Karen Wood

9/11: GLOBAL VOICES Name: Karen Wood Age: 48 Lives: Bourne, UK Works: Civil servant

On 11 September I was at work. I finished about 3pm. I turned on the TV at home to see the image of the first tower in flames and then the second. Then they both collapsed.

The children came in from school and I tried to explain to them what they were seeing. How could we not feel the America's pain?

But after the initial shock some voices in our media and around the world started unbelievably to suggest that they "had it coming".

Our world did change that day. The West finally woke up to the fact that we were at war.

I would equate it to Japan's attack on Pearl Harbour in World War II. That event brought America into the war and ultimately led to the defeat of Japan and Germany.

Had Pearl Harbour not been attacked it is quite likely that Germany would have won the European War and Nazism would have taken over Europe. The world is no more dangerous than pre 9/11, we just now recognise the danger for what it is.

I have no problem with Islam as a religion. As such I respect its right to exist and people's right to practice it. Tolerance is at the core of Western liberal democracy.

But the way some countries use what they call "Islam" as a political system is totalitarian in nature permitting no dissent or only dissent in peril of your life. When it governs it treats women and non-Muslims as second-class citizens.

We are at war. Wars sometimes have to be fought to prevent a greater evil

The main change in this country is that people have become very angry, some with the government but more with those who seek to destroy our way of life.

For that reason alone I am determined that I will continue my way of life unchanged.

We are at war. Wars sometimes have to be fought to prevent a greater evil and the spread of totalitarianism. The Cold War lasted 40 years. This one may be just as long.