Whistle Stop, it is surely beyond argument that the hijackings were criminal acts against a democracry. That's how the Brits always categorised the unrest in N Ireland - rightly refusing to go along with the IRA labelling it a war.

You may remember that this little matter of definitions became quite important for some people (notably the hunger strikers). If wrecking the towers was an act of war, then it wasn't criminal, and the perpetrators if caught would be POWs. Is that what you want?

Just a detail, but Boal is wrong if he thinks Blair writes his own speeches. Usually he does not. The cringe-making speech under discussion here was a notable exception.