Having just returned from a two-and-a-half week holiday in Manhattan, I'm reflecting on it anew in light of President Obama's announcement that US forces have killed Osama bin Laden.
I saw very few overt signals from New Yorkers that that the 9/11 attacks weigh heavily on them; it's a loss they seem to carry quietly. There's the odd memorial plaque in a shop, and you get the impression that New Yorkers treat their firefighters like gods. There's also a constant reminder of the terrorist threat through the security measures in place around New York's landmarks.
But I saw no 'F**k you bin Laden!' t-shirts on sale or any kind of machismo at all. Where the 9/11 attacks are remembered (including at a small Visitor Center near Ground Zero), the tone is reflective and sober. That's a tone President Obama also struck in his address tonight, in a speech which largely avoided triumphalism.
