LONDON – Significantly more defiant and less sympathetic toward America’s tragedy, opinion leaders around the world used the Sept. 11 anniversary to criticize U.S. military adventurism while allied governments praised American sacrifices in the fight against terrorism.
Anti-U.S. protests in the Muslim world were virtually nonexistent Thursday, although a World Trade Organization meeting in Mexico, a war-weaponry fair in London and 30th anniversary ceremonies marking a U.S.-supported coup in Chile provided venues for hard-line critics of Washington to air their grievances publicly.
In London, U.S. and British officials gathered at Grosvenor Square, outside the U.S. Embassy, to dedicate a memorial to the 67 Britons killed in the World Trade Center. Britain is second only to the United States as the nation that lost the most citizens in the attacks. The memorial garden, dedicated by Princess Anne, includes a twisted girder from World Trade Center that has been buried underground. Planners felt that it would be too upsetting for visitors if the girder were left exposed.
Academic specialists said that, possibly as a result of the Sept. 11 attacks, radical groups have grown increasingly bold and innovative in their efforts to attack Western interests around the world. They cited the attempted downing of an Israeli airliner over Kenya using an anti-aircraft missile and the bombing of a beach resort in Bali, Indonesia, as only two examples of the ongoing threat, for which the West remains under-prepared.

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