulated long before the terror attacks.

Likewise, for certain social layers within the US the hijack-bombing of

the World Trade Center merely accelerated processes that were long

maturing. An entire corps of former radicals, leftists and liberals has