Innocence lost: then and now

Ralph S. Thomas, Contributor

September 11, 2001, commonly referred to as 9/11, changed the world. Who could have imagined the utter destruction and shattered lives that would result from coldly calculated acts of highly trained men, bent on destroying symbols of American prowess in commerce such as the World Trade Center (WTC) and the symbol of American military might, the Pentagon.

They sacrificed themselves in a suicide mission merely to make a point. Nearly 3,000 innocent lives were lost on a perfectly ordinary day that, for workers on Wall Street and its environs, became a steadily escalating nightmare. Billions of dollars of financial value was lost on that day as commodities and stock markets crumbled. The global payments system was disrupted and for several days, the trillions of dollars of payments cleared by the NY Money-centre banks such as the one I worked for ceased.

Movement of all kinds of securities, including clearance of US Treasury bills and notes, came to a halt, disrupting government operations everywhere. All over the world, businesses ground to a halt, as other money centres in Hong Kong, London, Singapore, Bahrain and elsewhere were affected in a cascading series of failed transactions.

Panic and uncertainty prevailed. The outcome was uncertain. The future was unpredictable. The world was transfixed by America's plight. Foreigners, including many Jamaicans, remained glued to CNN broadcasts, recognising, maybe for the first time, that the survival of their nations hinged on the maintenance of the status quo of a world economy with America at its hub and with the US dollar as the reserve currency of many nations.

Hurriedly, I exited the subway station at Broadway and Wall Street that morning, as my train had been delayed coming into the station, making me late for an important meeting. It was not unusual for large crowds to come rushing into the station; but this time there was a strange urgency, a barely controlled sense of panic and palpable fear that you could almost smell. Members of the onrushing throng quickly reported that a plane had just flown into the WTC and the top of it was on fire. Assuming that this was a small Cessna that had strayed off its path and come to an inglorious end, I looked up at the WTC towers some 500 yards away and saw the lazily billowing smoke about two-thirds of the way up. It didn't look so bad, I thought.

Death and destruction

The honking horns and wailing sirens of fire trucks, ambulances and police cars filled the air. Stock brokers, traders, secretaries, bankers, executives and other functionaries spilled into the streets and surged in every direction, reminiscent of a scattered anthill. The curious Jamaican in me prompted me to draw closer and take a look. But I listened to an inner voice that said, "Walk away, things are going to get worse," so I crossed the street and entered my building, the head office of the Bank of New York-Mellon at 1 Wall Street.

Moments later, the second hijacked plane roared in and smashed into the other tower and only then did I become aware that this was something extraordinary and we were under attack. What was not clear was who was attacking us, and why? Many of the details of that day are well-known and the broadcasted images etched in our memories forever. As the fires ripped through the buildings, many jumped from more than a hundred floors to avoid death by fire, some holding hands in a macabre dance with death.

I will never forget the moment the first building collapsed and the tearing sounds and metallic screams that pierced the air, or the dense cumulus clouds of dust that roared down Broadway and swallowed everything in its path, leaving a fallout of white powder on every object and every person caught outside.

Later that day, as we trudged in groups through the surreal white powder-covered landscape, to evacuate on foot through the streets of Manhattan and over the Manhattan Bridge, we saw long lines of powder-covered evacuees looking like ghosts on a Hollywood movie set. In the background, the WTC fires that would burn for the next three months were evident. My most poignant memory was that in the sky, swirling clouds of paper floated everywhere. Ironically, most of the paper that floated to the ground was intact without a single rip or tear.

Despite the attack, America remained resolute, and in New York one man, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, stood out as an extraordinary leader, calming the fears of the populace and leading the rescue and recovery effort. In the days that ensued, the smell of death was everywhere; as mothers, fathers and children held up pictures of their missing loved ones and cried as we all did. It was brutal, it was sad. It was a bad time for all.

Relentlessly pursued

In the aftermath, America went to war in Iraq and deposed Saddam Hussein, a brutal dictator and pursued incursions into Afghanistan and along the Pakistani border in search of the perpetrators of the WTC attack; it's arch-enemy, the shadowy organisation known as al-Qaida, led by Osama bin Laden. He was relentlessly pursued for another 10 years before getting his just deserts and remains a fitting example for wrongdoers who believe that they will get away with their crimes forever. America never forgets its political enemies. An important lesson of the American experience is that the certainty of punishment remains a clear deterrent to other potential terrorists and lawbreakers.

The WTC attacks were accompanied by a loss of innocence, as many Americans who felt safe within their borders began to feel vulnerable. The usual openness with which America welcomed foreign visitors was seriously curtailed and security tightened at borders and ports and airports.

New laws such as the Patriot Act were passed which required disclosure of certain payments and accounts to federal authorities and new rules created on anti-money laundering and financing of terrorists, to cut off the financial support that enabled terrorists to execute their plans on American soil. Banks were required to know their customers through new know your customer and anti-money laundering regulations and customers had to identify sources of funds being placed in their accounts. Banks that conducted private banking were no longer allowed to conceal the identity of their clients holding accounts in offshore jurisdictions.

Jamaica's 9/11

Many of these regulatory changes have been mandated worldwide and now form a feature of the banking system in many countries, including Jamaica. Many of the excesses of offshore banking jurisdictions have been curtailed by blacklisting those jurisdictions with lax oversight and regulations. This has significant implications for Jamaica, as it considers the form of offshore banking services it will choose to offer under recently announced plans by the GOJ.

By drying up the flow of funds to terrorists and drug lords, America has succeeded in reducing the risks of similar incidents such as 9/11 occurring. Equally, if Jamaica is serious about crime, it must dry up the source of funding of criminal enterprises and drug lords by confiscating their unexplained wealth and utilising the proceeds effectively to fight crime. Weaknesses in our banking system and a lack of political will have contributed to the increased power and wealth of individuals participating in illegal activity and this has undermined the integrity of the Jamaican economy and the safety of its population.