The World According to September 10th 2001

Here were the events of September 10th 2001 as reported on by the Los Angeles Times. The full list is available here: http://articles.latimes.com/2001/sep/10. Of course the next day, 9-11 blew much of this stuff away, but its’ an interesting contrast at the world before 9-11 and after. Posted below are some of the more notable events with a brief explanation of each:

Ahmed Shah Massoud - A key opposition figure fighting against the Taliban is killed by two men posing as journalists who detonated a bomb inside a television camera. As we all know, Afghanistan would soon occupy the world stage as the United States sought to dislodge the Taliban. How things would’ve been different had Massoud been around in a post Taliban Afghanistan, is an interesting and unfortunate what if question.

New Mideast Attacks Put Truce Talks in Doubt -  A wave of attacks by Arab militants killed seven and wounded many more, putting peace talks that were scheduled for that week in doubt given Israeli nerves over a spate of recent suicide bombings. Several people within Israeli blamed Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat for the attacks, despite the PA condemnation of them. Never a good sign given that any deal would’ve gone through Arafat. Ten years later, the fighting continues.

5 Killed; Heavily Armed Man Sought- Apparently, California was having a run on rampage killers in the Summer of 2001. Joseph Ferguson gunned down five people after vowing to out-due a previous killer, Nikolay Soltys who had struck the capital city weeks earlier. Ferguson was “packing a cache of high-powered weapons and a satchel of pipe bomb components and wearing a bulletproof vest.” For some reason typing this, I was having Criminal Minds flashbacks.

Bomb Blast Mars Independence Day - A bomb blast rocked the center of Tajikistan's capital, Dushanbe, near the site of low-key celebrations to mark the 10th anniversary of the nation's independence from the Soviet Union. The blast, which killed the bomber, came one day after Culture Minister Abdurakhim Rakhimov was shot and killed. I just threw this one in as an indicator to show how volatile the region that contains the STANS can be, a fact we know all too well.

Belarus President Claims Victory-  Alexander Lukashenko received 75% of the vote and dismissed the allegations of fraud from his competitors, who promptly called on the West to declare the results illegitimate. Ten years later, and the “last dictator of Europe” is still perched on his throne, with two more elections that very much followed the script of the 2001 affair.

How one day can change the world...