Ananova :

Ananova: Millions of people worldwide saw the tragic events in the US unfold live on television. How do you feel in the aftermath of events in New York, Washington and Pittsburgh?

Si: My partner's sister was working for Morgan Stanley on the 60th floor of the South Tower. When the North Tower was hit she started to evacuate and had reached the 15th floor when the South Tower was hit. Luckily she made it out OK.

I will never forget the increasingly desperate fear during the hours between hearing news of these awful attacks and receiving confirmation that she was OK.

In the absence of any real details on casualties, tens of thousands of people will still be in this situation right now. They will know that their friends/loved ones were in the locale of the attacks, but having received no contact from them, they will be in the worst kind of limbo.

My heart goes out to them. I pray that when the phone does ring, the news is good for as many of these poor people as possible.

Brandy: I am a Washingtonian (I live a half mile from the Pentagon), and I want to thank all of you in Britain and elsewhere in the world for keeping us in your prayers and thoughts. It has been very reassuring to us here in DC (and I'm sure in New York) to know that so many people across the ocean are just as shocked by this tragedy as we are. While we have seen the cheers of a few Palestinians on the news, we recognise this represents a minority of folks around the world and that most nations are as stunned as we are by this mess. Please use this as a learning experience for all our countries to not only improve the safety of our airlines but also the safety of our people.

Antony: Let us hope that at last America has got the message. If they commit acts of war against other countries, they will fall victim themselves.

R: Speaking from England, which is well used to acts of terrorism, I would like to ask if the terrible shocking reality of Tuesday will, at last, bring home to Americans that they should not continue to fund Irish terrorism through their donations to Noraid.

After all, world leaders are today commenting that a terrorist attack on any member of NATO should be considered an attack on the whole of NATO. This suggests that the dissident groups in the UK should feel the full force of NATO in response. Doesn't it?

John A: As an American who visits this site for it's excellent news coverage and to inform myself of the views of the world community at large, it is shocking what we have witnessed in the past 24 hours. It is comforting however to know that our friends in the UK (and the free world in general) have expressed to us the same emotions. However, it doesn't take long to find those who even in light of this tragedy somehow seem to find justification for it, as expressed by "Jo" in his message posted here. Your Islamic views (as indirectly expressed here) of our society are the very example of the evil it brandishes. Our society doesn't impose anything on anyone as we are a country made up all creeds, nationalities, religions, beliefs and the freedom to practice what we believe. That's the true "American Way" which obviously you will never understand.

Amir: I'm not a religious Jew. I'm Jewish but I'm not very religious. Never since the beginning of our small country, even if you add all of our wars together, we never had that huge amount of casualties.

However, I must tell you all what I, as an Israeli, think on the attack.

I was once a peace-monger individual, but since two Israeli soldiers made a wrong turn into one of the major Arab cities and were slaughtered, I began to hate the Arabs and the Palestinians . . .

America is my idol and I feel sorry and ashamed you had that huge attack . . . and I'm sorry we couldn't help you in any way to stop that attack with our intelligence reports, but I guess now you see what happens to us day by day - not by the huge amount of casualties, but by the feeling of pure rage, the feeling of fear to walk in the streets, fear from your own shadow and always looking behind your shoulder when you walk the streets, not knowing when it will happen next. You felt that you were untouchable, and that's why the blow is so painful, but now you see how we are feeling. Welcome to the circle of violence. Welcome to our lives.

Victoria Lee: A few weeks ago a documentary was shown about how these terrorists brainwash children from the age of two that it is an honour to die for Allah. What chance does the civilised world stand when these people deliberately and happily corrupt minors with this way of thinking? Add to this the stampede of refugees claiming sanctuary and we are placing ourselves in a very vulnerable position by allowing these people to infiltrate our countries and gain trust and jobs which can ultimately be abused. Every nation now has to look at this problem and the policy of taking refugees and take a long hard look at security, not only on planes, on cruise ships, the tourist and rail industries to try to prevent a horror like this from ever being perpetrated again.

Azindn: America just woke up to the reality some other countries of the world live with every day. We as a country have been privileged and our bubble just burst. Today is the saddest day I've experienced since the death of JFK. It is unbelievable craziness.

Ben Lane: I don't think this terrorist attack would have required huge financing as suggested in some media reports. On the face of it, I believe this attack could have been carried out by any number of smaller-scale organisations. I agree with commentators who urge restraint. Finger pointing is not constructive at this early stage and, more likely, will cause further outbreaks of uncontrolled aggression and violence.

Claire Price: I am devastated that humans can do this to each other. I pray for the victims and their families.

Colin: I thank you for your coverage and the picture that you paint. It makes me feel better that other countries have lent a sympathetic ear and helping hand in my country's time of need. Thank you also for the accuracy that you have shown in the reports and not making this whole thing sound worse than it is.

Joe Scargill: I'm writing this to express the shock and sorrow that I felt when I heard about the terrorist attacks. Being an American myself I thought that I would feel more for the victims then my UK friends and colleagues. I have since been proved wrong. The support and concern expressed to me has been overwhelming. I write to say thank you to all those who have borne the burden of this incident with myself and my colleagues.

Phil Gold: I am extremely disturbed by the writers who seem to think there could be any justification for this act of barbarity. Although I freely acknowledge the United States has pursued some policies that have had severe repercussions, there is no excuse for the wanton murder of thousands of innocent civilians. I hope that we as a nation can restrain ourselves and only target those who actually carried out this disgusting act of terrorism, but seeing celebrating crowds of Palestinians is just pouring salt into the wound. Any sympathy that I've ever had with their cause is being sorely tested.

Kareen: People are actually celebrating what has happened. How can they be celebrating? They've completely lost the plot. When will they learn that they will not have the last laugh? Ignorance floods the minds of these people. Violence and destruction is not and has never been an answer. We've got to stop being so self absorbed. It's unfortunate that we don't understand pain unless we are directly affected by it. How can we feel safe in a world inhabited by people whose first instinct is to fight and accuse rather than reason and justify? I personally feel ashamed of us humans and sad at the bitter truth that our animalistic urges will never leave us. It's frightening to think that our lives are in the hands of the corrupt and insane. The power of those who wish to see an end to all of this seems useless and invisible.

Story filed: 06:31 Thursday 13th September 2001

• Horror of terrorist atrocity starting to sink in 13:56 Saturday 15th September 2001
• Readers respond to Question Time furore 16:31 Friday 14th September 2001
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