Dark predictions
By Richard Petrow and the Graduate Writing and Reporting Workshop

The aftermath is setting in -and whether we acknowledge it or not, many, if not most New Yorkers are asking themselves somber questions. Is there a second punch coming? If it comes, when will it come and where? Dark thoughts, indeed.

On Tuesday, September 18, I met students in my Graduate Writing and Reporting Workshop for the first time since the attack. Were they thinking what might lie ahead? I wondered. I asked them to put down their thoughts, predicting what the next year might bring. Select replies follow.


"In one word - fear."

I fear the U.S. government’s response to the attack, which I believe will cause further loss of life. I cannot believe that death brings justice, and I worry about a thirst that will find no quenching in revenge. It is clear that the U.S. government is going to mount an attack against, and perhaps attempt the occupation of Afghanistan. We are seeing who will join us, telling neighboring Muslim countries "You’re either for us or against us," a phrase taken from our own civil war. Neutrality is not an option. When I hear that this is a struggle of "Good against Evil," I am not certain on which side we will fall. -Aaron Pell is a journalism student at NYU


"A dark harbinger of difficult years ahead"

I feel that America will become just as embittered, confused and conflicted as it was during the seventies when the fight between good and evil took place in Vietnam. Like Vietnam, we have declared war on an enemy that can’t be fought on conventional grounds. When the U.S. swiftly bombs key cities, as I believe it will, those affiliated with the Taliban will most likely not be killed. This leaves us the sole option of deploying ground troops, which will leave us with dilemmas that will multiply like the head of a hydra. -James H. Lee is a journalism student at NYU


"Race relations will change dramatically."

There will be a rash of attacks on Arabs all over our nation due solely to the fact that they are Arabs. Those working towards peace will begin a non-violence movement similar to the one during the Vietnam era. This movement will be headed largely by young people and by Arab-Americans tired of being persecuted for who they are, or more importantly, who they are not. Economically, things will dwindle. The markets around the world will hit a slump. -Laura Sampedro is a journalism student at NYU


"What will retribution entail?"

In terms of military action, air strikes on Afghanistan are a likely response. Air strikes minimize the threat to U.S. servicemen and women, especially against countries with a relatively harsh landscape and poor military equipment. There is also the larger problem of a negative perception of the U.S. in underdeveloped countries. Places where a traveler with a U.S. passport was welcomed with open arms twenty years ago are now more resistant to Americans traveling freely. -Christopher Ditto is a journalism student at NYU


"It will be many years before anyone will feel completely safe."

The United States, backed by a near-worldwide coalition of fellow democracies and great powers, will not retaliate by bombing Afghanistan. The probable route will be an armed invasion of the country via Pakistan, an unwilling but submissive accomplice. These land divisions will seek to terminate Osama bin Laden as well as his followers. It is doubtful that the troops will succeed in this goal.

There are bound to be more terrorist attacks, even as U.S. troops prepare to march into Afghanistan. When the CIA discovers that bin Laden has escaped yet again, the agency will turn its attention to other areas known to foster or harbor Islamic fanatics: the West Bank, areas inhabited by Palestinians, Syria possibly, as well as Sudan, Lebanon and Libya. When this happens, I am afraid that many Americans will lash out at the Arab-American population on the home front.

One day there will no longer be a bin Laden to seek out and exterminate. However, there will be others to take up where he left off, sadly enough. There will be no short and decisive end to this war, regardless of the millions of people who are wishing for that very thing. -Lindsay Krasnoff is a journalism student at NYU

Richard Petrow is a former NY News rewriteman and television documentary producer. A three-time Chair of the Department of Journalism, he is the senior member of its faculty, and is responsible for creating the department ’s Graduate Program.