George Cunningham was present in New York on 9/11. Here are his personal recollections of what happened taken from his book, “Journey to Become a Diplomat” ISBN 978-0871242136

At first, I did not know anything had happened. It was one of those typically summery Septembers in New York in 2001, and I was attending as an EU diplomat the traditional international prayer breakfast at the start of a new United Nations (UN) General Assembly. Mr. Hang Seung-soo of South Korea stood up to make his speech. There was a hush to hear his words, but something made my ears prick up, a set of words that were rather inconsequential and should not have really struck me as strange. Perhaps it was my inner cautiousness that made me react in such a way. Mr. Seung-soo said that he was going to be elected President of the 56th UN General Assembly in the afternoon. Funny, I thought, that he should be so sure.

It was time to slip out to another meeting. I made my diplomatic apologies and left the UN building. It was rather quiet outside, I thought, and not many vehicles were around. Some UN security guards were talking together in a huddle. I strode the four or five blocks to the Hungarian consulate. Then it hit me. As I walked in, the gathered Consuls General from the thirteen countries that were candidates to join the European Union (EU) were milling around, not knowing what to do. A plane had smashed into the World Trade Centre. What kind of plane? Was it an accident? Did it mean anything significant? One of the two Twin Towers was on fire. No, both Twin Towers had been hit by airplanes and both were on fire—which meant it wasn’t an accident. Why was this happening? We finished our meeting in a hurry, not quite knowing what the next few days would bring. The events of September 11th had sneaked up and caught everyone unawares. There would be no election of a new President to the UN General Assembly that afternoon after all. Instead there was disbelief, an initial disorientation of not knowing what had happened, what it could be, what it could mean. The world had intruded on New York in a new deadly way. This was different; our mindset was to change.

The attacks on the Twin Towers had started at eight forty-six in the morning and the news was posted on the Internet four minutes afterwards. Television coverage started almost immediately. But the alarms did not go off at the UN building and no attempt was made to evacuate the premises, a prime target. Indeed many had thought initially that the UN was one of the buildings hit, such was the confusion of the first few hours. Fortunately it was not. We had an emergency meeting at the European Commission Delegation, checking that we could account for all personnel. The local staff was sent home to be safe with their families and I set off on foot to pick up my son from his downtown school.

The previous calm of the midtown streets had by now turned into stunned disbelief. Now, almost three hours after the attacks had begun, public transportation had all but disappeared and few private vehicles were on the streets. Instead, a sobered mass of humanity was on the move, getting as far away as possible from the spot where the Twin Towers had once stood. Plumes of smoke billowed massively over a horizon sliced by skyscrapers. The mood of the city had changed. New Yorkers, famed for their brashness, were in silent shock, at least for a while. Some were in tears as they viewed the devastation and the carnage. Odd clusters of people stood trying to use their cell-phones, listening to radios, or watching televisions in shops. Whispers asked what the latest news was. Emergency vehicles became visible near Mount Sinai hospital where queues of people had formed to give blood. Surely there would be survivors from this terrible event? What did the future hold? Surely, somewhere, there was still hope?

The international community’s reaction to this terrible event was instantaneous, and I found myself immersed in all that went on in the days and weeks immediately following. Meeting a day later, the UN General Assembly unanimously condemned the murderous act. The UN Security Council gathered to pass two landmark resolutions that instructed all the 189 UN Member States at the time to take measures against international terrorism and report regularly on them to the UN Security Council. A Counter-Terrorism Committee was set up to monitor strict compliance, headed by Sir Jeremy Greenstock, Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the UN. The UN also authorized action against the Taliban regime in Afghanistan once it became clear that they were harboring the main training camps from which terrorists had carried out the attack on the Twin Towers.

Solidarity with America throughout the world was indeed refreshing. There had been concerns expressed before the event that the new US administration was not committed enough to the multilateral system. Yet here was an example of that very same system working remarkably well in America’s interest. Surely this was a unique opportunity for a fresh start among the international community, to put aside past prejudices and build a new system of practical cooperation together?

Invigorated by this relative message of hope arising from the smouldering ruins of the World Trade Center, I was asked to coordinate the relief effort from the EU to the City of New York in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy. Straight away, I was in touch with the EU’s “Community Mechanism for Coordination of Intervention in Case of Disasters” at the European Commission’s headquarters in Brussels which immediately sprang into action.

The then fifteen EU Member States were quickly ready with offers of trained personnel who were put on stand-by to be flown across the Atlantic within 24 hours. On offer were search and rescue, medical assistance, and identification and psychological assistance teams. Within twenty-four hours, it was the French along with the British that had extended their hand of friendship with the largest number of specialists. A Belgian team on a training exercise in Iceland was told not to return home but to get ready to go to New York. The EC made arrangements for an assessment and co-ordination team to come immediately to New York with a view to facilitating the intervention of teams. In total, we lined up around one thousand specialists ready to come to New York’s aid in her hour of need. In making the detailed offer of EU assistance, the EU’s letter to Mayor Rudolph Giuliani on 14th September declared “Europe stands united with the people of New York.”

The chaos surrounding the Twin Towers disaster made communications very difficult with the Office of the Mayor. Messages were passed that we wanted to see the mayor or any member of his emergency team who could make a quick decision about the EU’s relief effort. Regretfully, there was no answer, neither yes nor no. Clearly, there was massive confusion during the initial stages of the rescue effort and it was very difficult to communicate with the New York authorities. Also, it was later explained, US emergency teams had standardized procedures and in such a complex situation it would have been difficult to bring in outsiders. Unfortunately, while Europeans had pulled together the means to help New York immediately, many Americans instead had the impression that their allies had left them in the lurch in their hour of need. In a time of great crisis, a unique opportunity for transatlantic solidarity had been lost.

* George Cunningham is Chair of Liberal Democrat Friends of Armed Forces. He served in Afghanistan as Deputy EU Ambassador 2016-18.