Only days to go ... one year after ...

After the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York, the United States of America has had to confront the reality that they too are not untouchable; that their tight impregnable security could also be breached.

The death of nearly 3,000 people at Ground Zero should not just be remembered as the result of a prolonged tenuous duel between the U.S. government and terrorist forces, but as a massive tragedy for humanity with lessons that warrant reflection.

The images shown below captured by photo journalists mark the tragic event and the days leading up to the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.