Americans face catastrophe away from home but not alone

Date: 13/09/01

The first instinct was to connect. To make contact with anyone who could share in the grief and horror. To commiserate.

For the thousands of American expatriates living in Brussels - and indeed for just about everyone else - there was not much more that could be done on Tuesday as the tragic events in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania played out over several excruciating hours.

All around Brussels, Americans and Europeans alike sat in almost helpless silence as they watched the horror on television screens in bars, offices, homes and even in the corridors of power at NATO headquarters or the various EU institutions.

My wife and I scrambled to call relatives and friends in the US, desperate to account for everyone. With so much death and destruction and so many questions left to be answered, we still don't really know for sure. My European Voice colleague, head of commerce Kenny Day, and I frantically tried to check in with our former co-workers at Roll Call newspaper in Washington, whose offices are only a few hundred metres from the US Capitol. With phone lines down and Internet connections clogged, communication was difficult and frustrating.

Echoing the feelings of many Americans in Brussels, Gregg Svingen, a consultant at APCO Europe, said: "I'm just devastated. I'm losing it left and right, walking around clutching the Herald Tribune bawling my eyes out."

At NATO headquarters, most of the 10,000 employees had been evacuated but several remained in the complex, huddled around TV screens.

Meanwhile, Brussels was taking no chances. As a centre not just of a large number of US government and business offices, but also of international political institutions, the city was on alert for possible attacks. There were several false alarms, including rumours that two renegade jets were headed for NATO.

Police responded to a bomb scare outside a Jewish community centre in St. Gilles, where, according to Le Soir, they arrested a "non-European" man carrying a suspicious looking package with protruding wires in the front seat of his car. It turned out to be a CD player packed in foam. Barricades and razor-wire encircled the US embassy on Boulevard du Regent yesterday, but the compound was occupied by employees and officials - contrary to reports on Tuesday that it had been completely evacuated. In fact, sources said yesterday that essential personnel remained on duty on Tuesday until the normal close of business. "We're staffed today," said one US official yesterday. "We've got our basic personnel here."

But Belgian and US authorities cleared the area around the embassy buildings as a security precaution. This involved diverting traffic from a section of the heavily travelled petite ceinture or 'little ring' around the city centre during the Tuesday evening rush hour. Likewise, the motorways around NATO and Zaventem were a virtual parking lot.

In the American enclave of Waterloo, police patrolled St. John's School, which has hundreds of children of expatriates, and kept a vigilant eye on a business park that is home to several US firms.

Political and social events across town were cancelled in the wake of the tragedy. Richard Morningstar, who leaves his post as US ambassador to the EU next week, called off his own farewell party, set for tonight (13 Sept) at his official residence.

Other parties with little or no connection to the US, including a reception at the Slovakian embassy and a charity fund-raiser hosted by Commissioner Neil Kinnock, also were cancelled. No one was in the mood.

The outpouring of support for the US from Europeans was unadulterated, from the highest levels to the person on the street. The EU's Big Four on their way back from a meeting in Yalta - Belgian premier Guy Verhofstadt and Foreign Minister Louis Michel, Commission President Romano Prodi and foreign policy chief Javier Solana - made a dramatic statement condemning the actions and expressing solidarity with the US. Belgium's King Albert II yesterday afternoon received the US ambassador to Belgium, Stephen Brauer, to express his country's condolences.

After yesterday's meeting of EU foreign ministers, Morningstar said Americans had been "deeply touched by the many condolences we have received from our European friends".

On a more personal level, Americans living here say they have heard from countless Europeans over the past two days offering sympathy and support. People hoping to connect in some way.

Said one Swede, "I am grateful to have American friends here in Europe and hope that you feel welcome here, will stick around, and stay in touch."

There have been times over the last several months when being an American in Europe meant listening to criticism - sometimes justified, sometimes not - about US politics or policy or consumerism or alleged unilateralism. This has all been forgotten.

After a year living in Belgium as a 'foreigner', feeling quite at home but naturally a little out of place, these tragic events have given me a new outlook.

This wasn't just an attack on America. It was an attack on humanity, on the world. When everyone is so connected, the word 'expatriate' doesn't seem to apply any more.

Report of the reaction of Americans living in Brussels to the events of 11 September 2001.