 the United States, so he delivered his blow to the nation's psyche instead.  What better means than to turn its most common fantasies into horrifying life?  He was assisted in his aim by accident.  The towers had been designed to withstand airplane crashes.  Perhaps that's why, immediately after the attack, the authorities in New York failed to give timely warning that the towers might come down.  Yet they did come down, and when they did the emotional power of the catastrophe was magnified a hundred-fold.