In the wake of Tuesday’s terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, policy makers around the world rushed to establish their respective political and moral positions in what threatens to be a reckoning on a global scale. American politicians promised definitive action in the hours following the attacks. Nations around the world took part in a global mourning that was tainted by reports of isolated pockets of celebration and support for the tragic events.

Statements condemning the attacks issued from nations with traditionally hostile relationships with the U.S., notably Iran and Libya. NATO ministers evoked Article V for the first time in the history of the treaty on Wednesday, enacting language that promises military support to the U.S.

The European Union damned the attacks and called for a special session on Wednesday. China denounced the attack, but asserted that they would not get involved in any U.S. retaliation. Iraq supported the terrorism, saying that America brought the attacks upon herself.

Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri hinted toward a split Middle east, saying, “These actions contradict all human and religious values.”

US politicians were quick to promise retaliation as President George W. Bush described America’s “unyielding anger” on Tuesday night, saying, “We will make no distinction between the terrorists who comitted these acts and those who harbor them.”.

House Speaker Dennis Hassert said the terrorists will “pay the price” at what Senator Richard Shelby, the ranking Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, described as “whatever the costs” for what Senator John McCain described as “an act of war”.

Senator John Kerry joined Senator Orrin Hatch in pointing the finger at Osama bin Laden, a Saudi refugee and suspected terrorist, saying, “I have no doubt in my mind it’s Osama bin Laden.”

Bin Laden is now thought to government of Afghanistan, the Taliban. The Taliban issued statements on Tuesday and Wednesday from their Pakistani embassy, first expressing sorrow at the attacks and denying any involvement and later asking the U.S. not to attack them.

Ironically, the Taliban’s spokesperson said in Osama bin Laden’s defense that it would take a government to orchestrate Tuesday’s attack.

Soon after the attacks in the U.S., the Afghan capitol of Kabul was attacked by rebels opposed to the Taliban government. The Taliban is recognized by only three countries and Pakistan is the only nation to have established a permanent embassy in Kabul. Pakistan has been under sanctions from the US since1990, is a nuclear power and only met with an official from the Bush administration for the first time a day before the terrorist actions on Tuesday.

The relationship between Afghanistan and the US goes back to Afghanistan’s war of independance against Russia and the beginnings of the terrorist group now known as al Qaeda (Arabic for “the Base”) that bin Laden started during the conflict in 1979. Known as the world’s most wanted terrorist, bin Laden has been linked to the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, last year’s assault on the USS Cole in Yemen and a millennial plot to attack an airport in Los Angeles. As with the embassy bombings, bin Laden has denied responsibility for the attacks on Tuesday but has voiced support of the actions.

“When the innocent people were killed in Palestine, why were the people of America silent?” asked bin Laden.

The ongoing Isreali-Palestinian conflict has drawn attention in the aftermath of the attacks as reports spread of a Palestinian town in the West Bank and refugees in Lebanon celebrating the incidents of Tuesday morning.

Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat condemned the attacks and the Isreali government pledged “any assistance, at any time” to the US.

The terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, and the attempted trip to Camp David, had a ripple affect on the globe, from stock market crashes across Asia to possible expansion of US anti-ballistic defense systems. As of this Tuesday the world is a different place.