The attack on Manhattan's World Trade Centre Tower I and II and the Pentagon was timed to get maximum viewing audiences globally. 9 am in New York means it was about 6 am on the west coast, late night in Australia, early evening in India and late evening in south east Asia.

In India, most local networks tuned into foreign news telecasts and switched off their scheduled telecasts.

Clearly, the intention was to shock audiences and shame the United States in front of global audiences. And possibly force the US' hand into reacting.

The pressure is going to be immense from the world to react. British Prime Minister Tony Blair has already announced that the democracies of the world will have to unite to fight global terrorism.