IT WAS the day the world wobbled on its axis. Around this country, around the globe, people watched television and opened newspapers and could not believe what they were seeing.

The catastrophic scenes from New York looked like the fantasies of an over-excited Hollywood thriller.

But this was no film director's fantasy, this was real - horribly, shockingly, numbingly real.

The television images will be etched for ever in the minds of those who saw them: the stricken towers of the World Trade Centre imploding, the Manhattan skyline shrouded in dust and smoke, the Pentagon in flames - these pictures were like a newsflash from the end of the world.

The United States yesterday found itself plunged into a state of war. The enemy was unseen and remains undeclared.

There was no warning of the attack and as yet no explanation. Comparisons have been made with Pearl Harbor in 1941 when the US Pacific fleet came under surprise attack. But then, once the sailors knew they were being hit, they knew why. The biggest shock of yesterday is that apparently there is no reason why.

America wakes today on one of the darkest mornings in its history. Millions of its citizens will be seeking to explain the calamity that has happened in their country.

As the answers are sought, as the rescuers sift through the rubble in the hope of finding survivors, we must first of all reflect on the sheer human loss and suffering.

All our sympathies should be with the American people as they come to terms with the monumental scale of their tragedy. There can be no conceivable excuse for a day of such carnage and bottomless misery. No cause can claim the right to inflict such unbelievable horror on innocent people whose only 'crime' was to be American and to go about their daily work.

One of the sombre and frightening lessons from yesterday is that it is almost impossible to be protected against suicidal terrorists.

And if these terrorists can sneak into America's front yard and wreak such appalling havoc, we have to wonder if anywhere in the world can be safe.

The pain of America today cannot be underestimated. The need for vengeance will be impossibly strong, and President Bush has already promised to seek out whoever was responsible.

Britain stands firm in supporting this purpose, as Prime Minister Tony Blair made clear yesterday.

This is as it should be - but America must try to remain guarded, to keep as cool a head as possible, at least until it is absolutely certain the right culprit has been found.

Updated: 09:57 Wednesday, September 12, 2001