Dear Editor:

I just read Ms. Tierney's excellent article in the Sept. 13 Register. Certainly the response of the NYFD to the tragedy at the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center was heroic and tragic for 343 firemen who died and many others who still suffer from ailments contracted then. I wish to relate where I was on Sept. 11, 2001 and how I feel regarding the USA response to 9/11.

I was in my office at the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, in Vienna, listening to a radio station when the MC said, “I've just been handed a note that a plane has crashed into the north tower of the World Trade Center.” About 15 minutes later, he interrupted the music and said, “my god, another plane has crashed into the south tower.” I also remember that that day and the next, friends from all over the world, including Russians and a good Cuban friend, stopped me and offered condolences. The next day, all the newspapers had front page stories of the event. The same was true of all the Viennese papers. Unfortunately, our response, in my mind, destroyed what could have been an opportunity to improve our relations with countries we don't consider allies.

Almost 3,000 souls perished in the 9/11 attacks; consider the USA response to them. The events of that day led to the Afghanistan and Iraq wars; in my opinion, they also contributed to the rise of the Islamic State (IS), the Syrian civil war, and the millions of refugees who fled the wars and their aftermaths. The Afghan and Iraq wars caused over 10,000 USA and coalition deaths and between one and two million civilian deaths. Of course, the estimates of civilian deaths is very uncertain and there is a wide range of estimates. The Syrian Civil War and the USA support of rebel groups has led to almost 500,000 civilian deaths, 6 million refugees, and 10 million displaced Syrian civilians.

I must ask, why did the USA respond in such a disastrous way? Does the horrific result of 9/11 really justify the resulting millions of deaths, wounded, and displaced?

Doug Reilly, Los Alamos, New Mexico and Boothbay Harbor