Very few of the comments made by writers in the wake of September 11 now bear re-reading. Vargas Llosa's short piece, written only 20 days later, is a remarkably perspicacious contribution, pointing out that "the greatest damage... will be the erosion of the culture of freedom in the democratic countries themselves". Vargas Llosa saw at once that the "war against terror" would be used to restrict freedoms; something which most people have only slowly come to realise.