Just to give an idea of my experience.
When 911 happened we were on a family holiday in Florida. As news began to spread we were at the Kennedy Space Centre and we were all asked to leave after queing for a refund. It was quite bizzare as the drive back to Orlando was done in record time as all the Toll roads were open and free. We got back to the Hotel and, like so many others, just sat and watched it all again and again on the TV.
That night in the bar I got talking to the locals and they seemed totally dumfounded that anyone would want to attack America - they honestly had no idea that anyone in the world saw them as anything other than the greatest nation in the world. Only then did I realise how powerful politics actually was in the States and how little people either knew or chose to know.
This next bit might offend but it is truly what I saw, heard and felt.
As the night wore on I remained amazed at how the whole country seemed in shock and nothing, but nothing was happening. I got into quite an argument with one guy when I said that, sad as it was, the UK had been dealing with terrorism since the 1960's and at one time we were almost used to weekly bombings by the IRA (although I accept nothing on this scale)
I then mentioned that the terrorism in the UK was almost always from the IRA, funded almost entirely by the USA through NORAID contributions. The people in the bar could not get to grips with what I was saying and I was actually asked to leave "for my own safety"
I don't want to get into a debate about the rights and wrongs and politics of the Irish question, although if you want to I'll happily pitch in- I know everyone has their own view. I am just stating how I felt, and the whole thing is as religious as the East.
I still cannot fathom what I think or felt about the whole episode. It was the strangest day of my life, made stranger of course by the horrors we were seeing on the screen