"The Process of Creating a Ruin"

Editor's Note: Long before terrorist attacks destroyed the World Trade Center, Eric Darton, author of the 1999 book Divided We Stand (Basic Books), claims he had a premonition that there was "something really awful imminent" [see BW Online 10/1/01, "What the Twin Towers Stood For"]. In this excerpt from his book, Darton explores his fears. Remember, this was published two years ago, long before the towers were brought down but after the 1993 terrorist bombing in the parking lot under the complex. The following passages are from a chapter entitled "The Space Between":

Is it possible to imagine the World Trade Center as a ruin? In one sense, this would be very difficult, for even an enormous explosion failed to compromise the towers structurally. Moreover, the Port Authority found hundreds of millions of dollars to rebuild the bomb damage. And it mustered the administrative and public relations resources necessary to deal with a reversal that could have precipitated a wholesale flight by tenants and transformed the WTC into a symbol of terrorism ascendant.