Category: 9/11

Before September 11th, 2001, America was bringing about reforms concerning economic and cultural strength with the new advances in technology like phones and computers. However, it all changed that fateful day as one plane was hijacked and was forcibly flown into one of the Twin Towers, as another plane in the same situation followed shortly thereafter. With this incident, it drove the entire country into a panic and even the president acted quickly to declare war on Osama Bin Laden, a known terrorist, and terrorism (Pal, 2005). Going on with this act, the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security and other departments within the government was established. But this did bring about problems as there were new sanctions put on Muslims and those from Muslim centered countries with airport security and policing as well. Some setbacks that came around were Muslims were racially targeted and many racist tips were made for anyone who even resembled a Muslim, whether they were one (Ahmad, 2004). There were many wrong moves made by all forms of police and security, as it drove the wedge between from Muslims and other ethnicities like Hispanics and Indians from their respected countries as they were fighting against the immigration policies that challenged their presence in countries like United States of America, Canada, and Australia.

As previously said, Muslims became the centralized target for racial profiling after the attack on the Twin Towers. Immigration laws and sanctions were changed significantly, and an increase of deportations came into effect as well. In a study made by Mishra and Lokaneeta (2012), they observed that many of the immigration policies created after the attacks were like those created during World War II with the Japanese after Pearl Harbor. Operational investigations and different initiatives that were enacted to correlate to the counterterrorism policies implemented after the initial attack and caused massive deputes as it was deemed unconstitutional and inhumane to those they detained. This shows the severity of these policies and how they were strict and harmful to those living in the states, whether they were on green card status or lived in the states for many years. This was unfair to sentence a whole group of one ethnicity for something that they were not involved in at all. The fear that radical Muslims with a terrorist mentality was still in the states and that they were growing the terror within the “home” of the States induced widespread fear and targeting of Muslims especially those who came to the country with visas and other documentation (pg 10). With this targeting by the police and others within their community, it made it hard for Muslims to get what they needed in terms of resources in the workplace and resources taking care of their families as most visas were for families rather than individuals in terms of the immigration process before 9/11. After the attack, a program called the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System (NSEERS) was created in order to corner though deemed suspicious at port of entry and interrogate them with domestic or call-in registration as failure to comply with this program at all could removed their status of future visa or permanent residency within the country through the Immigration and Nationality Act (pg 11). NSEERS was disbanded very shortly after its arrival to the counterterrorism program however the government continued to formulate ways to target Muslims and prevent any extremist acts after 9/11 (pg 12).

Effects of immigration policy coming into the lives of Muslims were not just limited to America as many other countries adopted similar strict regulations after the attack out of fear that they were “next” considering Bin Laden’s plan was to instill fear not just in America but all across the world as well. In Canada, airport security became very tight and strict as many Americans and Muslims fled to Canada in order to gain safety and comfort away from the panicked mentality in the United States of America. In an article written by Mourtada (2004), he conducted an interview on Canadian Muslims and Arabs on how the effect of 9/11 has impacted them within the business world, specifically on two men named Omar Alghabra and Mohamed Elmasry. Alghabra found that his corporation supported and helped him achieve a waiver through the U.S. embassy to avoid discriminatory and mandated procedures on Muslims coming from Canada to the United States (pg 24). These procedures searched anyone with Muslim or Arab ethnicity and subjected to fingerprinting, interrogations, and photographing as if they were criminals for just being themselves. Luckily Alghabra had a supportive business that provided him accommodations in order to travel back and forth for work without further harassment by security at the airport both on his trip to the States and back, however, there are a large number of Canadian Muslims and Arabs that cannot get this kind of help as their corporations are heavily influenced by the racial profiling done by Americans to discriminate against their own workers who are of Muslim or Arab ethnicity. This correlates to another interview done by Martin on Canadian Muslims and their experience living in the country after the 9/11 attack. In this interview, Martin (2004) found that there was a massive debate over the Arar case that had many questionings Canadian citizenship and the policies the Canadian government has created in order to “protect” the country from any extremists’ acts. The Mahar Arar was a case of injustice deemed with the “extraordinary rendition” policy created with the Bush Administration as Ara sued the United States government over torture during his detaining at John F. Kennedy International Airport (pg 12). With this case, it caused a stir as Arar was from Syria, and his interrogation led to him being rendered back to Syria and being tortured in an underground cell for over 10 months, however, this case ruled to dismiss this lawsuit 7-4 as the Supreme Court ruled that they had no jurisdiction to hold the American officials that participated in the detainment because of foreign policy and secrecy concerns (pg 12). However, in 2015, the Canadian government that they were going to attempt to extradite one of the Syrian intelligence officers involved with the detainment of Arar in order to appease those displeased with the Supreme Court’s decision to dismiss Arar’s case (pg 12).

Another case that found discrimination and racial profiling were in Australia, as it was called the “Melbourne Case” researched by Kabir in June 2011. Kabir (2011) found that most Muslims immigrated to Australia for the economic benefit of a welcoming economy as well as the opportunity for a better life, however, politicians moved to outcast them after the 9/11 attack and caused such anger and outrage that it led to a riot at a popular beach. Compared to America and Canada, politicians forced Muslims and Arabs living in Australia to resort to violent means in order to retaliate with their outcast position, as the discrimination drove them to the riot and cause an uproar within the mainstream media at the time (pg 243). A bill called Australian Security Intelligence Organization Legislation Amendment Terrorism Bill allowed officers to arrest anyone of suspicion for interrogational purposes as the detainee could be held up to seven days with the legislation and can be brought back in with another warrant within the lobby of the building they suspect was held in (pg 244). This also affected the families of those suspected and detained as they were viewed as people who had information that could assist in prevented terrorist behavior and could be pulled in to be detained as well (pg 244). With reforms in mind, politicians drafted and enacted the Australian Anti-Terrorism Act in 2005, which gave officers the “Shoot to Kill” initiative as they were able to use lethal life in the situation of protecting the life of the officer or someone else (pg 244). An incident of specific “racial profiling” was when the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) with the Australian Federal Police raided 30 residential houses and workplaces that they had deemed as a threat after the 9/11 bombings (pg 245). The “Melbourne Case” was interviews of seven Australian Muslim youth and their opinions on how the Australian media covers incidents like Cornella beach riots and immigration policies directly correlating to Muslims and Arab Australians. Kabir’s findings were that despite these participants being at a young age, the Australian media has a large influence on them and how they are viewed by society with the tensions between Australians and Muslim/Arab Australians (pg 256).

Racial profiling has existed since the beginning of cops and has been used in various amounts to combat crime, however after the 9/11 attack and the declaration on the war against terrorism has enacted a lot of changes, not just in the states, but also in different countries as well. With America, it sparks massive amounts of immigration policy and laws that enacted violence and discrimination towards Muslims especially revolving racial profiling and their interactions with law enforcement (Ahmad 2004). In today’s time, over 60% of eligible voters said that there should be some form of profiling should be needed in order to thwart America’s enemies and ensure public safety and national security as the war on terrorism has forced America to use profiling as a way to combat the wave of extremist Muslims ready to throw their lives away for the sake of their faith (Reddick, 2004). These policies enacted to protect the national security of the citizens have questions what it means to be fully “American” and creating a situation where the rights of a minority should be taken away in order to protect the boundaries of the members of the country (Schildkraut, 2009). With research, racial profiling is shown to be more effective to profile more towards suspicious behavior over race, as it has worked to catch many terrorists before their extremist acts, and to ensure the public safety of the citizens of the USA (Pal 2005). However, programs like NSEERS and operational initiatives to induce counterterrorism policies has caused substantial damage to the mental state of Muslims and Arabs, as they grow weary and fearful of becoming a victim of racial profiling over a victim of a hate crime within the country (Mishra, Lokaneeta, 2012). In Canada, a different situation is happening as discrimination and profiling with Canadian companies against Muslims and Arabian Canadians makes it hard for them to go through airport security both to other countries and back to Canada with extra measures like fingerprinting and photographing each and every time (Mourtada, 2004). This discrimination has damaged the relationship between Muslims and the business world as the influence of these immigration policies have made it hard for those to sustain themselves and be able to deal with all the pressure from their company and others around them (pg 25). Also in Canada, cases like Arar’s case and many others have extreme trouble being able to get past the discrimination and detainment required of security in order to preserve their faith and be able to live in the country without feeling like the are separate from the Canadian population (Martin, 2004). Lastly with the Australian Anti-Terrorism Act of 2005 and the Australian Security Intelligence Organization Legislation Amendment Bill have, made it hard for those suspected of being involved with terrorist activity/behavior as their families could be detained as well for their interaction and the possibility of lethal force used against them makes it hard to get out of the system designed to trapped individuals like them by politicians and the media (Kabir 2011).

References

1. Ahmad, M. I. (2004). A Rage Shared By Law: Post-September 11 Racial Violence as Crimes of Passion. California Law Review, 92(5), 1259–1330.
2. Kabir, N. (2011). A Study of Australian Muslim Youth Identity: The Melbourne Case. Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, 31(2), 243–258
3. Martin, A. (2004). “For the Worse.” Maclean’s, 117(9), 41–42.
4. Mishra, S., & Lokaneeta, J. (2012). Subjects of “Suspicion”: Racial Profiling of Muslims, South Asians, and Arabs in the Post-9/11 U.S. Conference Papers — American Political Science Association, 1–39.
5. Mourtada, R. (2004). A climate of fear. Canadian Business, 77(7), 24–25.
6. Pal, K. S. (2005). Racial Profiling as a Preemptive Security Measure After September 11: Suggested Framework for Analysis. Harvard Kennedy School Review, 6, 119–129.
7. Reddick, S. R. (2004). Point: The Case for Profiling. International Social Science Review, 79(3/4), 154–156.
8. Schildkraut, D. J. (2009). The Dynamics of Public Opinion on Ethnic Profiling After 9/11: Results From a Survey Experiment. American Behavioral Scientist, 53(1), 61–79.

Forever Impacted

The attacks on September 11, 2001 has impacted American culture and ideals forever. Four commercial airplanes hijacked by Muslim radicalists from a terrorist group known as al- Qaeda two of which crashed into the world trade center. Another plane crashing into an open field from passengers trying to subdue the hijackers. The fourth crashing into the pentagon. Leaving a footprint, every year on this day American’s pay their respect to those who have fallen in this tragedy with a moment of silence. The event snowballed into a much greater impact and a controversial invasion of Iraq and later led to a “war on terror” symbolised by Guantanamo Bay and the justification of torture. This is all complemented with discriminatory backlash, since the attacks Arabs, Muslims, and South-Asian Americans have been victims of threats, vandalism, arson, and murder in the United States.

The American culture has a reputation for pointing fingers wrongfully, repeating history. Take World War 2 for example, after the attacks on Pearl Harbor the United States created concentration camps to incarcerate nearly 120,000 Japanese Americans. Camps may not have been built after 9/11 but fingers were pointed to innocent civilians that fit the middle eastern ethnic group who became victims of physical, verbal, and mental violence. Anyone that looked middle eastern were publicly humiliated and felt as if they caused the terror attacks. Constantly being harassed by others shouting racial comments and threats to them. If that wasn’t enough, it has even gone further to murders. But, this was all just the beginning and the first steps that began to mold the American culture after 9/11.

After the attacks on 9/11 the Arab communities have witnessed backlash like no other. According to Shyrock and Howell, “The Arab community of Detroit had finally entered the cultural mainstream producing U.S. senators, union bosses, and captains of industry is likely to be dismissed today as wishful thinking.” (67) Before the attacks of 9/11 Detroit was viewed as “the capital of Arab America” but that image has changed since, Detroit was home to nearly 200,000 Arab Americans. Shryock and Howell continued to say, “After 9/11 non-Arabs began to use terms like ‘you people’ when talking to Arab neighbors, relatives, and friends.” (67) Changes began to happen to those in their own community. The aftermath of 9/11 led Arab Americans having been accused time and again, to apologize for acts they did not commit, to condemn acts they never condoned, and to openly profess loyalties that, for most U.S. citizens are merely assumed.

The invasion in Iraq which began the War on Terror is quite a controversial one. Some urging for it in order to get revenge, while others disagree who seem to have a bit more knowledge than others. Sunaina interviews Farida, an Arab American women who commented on the rationale for the U.S. war on Afghanistan as retribution for the attacks on 9/11 in which she claims, “9/11 was horrible, but do two wrongs make a right? I didn’t think that they really needed to randomly bomb civlians and I thought it was so stupid that they’d send care packages right after bombing [Afghanistan]!” (166) By Farida’s statement it is made clear that the U.S. has split the American culture into two, those who want war and revenge and those who just want justice. This brings up the culture of humanitarianism as well, killing innocent civilians and apologizing with care packages for survivors doesn’t seem to sit well with most.

The war in Afghanistan is the longest war in U.S. history and is currently going on today. This war has shaped American culture tremendously, doing whatever it takes to defend their liberties. According to Godges, “Americans will defend their liberties, they are ferocious when angered and keen to rise up when thrown on the defensive. And despite the instances of prisoner abuse and torture that have sullied America’s honor since 9/11, the American people remain determined to behave virtuously: No cities were leveled after 9/11.” (8) American culture has been affected by this but can sometimes be overlooked, the U.S. has soiled its name by allowing torture in their prisions. The most infamous incidents being from Guantanamo Bay where inmates that were already punished and due to serve time were being further tortured in countless ways. Till this day the U.S. denies any allegations of torture simply due to the fact that it is banned in the U.S. and internationally.

According to Goges, “The impact on American policy was correspondingly dramatic and long lasting. The immediate impulse was to identify and make pay those who were responsible for the assault.” (15) This ultimately led the U.S. to torture those who seemed to raise suspicion. Although in the U.S. it is not considered torture but instead “enhanced interrogation techniques” or “enhanced interrogation” which is just a euphemism for cruel and inhumane torture. Inmates or citizens detained by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) or the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) were subjected to enhanced interrogation. The methods of enhanced interrogation included beating, binding in contorted stress positions, hooding, subjection to deafening noise, sleep deprivation, starvation, waterboarding, and so much more. That was just a scratch off the surface as well. The most controversial form of enhanced interrogation were threats to harm children and sexually abuse or harm their loved ones as well. Enhanced interrogation was banned on July 20, 2007, which is nearly six years after this all began. All the information has been floating around since the start but the American culture seemed to stay silent for an extended amount of time until fingers began pointing at the U.S. from the United Nations.

Suspicion kept rising and this led to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) being created which its sole purpose is to protect the territory of the United States from terrorist attacks and respond to natural disasters. The DHS would release statements such as ‘be vigilant, take notice of your surroundings, and report suspicious items or activities to local authorities immediately.’ This brings up the subject of surveillance, according to Sunaina, “Technologies to regulate ‘radical’ Muslim Americans and repress ‘extremist’ Muslim and Arab American youth and enemy subjects, within and outside the U.S, are used by the national and global security apparatus as part of an expanding culture of surveillance and securitization.” (194) Sunaina is trying to express that Muslims and Arab Americans are being targeted and labeled as “radicals” or “extremeists” who are constantly under monitorization. Innocent civilians who appear to be middle eastern are now victims of injustice and unfair treatment from their own government.

Surveillance has created a new culture for those growing up post 9/11, the government engaging in warrantless wiretapping, monitoring private texts and emails, and even monitoring purchases. Sunaina had interviewed a former student named Laila who had attended an Islamic school in Fremont, which received threats after 9/11 and where most faculty were middle eastern. During the interview Laila recalled discussing the war in Iraq during class, “The teacher yelled at us and said, ‘Don’t discuss it! Especially in school because it’s not safe.’… Like, they really prevented us from discussing it. I don’t know if this is true but we’ve made jokes that it’s because our mosque was taped.” (197) This proves the effect the event has caused on American culture by drowning out the voices of those who were affected by it. Afraid from speaking on territory which is supposed to be considered safe. It seemed to grim to be true so it was overlooked with a jokeful manner.

There have been many horrific incidents in history, especially in American history, there have been many major events, such as civil wars, assassinations, and the raid of Pearl Harbor by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service during World War II times. However, in the day September 11th, 2001 an unprecedented devastation happened in American history, it also caused many changes that lead up to today’s society, the occurrence of the attacks by terrorists on September 11th, 2001 once again brought the United Stated to devastation facing an event it had never before experienced, over the course of the United States History, the country has engaged in several wars. Some of these wars were for independence, national preservation, and national defense. Other wars were far more dubious and obscure reasons such as stopping the spread of communism, “protecting America’s interests”, and the “war on terror”.

Throughout the history of the United States foreign affairs another pattern has emerged. the United States was on a peace era for quite some time, until the attacks of 9/11 struck. On September 11th, 2001, a series of attacks were committed. The September 11 attacks, also known as the 9/11 attacks, were a series of terrorist attacks, brought out by 19 militants, who were associated with the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda, terrorist acts are intended to instill fear in people and to frighten their government into damaging their policies. al-Qaeda a terrorist group who are probably still enemies of the United States are dangerous and very impulsive. These attacks were one of the deadliest terrorist attacks on American soil to this date.

The attacks were against New York City and Washington, D.C., all the deaths and destruction caused by the terrorist attacks triggered an enormous effort to combat terrorism, leading up to the launch of an international military campaign called “War on Terror”. Around 2,750 people were killed in New York City, Washington, DC and outside of Shanksville, Pennsylvania, more Americans were killed in the attacks than died at Pearl Harbor or on D-Day in World War II. In New York City nineteen men hijacked four fuel-loaded United States commercial airplanes bound for west coast destinations, which among them were American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, controlled by the terrorists who intentionally crashed into the north and south towers in New York City, at the Pentagon in Washington, 184 people were killed when hijacked American Flight 77 crashed into the building, near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, 40 passengers and crew members abroad United Airlines Flight 93 died when the plane crashed into a field. It is also believed that the hijackers crashed the plane in that location rather than their unknown target after their passengers and crew attempted to retake control of the flight deck.

The victim’s age ranged all the way from 2 to 85 years, approximately 75-80% of the victims were men. Those who perished during the initial attacks and the subsequent collapses of the towers, 343 were New York City firefighters, 23 were police officers and 37 were officers at the Port Authority. As of July 2018, 1,642 (around 60%) of around 2750 WTC (World Trade Center) victims remains have been positively identified according to the medical examiners. An estimated of $123 billion as economic loss due to the incident, $60 billion from the World Trade Center site damage, and $9.3 billion from insurance claims arising from the 9/11 attacks. On September 20, 2001, President Bush called for a War on Terror, He said, “Americans should not expect one battle but a lengthy campaign, unlike any other we have ever seen” (Amadeo, Kimberly). The department of homeland security was created in response to the September 11 attacks, it merged 22 governmental agencies into one, including the Customs Service the Immigrating and Naturalization Service, the United States Coast Guard and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (September 11 Terror Attacks Fast Facts).

The 9/11 attacks had both immediate and long-term economic impacts, the same which continue to this day. Timeline: September 11, 2001 – 8:46 a.m. ET – American Airlines Flight 11 (traveling from Boston to Los Angeles) strikes the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. – 9:03 a.m. ET – United Airlines Flight 175 (traveling from Boston to Los Angeles) strikes the south tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. – 9:37 a.m. ET – American Airlines Flight 77 (traveling from Dulles, Virginia, to Los Angeles) strikes the Pentagon Building in Washington. – 9:59 a.m. ET – South tower of WTC collapses in approximately 10 seconds. – 10:03 a.m. ET – United Airlines Flight 93 (traveling from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco) crashes in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. – 10:28 a.m. ET – North tower of WTC collapses. The time between the first attack and the collapse of both World Trade Center towers is 102 minutes. ( September 11 Terror Attacks Fast Facts)

The attack was orchestrated by al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and implemented by Mohammed Atta, who was originally studying at the University of Hamburg, Germany, and had obtained a master’s degree, he was chosen as the implementer of the attack because he had a linguistic base and was accustomed to the life of Americans. He and 18 other terrorists, most of whom were from Saudi Arabia, 15 of the 19 were citizens of Saudi Arabia, two were from the United Arab Emirates, one was from Egypt, and one was from Lebanon, they all established themselves in the United States, Mohammed Atta trained in Florida for more than a year, receiving plenty of commercial flight training. $500,000 was the estimated amount of money it cost to plan and execute the 9/11 attacks(September 11 Terror Attacks Fast Facts). The nineteen terrorists were divided into three groups of five, and a group of four, they entered the airport, through the securities, and onto the plane as normal passengers, they hijacked the planes and began their missions to launch the horrific attacks. All 19 hijackers died in the attacks. After the events of September 11, 2001, the United States had a unique dilemma. America was engaged in what would be called a “War on Terror”.

This new conflict was unlike any in American history. Previously, in the context of war, the United States had always fought a nation or group that had defined boundaries as to where they resided. This new conflict went away from these rules of the past. Terrorist groups were not bound to a region but were instead united by an ideal. September 11 marked the first time in which terrorism would rise to the forefront of the nation’s agenda. This emergent wave of conflict required a different strategy than those of the past because of the unorthodox nature of the opponent. One of the major innovations fostered by the “War on Terror” was the expansion of torture. The dramatic rise in terrorism sparked the unethical advancement of interrogation techniques in order to more effectively acquire information.

The emergence of the “War on Terror” required government officials acquire intelligence in a new way thus spawning the emergence of “enhanced interrogation” methods, however, the morality of these techniques would come into question as they were revealed to the public. Terrorism was a new threat, unlike the United States, had ever experienced. Hundreds of terrorist groups banded together with the common goal of destroying America which was a feat that previously had never been accomplished to that scale. Before the attacks, the U.S. Government’s National Security Agency were not really aware of the Terrorist movements, there were reports claiming “9/11 was shocking, but shouldn’t be a surprise, Islamist extremists had given plenty of warnings to attack and kill Americans.” (Kean, Thomas H. and Lee H. Hamilton.), the reason Middle Easter terrorists have targeted Americans can be traced back to events early in the twentieth century, American support at Israel also angered many in the Middle East (The War on Terrorism). On March 21, 2003, President Bush sent troops into Iraq, President Bush also launched the war in Afghanistan to find and bring to justice Osama bin Laden (Amadeo, Kimberly). Congress appropriated $36.7 billion in funding for the war in Iraq in its first year (Amadeo, Kimberly), only a few months after the 9/11 attacks, American troops located Osama Bin Laden in the Tora Bora mountains of Afghanistan, close to the Pakistani border, yet he was able to escape alive, President Bush announced that he wanted Osama bin Laden captured, dead, or alive-and an upwards of $25 million of a bounty (Peter L. Bergen), President Bush also asked Congress to pass legislation to help law enforcement agencies track down terrorist suspects.

The September 11 attacks were enormous tactical successes for al-Qaeda, the strikes were well-coordinated and hit multiple targets in the heart of their enemy, the attacks were also magnified by being broadcasted around the world to an audience of untold millions, family members and close friends of the victims were deeply hurt, leaving irremediable deep wounds for them and the people who had gone through the tragic event. Almost eighteen years ago George W Bush stood in front of Congress and declared a war on terror. Unlike World War II, the War on Terror never ended. ‘What would have happened if the 9/11 attacks never happened?’ The United States would remain militarily isolationist while supporting its allies, Iraq would remain uninvaded. Without the thoughts and fears caused by 9/11, there would be no War on Terror for President Bush to use as support when wanting the military to take action against Iraq. It will all be fine until around 2008, 2008 would be a great catastrophe to America even if 9/11 would not have happened. Even in a world without the 9/11attacks, the Great Recession or a situation similar happens anyway. The financial crisis affects everywhere on earth, including the Middle East. Saddam Hussein rules Iraq, Iraq is no longer the powerful military force it was in the early 90s, but Hussein is still a great enemy, like Iran or North Korea.

The economy still declines and protests and revolutions still breakout, a Civil war might explode in Iraq, Islamic extremism keeps on growing, due to an explosion of new extremist groups, Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda still exist in the 2000s, without 9/11 they still become a threat to the United States like North Korea. The United States might deal with terrorist operatives with new drone technology instead of military invasion. Without the 9/11 attack, a full-on invasion might be avoided. However terrorist attacks and failed states in the Middle East will still be dealt with by the United States. The only changes that happen are the amount of time it passes before everything explodes, and the problems the United States is dealing with currently also happens even if the 9/11 events don’t happen. The only reason why the 9/11 attacks are still so prominent in the minds of Americans today is that the attacks are seen as the start of the world that the United States is currently in, the reason people like to imagine a world without the 9/11 attacks is to think of a world that would have been better because the towers never fell. It’s cathartic to believe that if the United States had prevented the 9/11 attacks, the issues Americans face today wouldn’t have happened, but after much research and deep understanding of the case, it’s difficult to see it that way. Instead of the world being an exception because of dramatic terrorist attacks, the current world really was just something that it was going to happen anyway. If the 9/11 attacks never happened then the world would have about an extra decade of peace before the events being faced today occur, due to events that happened centuries ago, that was entirely out of people’s controls. The attacks and the reaction to them have shaped the United States policy for more than 15 years, learning a nation that is far more vigilant and jittery about terrorism. What’s more ominous? The fact that 9/11 caused the world that people live in now? Or an attack like 9/11 being Inevitable?

America was ‘founded’ in 1776 through the War of Independence against the British Empire. Since then the new world has known nothing but violence; from the elimination of the native Indian tribes to the onslaught of many military expeditions and wars. In this essay I will examine the fictional violence in Mark Twain’s, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court and the factual violence in the Narrative Life of Fredrick Douglas. By looking at these texts, I will argue that American authors can never disentangle themselves from America’s violent origin. By examining further texts such as the 9/11 [Naudet brothers, 2002] documentary, The Song of Hiawatha and Samuel Huntington’s treatise Who are We? The Challenges to America’s National Identity it is evident that American culture and identity intertwined with violence.

Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court follows the adventure of the protagonist Hank, whom travels back in time to Medieval Britain at the time of King Arthur’s rule. The novel is described as a satire of the British monarchy and the notion of chivalry. However, the novel also brings in to question American conceptions of capitalism and power through violence. Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court starts as a humorous satire yet ends with a deliberate scrutinization of autocratic power. The novel contrasts satirical humour to graphic violence, as Hank manipulates his way in to power with the knowledge from the 19th century. The character Hank tries to create the country is his own image by taking advantage of the lack of knowledge the Court has. The theme of slavery is evident throughout the novel, with Hank stating:

‘The most of King Arthur’s British nation were slaves, pure and simple, and bore that name, and wore the iron collar on their necks; and the rest were slaves in fact, but without the name. ’

When the novel was written slavery was outlawed, however but black people still faced significant prejudices in society. Under British rule, slavery had been legal in all 13 states and after the declaration of independence was continued in up to half of the states, until it was finally deemed illegal nationally in the 13th amendment. Twain, himself, hated slavery and through his writing, of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, he showcased the violence that came of the practice and subtly shows the reader how little progress has been made. By using the fantasy genre, he could escape the backlash from making an overly political novel. The novel supports the statement that American novelists cannot escape from the past of America. The impact of the violence of slavery on the foundations of America is significant and influenced Twain, to address the consequences the practice. Hank’s mission to create an equal state, without slavery, results ironically by capturing the king until he realizes slavery is wrong. However, the novels ending shows the clear clash between the medieval society and the modern society that Hank derives from. The Battle of the Sand-Belt alludes to the Civil war as Scott Dalrymple states:

The Battle of Sand- Belt as a parallel between Union and Confederacy: a clash between a chivalric, slave-owning, agrarian society and a modern, technologically advanced republic led by a general-president.’

The final battle is an onslaught of violence, with it being described as a ‘destruction of life’ (Twain, p.432). The novel address important parts of America’s violent history, questioning how far they have come since the country was founded. However, this is fictional representation of the American history and does not accurately portray the brutality of the country. By examining the Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, the reader is exposed to the first-hand consequences of the discrimination and enslavement of the African-American people.

The Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass was published in 1845, in the same year ‘Texas entered America as a slave state’ . Slavery was not abolished till 1865, however in the Declaration of Independence Thomas Jefferson states ‘that all men are created equal’. This was simply not the case as Thomas Jefferson enslaved over ‘600 humans during his lifetime’. The memoir was published and ‘within four months, five thousand copies were sold . In the memoir Douglass writes about his life born in to slavery and his eventual escape to North America as a freed slave. Douglass describes slavery as a brutality that turns humans in to animals as he says:

‘There were horses and men, cattle and women, pigs and children, all holding the same rank in the scale of being and were all subjected to the same narrow examination.’

During his enslavement he not only faces extreme violence from his owners through beating but his humanity is taken away from him. As he works on their plantations, he compares slavery to theft:

‘I earned it; it was paid to me; it was rightfully my own; yet, upon each returning Saturday night, I was compelled to deliver every cent of that money to Master Hugh […] because he had the power to compel me to give it up.’ (Douglas, p. 99.)

The memoir was one of the most influential texts and urged on the abolitionist movement. It had such an impact on America that it ‘led to the Emancipation Proclamation brought by President Abraham Lincoln’ . Before the memoir was published, people did not believe that African-Americans were capable of being educated, the memoir changed the way African-Americans were viewed. It had a lasting impact on the country, it challenged novels that told the past history of America. In The Song of Hiawatha, the novel’s ending is now viewed as highly controversial as the chief Hiawatha gives over his land to the white men. It completely ignores the massacre and enslavement of native Americans. Fredrick Douglass’s memoir gives an accurate representation of slavery, by doing this he stops novelists from being able to manipulate America history by casting slavery in a positive light, much like what had happened in previous years with destruction of the native Americans. Therefore, his narrative of his life changed the way novelist wrote about slavery in America. The violence that happened during slavery and after it was abolished is still being debated in modern day. The Confederation statues are a constant reminder of the enslavement of over ‘4.4 million enslaved blacks in 1860’, proving that African Americans still face prejudice to this day . In 2017, the book Why I Am No Longer Talking About Race, was published to raise consciousness of the many race issues that still effect the black community. America novelist cannot escape from the history of enslavement as it is sowed in to their culture.

America has struggled with its national identity since the Constitution was written, at the Philadelphia Convention. The first president George Washington held the convention to revise the current government. Instead, supported by James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, a new federal government was born. America has been described as a melting pot, with many different nationalities, cultures and religions, therefore it is difficult to describe what an American is. Samuel Huntington’s treatise Who Are We? The Challenges to America’s National Identity challenges American identity, as a young woman describes herself:

‘When I was 19, I moved to New York City….If you asked me to describe myself then, I would have told you I was a musician, a poet, an artist and, on a somewhat political level, a woman, a lesbian and a Jew. Being an American wouldn’t have made my list.’

The feeling of national identity was not evident until the attack on The World Trade Centre on 11th September 2001. The attacks finally created a unity in the country that had not been felt before. Other identities were put aside as the country embraced America as a student describes the drastic change of heart with his American identity:

‘On Sept. 11, all that changed. I realized that I had been taking the freedoms I have here for granted. Now I have an American flag on my backpack, I cheer at the fighter jets as they pass overhead, and I am calling myself a patriot’.(Huntington, p1.)

The documentary 9/11 was originally supposed to show the journey of a Probationary Firefighter, however while on duty managed to film the first plane hitting the tower. This documentary was televised on March 2nd, 2002 on CBS. From there the Naudet brothers filmed the experience of 9/11 along with the firefighters that were trying to save the towers and the people trapped inside. It also showed the horrific aftermath of the attacks, which shocked the country as the firefighters tried desperate to go through the debris and save people trapped underneath. It showed that nationalities and race did not matter and that a life was a life saved. It also created resentment and anger towards the people that had caused this devastation and united them behind a common foe. After the attacks, President George Bush, spoke to the people as a nation:

‘I ask you to uphold the values of America and remember why so many have come here. We are in a fight for our principles, and our first responsibility is to live by them.’

George Bush announced that America would fight for its principles, and the War on Terror began with American troops invading Afghanistan. Through war, America has found its nationality. It could be argued that the Nation’s identity has only flourished while by at war with other countries, rather than creating a national identity at home. In fact, ‘America Has Been at War 93% of the Time – 222 out of 239 Years – Since 1776’ . In literature the rise of war novels along with the creation of the 9/11 novels, such as the Falling Man by Don Delillo, have become increasingly popular. The second amendment in the America Constitution states that ‘the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed’, showing that violence has been written in to the identity of America . For authors, it is impossible to disentangle themselves from their origin that seems to promote violence when it is written in to the Constitution, that explains what it is to be American.

As this essay has demonstrated, the ‘American soul is hard, isolate, stoic and a killer’ which ‘has never yet melted’. From the beginning of the foundation of America, violence against its own people and abroad has flourished. The destruction of the native Americans is a symbol of their attitudes towards foreign communities. The manipulation of their history in The Song of Hiawatha simply degrades the act of violence further. In the novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court with the character Hank using violence to change the country to his image. The themes of slavery are also evident throughout the novel as Mark Twain furiously opposed the practice. Despite this the novel is fiction rather than fact and does not show the full extent of the prejudice the African-American community faced. The Narrative Life of Fredrick Douglass challenges the fictional depiction of slavery. The memoir tells the factual description of his life as a slave and how he became a free man. The memoir had a large impact on the country and played a part in the emancipation of slaves. Although even now, the black community still face racism in their country. It is difficult to pinpoint what being America is, rather than solving the problem at home however abroad conflict seems to be the only time when America is united. After the attacks on the world trade center George Bush announced the War on Terror, with public opinion supporting the campaign. Novelists in the United States of America cannot escape the nation’s history and culture of war and prejudice as it is what defines the country throughout history.

President George W. Bush’s Public Address to the Nation on the Terrorist Attacks on 9/11

Overview and Description of the Speech

After the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks in the U.S, President George W. Bush publicly addressed the nation regarding the facts surrounding the attacks. The speech was a short public televised address delivered the same day from the Oval Office, in the White House in Washington, D.C. The president was addressing the U.S citizens because more than two thousand people had lost their lives in the attack that is presumably the most significant terrorist attack that has ever occurred on American soil. George W. Bush had to make a speech because the attack would to some extent define his presidency as it occurred one year after he was elected as the U.S president.

Analysis

Historically, George W. Bush public speech followed a terror attack that happened on September 11, 2001 where al-Qaeda hijacked four airplanes and carried out suicide attacks against targets in America. As the president of the U.S by that time, George W. Bush had to respond by declaring that although terrorist attacks can shake the foundation of America’s biggest building, they cannot touch the country’s foundation. George W. Bush’s response to the September 11, 2001 terror attacks not only showcased his leadership but also highlighted his adept use of rhetoric to reassure the nation, emphasizing that while the physical structures may have been targeted, the indomitable spirit of America remains unshaken.

The major audience of George W. Bush’s speech was the American citizens and everybody who was in America, by assuring them of their security against terrorism. Moreover, the extremists themselves are also the audience to the president’s speech, as he was given a stun warning to fight tirelessly against them. In the speech, he says:

The search is underway for those who were behind these evil acts. I have directed the full resources of our intelligence and law enforcement communities to find those responsible and bring them to justice. We will make no distinction between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor them (Eidenmuller, 2017).

George W. Bush’s structure of the speech is simple and puts the audience, the occasion, and the speaker together. According to Brummett (2017), there are variety of strategies that a speaker can use to meet the need of the audience at the event, which can be summarized into three rhetorical appeals including pathos, logos and ethos. George W. Bush electively uses these appeals to achieve his persuasive goal through his choice of genre, the ability to create self and audience as well as the use of visual imagery animate the September 11, 2001 occasion. These speech strategies crafted his authority to dominate the public opinion and interpretation of the event. President Bush uses factual information almost to the point to sound disconnected and distant. He uses this austere body language and sober monotone tone to convey the magnitude of the tragedy and mark the pavement to the path to follow, but it reads almost detached. He speaks about sadness and anger, but the emotions seemed to be missing from his delivery. The ending of the speech reinforces this idea as President Bush uses a traditional generic ending associated with speeches given by members in office: “Thank you. Good night. And God bless America.”

Brummett (2017) defines metonymization as the use of lexical item to evoke the sense of something that is totally not connected to the particular lexical items used. Bush metonymize his speech on the terrorists attacks by making reference to each life lost during the 9/11 attack, and using that as an argument for action making subtle policy proposals.

Evaluation

President George W. Bush speech was in several perspectives functioning to change the opinion of the audience, in other ways it was coercive, some of his thoughts and actions were contrary to the American democratic norms. However, he ended the speech with a favorable policy to the U.S people and it was comforting, supported by his quotation of a Bible passage in the context of the event to ease the situation. In this way, the president’s purpose for the speech was achieved.

Conclusion

In the conclusion, President Bush’s speech on the terrorists attacks was done in a quick manner and the quick response, as I have learned from the speech, was all aimed to assure the security of Americans. At least the speech was moving because the president recognized the importance of those who were killed, he sympathized with them as a show of humanity. I have learned that the president wanted to support extant public sentiment mainly through his arguments.

References

1. Brummett, B. (2017). Rhetoric in popular culture (5th Ed,). Sage Publications.
2. Eidenmuller, M. E. (2017). George W. Bush: 9/11 Address to the Nation. Retrieved from https://americanrhetoric.com/speeches/gwbush911addresstothenation.htm

Baudrillard grapples with this in his theoretical writings. It is in this world that “images, signs, and codes engulf objective reality; signs become more real than reality and stand in for the world they erase” (Wilcox, 346- 47). This pseudo-world of simulacra and the perceived loss of the real in DeLillo’s novels obstruct his characters’ search for themselves.

DeLillo’s communication is a kind of haphazard game, and language is the playing field on which opposing forces clash–harmony and chaos, rules and play. The game of language depends on a balance with play—that is, with chaos, multiplicity, and disruption. Meaning in language doesn’t come from a one-to-one correspondence, but from a play of differences involving syntheses and referrals that preclude simple meaning; consequently, words do not reflect reality so much as they create it. But DeLillo focuses on language not only as mediation, the cause of our corruption but also as our only path back to innocence.

Language is a mystery, finally, because of its two natures, sacred and common. Like the self, language has dimensions that seem to transcend even while it remains a common, corruptible medium. In one sense, DeLillo’s novels seem to present a search for a language above corruption, above plurality, an Ur-language. But the logo-centric quest for a single truth, the original logos, leads only to deception and destruction. In truth, there is no Ur-language because of the nature of language, its dependence on a play of differences for meaning: like our apprehension of reality and of ourselves, meaning in language will always be a haphazard affair, elusive, slippery, uncertain. At the end of his search, Bucky Wunderlick knows that he will come back, though he doesn’t know what sound to make. DeLillo’s choice is apparent from his first novel, Americana, the ostensible autobiography of David Bell. The difference between Bell’s autobiography and DeLillo’s novel is that while Bell strives for objectivity and the appearance of autobiography, in the spirit of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Confessions, DeLillo emphasizes the inherent deception in language and in narrative form. DeLillo, like the hidden narrator in End Zone, takes it upon himself to ‘unbox the lexicon for all eyes to see’ (113). He cannot stand outside language, but he can emphasize rather than rely on language’s deceptions, he can point out the contradictions, the illusions, and the mediation. He cannot stand beyond the screen, but he can point there, to ‘that other world, unsyllabled, snow lifted in the wind, swirling up, massing within the lightless white day, falling toward the sky’ (Americana 189). He cannot solve the mysteries he confronts, but lie can use language to define, without reduction or disguise, the true wonder of the world—and of ourselves.

Don DeLillo’s Falling Man (2007) is a very popular and critical novel of the period. Although 9/11 is implicitly discussed, debated, and analyzed but still in subtle discourse and narrative became a very horrifying attempt in history that causes an extreme sense of fear and trauma. The Post-9/11 fictions cover the insidious spectrum of terrorism of the twenty-first century, as DeLillo’s Falling Man creates a narrative of trauma caused by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. DeLillo tries to historicize the terrorism and terrorist attacks through his novel Falling Man which intensively and extensively tries to depict the trauma and fear. The post-9/11 traumatic condition of the people has been portrayed through the protagonist of the

novel Keith Neudecker. DeLillo artistically symbolized the trauma of 9/11 through Richard Drew’s photo entitled ‘Falling Man’ which is still an image of a person falling down from the World Center Tower. The symbolic representation of the falling man reminds the attacks. The traumatic imagery of the falling man is applied to construct the narrative of post-9/11 trauma. DeLillo applies an orientalist approach to historicizing 9/11 and its trauma through avant-garde art in Falling Man. Joanne Faulkner, implicitly argues that the depiction of traumatic images helps to construct the narrative. In her study “The Innocence of Victimhood Versus the ‘Innocence of Becoming’: Nietzsche, 9/11, and the ‘Falling Man.”, Faulkner observes in her study that:

…images played a major role in enabling certain mainstream media groups in the United States to reconstruct a narrative concerning their particular place in the world and with respect to each other: a narrative about national character and identity, hope, fear, and desire. (67)

DeLillo’s Falling Man depicts the characters who are survivors of the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and who witnessed the attacks. Keith Neudecker is one of the survivors of the attacks. Lianne is the wife of Keith. The main story is interconnected to other stories that present global society. Globalization has reshaped the society of America as it is reflected in the American writings of the contemporary time. The novel includes characters from different parts of the world America, Arabs, and Europeans. DeLillo maintains the global theme of terrorism through which he has developed the narrative of trauma.

DeLillo’s Falling Man is a post-9/11 narrative that reflects the experiences of victims, full of trauma and fear. The novel does not only narrate the experience of 9/11 but also the post-9/11 condition of victims which also is painful and traumatic. The novel revisits and reminds the events that left a dark memory in Americans’ minds. It tries to depict the condition of the victims and American society of the post-9/11 period. The novel describes how the event has changed the life of American society. Although the event took place in 2001 DeLillo’s Falling Man shows how the historical events caused the social, political, personal, and psychological condition of American society. DeLillo uses his historical narrative of 9/11 through an imaginative victim of 9/11 who witnesses the attacks. Falling Man appears to be historical fiction of the twenty-first century that provides a narrative of trauma as developed in the victims who witnessed the terrorist attacks.

DeLillo’s Falling Man perpetuates 9/11 as the dividing lines of differences between the East and West. Moreover, Islam and the West, show only the traumatic condition one-sided to the West. The novel applies in tempting a wide spectrum of the West narrative of post-9/11 trauma and chaos in the global society, involving the orientalist approach of the narrative. The novel portrays the fall of the World Trade Center as the fall of America and American that caused mental trauma and fear among the Western people. Linda S. Kauffman critically argued in her study ‘World Trauma Center.’ She observes that:

…Falling Man, trauma makes time stand still; one arrested moment stands in metonymically for the whole horror. The title alludes to Richard Drew’s famous newspaper photograph of the man falling from the north tower, head first. The photo juxtaposes the World Trade Center’s vertical massiveness with the puniness of the figure plunging to his death. DeLillo’s title becomes a symbol of the post-9/11 human condition. Filled with dread of an impending doom that has been momentarily arrested. (Kauffman 652)

DeLillo also depicts Muslim characters in the novel. Amir and Hammad are assumed to be one of the terrorists who attacked the twin towers. He correlates Islam and terrorism in the novel as he develops his narrative of trauma caused by a Muslim hijacker and a terrorist who plotted the attacks. DeLillo constructs his narrative of terrorism through his oriental lances of looking at the East, Arabs, Islam, and Muslims. He develops his idea of terrorism in the novel through his prejudicially and biased religious, racial, the regional proliferation of identity.

While discussing the post 9/11 narrative, it revisits the place, events, and trauma.

DeLillo attempts to remind us not only of the horrible history of the fall of the Twin Towers or the falling man but also of the post-9/11 traumatic condition of the victims. The narrative of 9/11 not only provides the traumatic history but also the consequences of 9/11 which caused and affected the lives of others. Furthermore, he, intensively and extensively, dramatizes his narrative style to present the events to regenerate the fear, depicting Islam and Arabs as causes of the events. The narrative of 9/11 anticipates another subject of analysis stereotyping Islam, distortion of the facts, misrepresentation of Arabs, perpetuating the idea of terrorism and terrorism, propagating hate, and misguiding the truth. The orientalist prejudicially and purposefully maligns the image of Islam and the East, always trying to correlate terrorism and Islam. The continuous depiction of the falling man in media and literature also generates and intensifies Islamophobia and xenophobia across the globe. The existing tradition of the orientalist narrative of 9/11 dominates in Western media, art, and literature as Islam and the East are misrepresented through the West. DeLillo’s Falling Man uses different images of 9/11 as it is reported by the media. Falling Man presents the idea of terrorism that caused the trauma in American society as an American narrative.

Don DeLillo’s Falling Man tries to depict terrifying conditions through the characters of the novel. The protagonist of the novel has faced many issues and problems of trauma after 9/11. However, DeLillo does not include the non-white people as the study of Schuster has observed. Schuster argues in his study that out of five have the symptoms of traumatic stress reaction after the 9/11 attacks. In the novel, DeLillo also traces the symptoms of post-9/11 trauma that changed the lives of the people. DeLillo in Falling Man delineates the psychological condition of the American people full of trauma and fear that created through the haunted imagery of falling man. However, the protagonist is not a falling man but rather a survivor of 9/11 whose life has been changed after the attack as he states, “These are the days after. Everything now is measured by after” (DeLillo, Falling Man, 138). Moreover, it seems that DeLillo chooses the title of the novel to aggravate his narrative to develop a cultural memory through the novel.

Eleven-year-old Lucas Calley has loved taking part in soccer ever on the grounds that Dad’s friend Uncle Benny introduced him to the sport. Lucas’ dad and mom support their son’s athletic endeavors until he sustains concussions. When his mother and father researched the many deaths prompted by repeated concussions, they figured out Lucas had to quit the team. Lucas is upset, but he’s certain Uncle Benny can convince Mom and Dad to trade their minds. Lucas skips the faculty one day in September and takes the teacher to New York City to enlist Uncle Benny’s help.

Like Dad, Benny is a firefighter. After Dad used to be badly burned in a fire, Benny helped regarded after the family. Dad’s pores and skin nevertheless bear the scars from his injuries, however, Lucas is most worried about Dad’s emotional wounds. He and his father were once very close. Now, Dad looks distant, as if he’s caught in the past.

When Lucas arrives at Benny’s fire station in New York City, Benny is amazed to see him. To Lucas’ dismay, Benny concurs with Mom and Dad that Lucas should give up taking part in football earlier than it kills him. As they’re talking, Lucas and Benny see a jet flying a good deal too low. Moments later, it crashes into one of the World Trade Center towers.

Benny and his crew spring into action. Benny orders Lucas to wait at the heart station due to the fact Lucas’ dad is on the way with his firefighting team. Lucas tries to name his dad and mom while gazing at the smoke, dust, and chaos in the streets. When he can’t attain them, he tries to make himself beneficial by way of cleansing the firehouse kitchen. From an information report, he learns that the other tower of the World Trade Center has been hit as well. He tries to process the reporter’s suggestion that any individual may additionally have purposely crashed these planes as an assault on the United States.

Lucas walks through the smoky streets, which remind him of images he’s seen of World War II. Stunned, horrified humans are exiting buildings or being treated by means of clinical professionals. He heads for the area where the firefighters were supposed to meet and manages to locate Dad. He and Dad assist injured and stranded humans on the ground as the towers start to collapse. Lucas and Dad get out of the most important area of danger, and Lucas realizes that matters will by no means be the same.

A few months later, Lucas helps coach a soccer team of little kids. Two of the gamers lost their dads in the September eleven attacks. Even though Lucas no longer plays football, some of his old teammates have come to support him as a coach. Uncle Benny, still nursing accidents he sustained while rescuing victims, arrives to watch the game. Lucas still feels the ache of the matters he saw on September 11 however realizes that time will help him as soon as he once more has good days like this.

September 11th, 2001 (9/11), is a day that will long be remembered in small ways and in big ways. That morning, many families said goodbyes to their loved ones, not realizing it would be their last time together. On a larger scale, 9/11 will be remembered as an event that reshaped the mindset and perspectives of the entire nation, as it quickly launched a Global War on Terror, known as GWOT. The attacks that day included planes crashing into the Pentagon, the World Trade Center, and into a field in Pennsylvania, killing approximately 3,000 innocent people, almost all civilians (Engel, par. 1).

Not only was 9/11 a terrifying, tragic, and heartbreaking event for the nation, it would spark enormous social hostility against Arab and Muslim Americans, who quickly became subject to prejudices and racial hostility. This is due to the religious affiliation of the plane hijackers, most of whom were Saudi Arabians. Since that fateful day, the negative perceptions of many Americans against Arab and Muslim populations in America has resulted in racial profiling, hate crimes and violence.

Arab and Muslim Americans were collectively stigmatized in the US in the immediate aftermath of the attacks. This stigmatization was only strengthened by the numerous US wars fought in Muslim countries after 9/11, including in Afghanistan and Iraq, which quickly became military “quagmires” that persist today. In fact, after 9/11, negative connotations and racial profiling toward Arabs and Muslims escalated with the American government pursing the kind of policies in American Muslim communities that were reminiscent of the sorts of policies carried out against Japanese Americans during WWII, only not as severe.

In the weeks after 9/11, The Patriot Act was passed by Congress (USA Patriot Act 1). Attorney General Ashcroft began the enforcement of this law by ordering law enforcement agencies to perform random searches and interviews of over 5,000 Muslim men between the ages of 18 and 33. The list of suspect individuals was created exclusively on the basis of national origin and outward appearance. The government had no credible information that these men were involved in acts of treason or even in terrorist ideologies. Nonetheless, the operation proceeded (Sanctioned Bias 5). The lives of innocent men were disrupted as they were forcefully removed from their homes and places of work solely as a result of racial profiling and aggressive police-state tactics. This was a clear violation of human rights, as well as blatant religious discrimination. However, the mass of Americans believed that if a young man looked like the terrorists who committed the 9/11 attacks, then they must be affiliated with terrorism, and thus represented a dangerous, national threat.

Prior to 9/11, Arab and Muslim Americans faced scrutiny because of their cultural differences, particularly in relation to the appearance of Arab and Muslim men and women. For example, a Muslim-American girl who grew up in New Jersey was bullied and mocked at school for wearing her hijab. One of her classmates even referred to it as a “tablecloth (Obeidallah, par. 2).” This girl’s school community did not accept her because of her differing appearance, religious background and cultural beliefs. In another case, a Muslim boy wore a traditional male head covering, a kufi, to school. He was told the garment was a distraction because his classmates would be tempted to steal it and poke fun at him (Abdurraqib, par. 3). Thus, he felt pressured by society to remove the head piece to conform to American standards of “normalcy.” While both of these are small-scale examples of prejudice, they indicate how bias against Muslims played out in the real world in thousands of people’s lives. American tend to congratulate themselves on being accepting of all people regardless of race or religious affiliation. But these examples of the “outsider-insider culture” became common place after the 9/11 attacks, undermining the long-held belief in American social tolerance.

Ultimately, after 9/11, America’s hostile attitude toward its own Arab and Muslim American citizens intensified (Considine, par. 29). The different culture and customs of Arabs and Muslims brought unsolicited attention and harassment as the wars in Muslim countries dragged on and American soldiers began returning home injured and broken. Unfortunately, there was little that Muslim-immigrant communities could do to counteract these prejudices because their image to most Americans was forever altered due to the 9/11 attacks and the ongoing wars.

In Arab and Muslim culture, women wear the highly visible hijab to maintain their modesty and privacy. It represents “mystique, exoticism, eroticism, fantasy and excitement” (Jones 445). However, post 9/11, the hijab just made it easier to target them. Editor Amelia Jones states, “…the veil is viewed as an object of mystique, exoticism and eroticism and the veiled woman as an object of fantasy, excitement and desire is now replaced by the xenophobic, more specifically Islamophobic…” (Jones 445). The open hostility to women who wear the hijab is a good example of how 9/11 has shaped society’s views of these people in a negative way.

9/11 has not only influenced the increase of hate crimes and violence against Arab and Muslim Americans domestically, but also internationally. One example of this was seen in Islamberg, located in Upstate New York, when four men from Rochester planned to attack this Muslim community. They had assembled crude bombs made of mason-jar sized filled with black powder and nails. They had collected 23 guns among them (Gold, par. 5 and 16). The authorities were able to apprehend the culprits before they were able to carry out any serious acts of violence.

In addition, acts of hate and violence are being seen around the world, specifically in Christchurch, New Zealand. On March 15th, 2019, Brenton H. Tarrant, a white Australian man, open fired at two mosques killing 50 and injuring 40 people. Before the attacks, this man live streamed his written manifesto about anti-immigration and anti-Muslim on Facebook (Van Sant, par.1). This raises the question of contemporary media, particularly social media, in shaping the minds of the people who carry out violent acts. More acts of hate and violence are not going to change what happened on 9/11. Yet, the hostility and prejudice online seem to grow and amplify, much like the growing and expanding wars in Muslim and Arab countries, now including Libya and others, with consequences equally disastrous as the other wars. A case could be made that, on both small and large scales, we cannot stop ourselves from making a bad situation far worse.

This tendency to make things worse can be seen in the way that the 9/11 attacks, which were executed through airplane hijackings, has led to increased racial profiling at airports. Post 9/11, “…airlines have subjected such passengers to heightened security screening and denied them passage based solely on the belief that ethnicity or national origin increases passengers’ flight risk” (Chandrasekhart, par. 2). Racially profiling a passenger based on their ethnicity or national origin is a violation of civil liberties, as law enforcement is acting on suspicion without evidence of intent of wrongdoing or even probable cause. The government is supposed to keep the people safe and protect their rights, regardless of religious affiliation or cultural beliefs.

The people who died on 9/11 and their family members were only the initial victims of an act that has spiraled out into the nation and the world in waves of chaos and destruction. It’s important that we, as a society that cares about its vulnerable members, no matter what race or religion, not forget how the lives of Arab and Muslim Americans were changed forever. Whether we admit it or not, they continue to be subjected to religious discrimination, racial profiling, and violent attacks in their communities and religious settings. As citizens of America, we the people need to be more aware of our actions in our communities and our world. We need to avoid the impulsive prejudices against other races and religions, especially when these prejudices, which begin at home, spread out into wars all across the Middle East, resulting in epic suffering for everyone.

Works Cited

1. Abdurraqib, Hanif. “For Muslims In The US, There’s Before 9/11 And There’s After.” Buzzfeed News, Buzzfeed, 11 Sept. 2017, https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/hanifabdurraqib/before-911-muslims-were-a-curiosity-now-were-targets.
2. Chandrasekhart, Charu A. “Flying While Brown: Federal Civil Rights Remedies to Post-9/1 1 Airline Racial Profiling of South Asians.” Asian Law Journal, vol. 10, 2003, pp. 217.
3. Considine, Craig. “The Racialization of Islam in the United States: Islamophobia, Hate Crimes, and ‘Flying while Brown.’” Religions 8.9, Aug. 2017, pp. 9. Crossref, https://doi.org/10.3390/rel8090165.
4. Engel, Pamela, and Ellen Ioanes. “What Happened on 9/11, 18 Years Ago.” Business Insider, Insider, Inc., 10 Sept. 2019, https://www.businessinsider.com/what-happened-on-911-why-2016-9.
5. Gold, Michael. “4 Arrested and 23 Guns Seized in Plot Against Muslim Enclave in Upstate N.Y.” NYTimes, A.G. Sulzberger, 24 Jan. 2019, https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/22/nyregion/islamberg-attack-muslim-community.html.
6. Jones, Amelia, editor. The Feminism and Visual Culture Reader. Routledge, 2010.
7. Obeidallah, Dean. “This is Life for Muslim-Americans 18 Years After 9/11.” Daily Beast, IAC, 11 Sept. 2019, https://www.thedailybeast.com/this-is-life-for-muslim-americans-18-years-after-911?ref=scrollyears-after-911?ref=scroll.
8. Sanctioned Bias: Racial Profiling Since 9/11. American Civil Liberties Union, Feb. 2004.
9. The USA Patriot Act: Impact on the Arab and Muslim American Community. The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, 2004.
10. Van Sant, Shannon. “Accused Shooter in New Zealand Mosque Attacks Charged with Terrorism.” NPR, Core Publisher, 21 May 2019, https://www.npr.org/2019/05/21/725390449/accused-shooter-in-new-zealand-mosque-attacks-charged-with-terrorism

Summary

Contemporary terrorism is a transnational problem. Advanced, modern nation states now no longer engage in open combat with one another. Terrorism – whether it is the product of freestanding groups or of groups allied with particular states – reflects the rise of ‘asymmetrical warfare’. Terrorist acts therefore from part of a strategy reflecting war between two or more actors who have vastly different military capabilities.

The US has a state-of-the-art military capability: the 2007 US defence budget was some US $439,300,000 (which was larger than the 2005 military budgets of 168 nations combined). Yet on 11 September 2001, the US was attacked by 19 people armed with boxcutters who were able to hijack four aircraft. These attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon cost something in the region of US $450,000 to execute. you’ll be considering the impacts that modern terrorism has had on the foreign policy and defence strategies of major nation states, particularly the US, and further explore the role that non-state actors can have in contemporary international politics.

The Events of 11 September 2001

They were the most lethal terrorist attacks in history, taking the lives of 3000 American and international citizens and ultimately leading to changes in anti-terror approaches and operations in the U.S and around the globe. Before 9/11 occurred, the U.S was encountering a period of peace and economic boom. This fostered the illusion that International Relations were of no great significance in the wider arena. The American public and political classes were unconcerned with previous attacks on the World Trade Centre in 94, the attack on the USS Cole, and the attacks on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Attacks of 9/11 and the fall of the World Trade Centre’s marked the beginning of the real 21st century. 9/11 was not simply an act of terror but the most destructive single act of terror since World War 2.

The response of the US and its allies, notably the UK, but also Italy, Spain and others, was to launch a ‘war on terror’, which we will discuss in future sections. It also led to US-led interventions in Afghanistan in October 2001 to overthrow the Taliban regime, which had provided safe haven to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda, and in Iraq in March 2003 to overthrow Saddam Hussein.

9/11 is, for millions of people throughout the world, a rooted memory. Just as a generation can recall where they were and what they were doing when they heard of the assassination of President Kennedy on 22 November 1963, so we can quickly recall our own personal experience – how we felt and what we thought – as witnesses of 9/11. Few modern events have attracted such a global audience. This owes much to the immediacy of the attacks and their relevance to Western audiences. Also important was the fact that the events were visually reported by the news media in real time and, by being subsequently and endlessly replayed and dissected, were reinforced among audiences well beyond the US. first in terms of the US response to the attack and second in terms of the attack’s impact upon the larger international system – that lent the event such importance. Certainly, any two-hour attack that had the capacity to accelerate a peace process in one part of the world (Northern Ireland), undermine it almost completely in another (Israel), bring about important modifications to US relations with enemy and friend alike, and lead to one of the biggest US military buildups for over 20 years has to be regarded as being of more than just passing interest to students of international relations (IR).

Terrorism and its meaning

In this section, you will consider a number of definitions and discussions of terrorism, particularly relating to the international situation, post-9/11. The notion of terrorism can be problematic. It is often challenged and contested, something expressed in the aphorism (which for some is now largely a cliché) ‘One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.’ For instance, while it is widely acknowledged in the UK that the Provisional IRA was a terrorist movement, few would accept the then South African government’s characterisation of the African National Congress in similar terms. There is no commonly accepted ‘official’ definition of terrorism, something that reflects the fact that neither modern states nor groups designated as ‘terrorist’ apply the term to themselves.

Some people adhere to a broad definition of terrorism in which nation states, not just non-state actors, can themselves be guilty of terrorism. Left-wing critics often claim that Western policy makers use the term ‘terrorist’ simply to demonstrate – and to generate – hostility toward groups of which they disapprove. Others strongly reject this view, describing terrorism as ‘the use of violence against civilians by non-state actors to attain political goals’ (Kydd and Walter, 2006).

The term can also serve ‘an ideological function, for it implies crude extremism and indifference to human life’ (Freedman, 2007). It is thus used not only to classify and explain particular groups and individuals, but also to condemn and marginalise them.

The British government’s legal definition

Below is the British government’s legal definition of terrorism, applied by British courts, which is set out in Section 1 of the Terrorism Act 2000 (as amended by the Terrorism Act 2006, indicated by square bracket).

1. 1. In this Act ‘terrorism’ means the use or threat of action where–

• the action falls within subsection (2),
• the use or threat is designed to influence the government [or an international governmental organisation] or to intimidate the public or a section of the public, and
• the use or threat is made for the purpose of advancing a political, religious or ideological cause.

1. 2. Action falls within this subsection if it –

• involves serious violence against a person,
• involves serious damage to property,
• endangers a person’s life, other than that of the person committing the action,
• creates a serious risk to the health or safety of the public or a section of the public, or
• is designed seriously to interfere with or seriously to disrupt an electronic system.

US Responses

The international impacts of 9/11 are obvious, when seen from the vantage point of 2008. The United States has invoked the war power of the US constitution against terrorists. In an unprecedented action, American allies endorsed action on the basis of Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which provides that an attack on one member of the Alliance shall be treated as an attack on all. The US Congress, the British Parliament, and other governing bodies have passed various statutes aimed at making the prosecution and detection of terrorists easier. The United States has reorganised its bureaucracy and authorised vast new funding for fighting terrorism. Coalitions led by the US and the UK have invaded and conquered Iraq in a campaign to prevent the proliferation of WMD [weapons of mass destruction] (among other reasons) and the UN has sanctioned, for the first time, the invasion of a member state, Afghanistan, in order to suppress terrorism. Most of the senior leadership of al-Qaeda has been killed or detained. Nearly 3400 of its fighters are either dead or in prison. Two thirds of the persons known to intelligence agencies at the outset of this war have been sequestered”.

Al-Qaeda has continued to strike: indeed there has been a drumbeat of violence, and far from abating since the invasion of Iraq, it has picked up momentum. Since 9/11, al-Qaeda and its network of affiliates have carried out countless attacks. […] Al-Qaeda today is a sophisticated operation – with a sophisticated propaganda machine based in Pakistan, a secondary but independent base in Iraq, and an expanding reach in Europe. […] According to data released by the US Central Intelligence Agency in the spring of 2006, there were 11,111 terrorist incidents in 2005, in which more than 14,600 civilian non- combatants were killed. Figures in the [US] State Department’s annual report on terrorism disclosed a 400 percent increase compared with 2004.

Of course, terrorism is not a new phenomenon. Before 9/11, as Tony Judt of New York University observes:

No one who has lived in Spain, Italy, Germany, Turkey, Japan, the UK, or France, not to speak of more habitually violent lands, could have failed to notice the omnipresence of terrorists—using guns, bombs, chemicals, cars, trains, planes, and much else—over the course of the twentieth century and beyond. The only thing that has changed in recent years is the unleashing in September 2001 of homicidal terrorism within the United States. Even that was not wholly unprecedented: the means were new and the carnage unexampled, but terrorism on US soil was far from unknown over the course of the twentieth century.

Open and liberal modern societies, when attacked by terrorists, are sometimes tempted to respond in illiberal ways. This is why, as you’ll see later in the course, the UK has to debate carefully the trade off between the security needs of society and the civil liberties of individuals.

International Relation

Media and War: 9/11 and its Impacts……….. We can all remember, quite easily, where we were and what we were doing when we heard of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States. Most of us saw footage of the attacks and the destruction of the twin towers on television or online, either in real time on the day itself or on subsequent days. It’s widely recognised that the events of that terrible day, which saw some 3,000 people (mostly civilians) lose their lives, have had a considerable impact, not only in the United States, but throughout the world, and here in the United Kingdom. 9/11 can, in some respects, be seen as a pivotal event in helping shape the contemporary world in which we live. By exploring the varied geopolitical causes and consequences of 9/11, this course will provide a simple introduction to some of the cutting-edge issues in international politics. It will help you understand recent global events, make sense of the public policies 9/11 prompted, and help you be best placed to evaluate contemporary debates.

Throughout the course, you’ll encounter a number of readings drawn from a wide range of perspectives and reflecting the views of a variety of opinion formers, among them politicians, policy makers, commentators and academics.

Along with my colleague Paul Lewis, I’ve authored the first part of this course – sections two through to five – where you’ll examine the international consequences of 9/11. You’ll do this by considering the varied impacts of the terrorist threat posed by individuals and groups who claim Islamic legitimisation for their actions. You’ll also assess how Western governments, specifically the United States and the United Kingdom, have sought to respond to this threat.

Modern terrorism can be witnessed at work before and after 9/11 in countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt, Israel and Indonesia. Increasingly, this threat reflects the modern phenomenon of ‘asymmetrical warfare’ as is waged by non state and state-sponsored actors. As you will see, such trans-border terrorist violence constitutes a direct challenge to the authority of all states. But it particularly challenges the right of a ‘great power’ such as the United States, currently the dominant world power, to regulate the international use of violence. Now, perhaps more than ever before, every country is or can be affected by what goes on inside other states, particularly those we define as ‘failing’ or ‘rogue’ states, which may possess weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), and can be seen to pose a threat to their neighbours, their region and, quite possibly, the wider world.

In the wake of 9/11, then, the United States and many of its allies, foremost among them the United Kingdom, re-orientated their foreign and defence policies. This was an effort to counter the threats they felt they faced from such states and from non-state actors who could use weapons of mass destruction and other non-conventional means to attack them. This strategy was evidenced, in different forms, in the intervention in Afghanistan from October 2001 and in the war in Iraq from March 2003. In sections two through to five, then, you’ll examine the case the United States makes for its ‘war on terror’; consider the scholarly interpretations of the US’s policy that have been offered by a number of leading international relations academics; and explore the claims made by supporters and opponents of the US- led ‘war on terror’

The War on terror

The response of the US and its allies, notably the UK, but also Italy, Spain and others, was to launch a ‘war on terror’ we explore the argument that states may engage in military pre-emption to protect themselves as well as to prevent evil and secure order. This section also considers the changed military and diplomatic politics of the US in the light of 9/11 (evidenced, in different forms, in both Afghanistan and Iraq). It explores how democratic states now face threats not only from conventional nation-states but also from terrorists and ‘rogue states’ that would use weapons of mass destruction and other non-conventional means to attack them.

In this section, you will also explore the role played by US neoconservatives in re-orientating US foreign policy in the light of the perceived threat posed by Islamic terrorism. The section then concludes with a brief assessment of British foreign policy and some discussion of how it has been affected by events since 9/11

Al-Qaeda

Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, set out his organisation’s principal objectives in a 2002 broadcast.

Why should fear, killing, destruction, displacement, orphaning and widowing continue to be our lot, while security, stability and happiness be your lot [the West led by the US]? This is unfair. It is time that we get even. You will be killed just as you kill, and will be bombed just as you bomb. And expect more that will further distress you. The Islamic nation, thanks to God, has started to attack you at the hands of its beloved sons, who pledged to God to continue jihad, as long as they are alive, through words and weapons to establish right and expose falsehood. In conclusion, I ask God to help us champion His religion and continue jihad for His sake until we meet Him while He is satisfied with us. And He can do so. Praise be to Almighty God.

Al-Qaeda-inspired terrorism (and, more specifically, the terrorist threats posed by individuals and groups who associate themselves with – or are inspired by – the group) claims Islamic legitimisation for its actions. For President Bush, however:

Al Qaeda is to terror what the mafia is to crime. But its goal is not making money; its goal is remaking the world – and imposing its radical beliefs on people everywhere. The terrorists practice a fringe form of Islamic extremism that has been rejected by Muslim scholars and the vast majority of Muslim clerics – a fringe movement that perverts the peaceful teachings of Islam

Of course the descriptions we apply to terrorist groups can be culturally loaded and are often contested. Some suggest that we should describe terrorists as ‘militants’, not necessarily as ‘extremists’ or ‘fundamentalists’; others strongly disagree. Some suggest that the links terrorist groups claim with political Islam should be highlighted so as to better understand the problem; others argue that the links should be disregarded and that terrorist activity be characterised as ‘anti-Islamic’ activity. The choice of terminology is, of course, a choice for each citizen to make.

On September 11th, in 2001, one of the most heart-breaking terrorist attacks in America occurred, four coordinated terrorist attacks aimed for several U.S government buildings in New York City. The attacks were unexpected, as it was a normal day in the busy New York City. Many people were on their way to work, walking swiftly as one in NYC does. No one expected or was prepared for such loss and ruin, until it happened. The first plane hit the North Tower at approximately 8:46am, while the last plane hit its target- the Pentagon, around 9:37am. Through the devastating tragedies that occurred on September 11th, many important and necessary lessons were learned such as terrorism exists everywhere, and despite the hard times, we will band together and unite to stand strong.

It was 8:45 am on Tuesday, September 11th, a transition day between summer and fall. One New Yorker recalls the cool crisp air, and the perfect clear blue sky on his way to work, he came off the train to experience masses of people crowding the streets. He worked across the street from the World Trade Center and at first, he simply thought he was so late it was lunch time, until he looked up. He noticed the two holes up in the buildings right across from him, he still didn’t know what had happened until a nearby police officer told him. He couldn’t believe it. It looked as if paper was falling from the top floors of the building, but the sounds of when they hit the roads changed his mind. Bodies. Those were the bodies of people committing suicide because they thought their death would be quicker and less painful that way. Then, he knew that this wasn’t an accident (). This isn’t a rare story, many New Yorkers who experienced the attacks will tell you a similar one. One of the most important lessons learned from the 9/11 attacks, is that terrorism exists everywhere and in the least expected places. Before September 11th airports had minimal security features or safety precautions to prevent terrorist attacks. For example, the cockpits where pilots and co-pilots were located were not as secure. Generally, the doors separating the passengers and pilot were not locked and had easy access from passengers, this was also if the air craft had this feature. This contributed to how the terrorists gained control and hijacked the aircrafts. This is one of the features that changed in the wake of the aircraft hijacking on 9/11. “Sealing off the cockpit; since 9/11, pilots remain locked behind impregnable doors for the duration of the flight (with obvious exceptions for restroom breaks, but flight attendants are trained to protect the cockpit during those intervals)” (Peterson, Barbara. “How Airport Security Has Changed Since 9/11.” Condé Nast Traveler, Condé Nast Traveler, 5 Oct. 2016, www.cntraveler.com/story/how-airport-security-has-changed-since-september-11.). This is one of the most noticed features changed to airport security after 9/11, this is also a component of TSA.

Another example of how terrorism can’t be fully predicted and can be totally unexpected is the fact that some of terrorists applied for visas legally in the country and were accepted. “All of them entered the country legally on a temporary visa, mostly tourist visas with entry permits for six months” (“Identity and Immigration Status of 9/11 Terrorists.” Federation for American Immigration Reform, Jan. 2011, www.fairus.org/issue/national-security/identity-and-immigration-status-911-terrorists.). Only one applied and was accepted for the student visa. The rest applied for business or tourist visas. While some did get pilot and flight certified in the U.S., only the one who got accepted for the student visa was qualified to participate in this. By September 11th, three of the terrorist’s tourist visas had expired and therefore, were in the country illegally. Also, between the 19 terrorists involved, they had 63 driver’s license cards between them, from Florida, New Jersey, California, and Virginia. It would’ve been very hard to accurately predict the malicious intent of these terrorists. One of the terrorists involved in the crashes, Mohammed Atta, communicated with a more radical terrorist, Binalshibh, who helped plan the attacks, through a series of inconspicuous messages addressed to his girlfriend “Jenny”. An example of this is featured in a message written that they were almost done with training and ready to complete the mission. “The first semester commences in three weeks…Nineteen certificates for private education and four exams” (Bergen, Peter L. “September 11 Attacks.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 15 Nov. 2018, www.britannica.com/event/September-11-attacks.). This shows him telling Binalshibh, that there were 19 terrorists, and 4 targets. There was evidence and suspicion that some of the men were in the U.S. on orders from Osama bin Laden to attack important government buildings. Even though there were these rumors, they couldn’t be proved in time. The FBI also lacked probable cause to warrant the search of their laptops. Up until those rumors circulated a few months before the attacks, they passed as students or tourists in the country to learn. This was one of the reasons for the strengthening of airport security. More rigorous background checks and screenings became the regular process when traveling/immigrating to a new country.

For many, September 11th was one of the hardest days, but the day after was one of the greatest. An entire city banded together after the hardships it endured only a day earlier. In more ways than one, people united together despite the attacks on the September 11th. It wasn’t just in New York City either, this occurred all over. People lit candles in memory of those who were lost or missing. People of every color, creed, religion, race, sexual orientation, and political party united, at that point nothing else matter, you were an American, and that was enough. Many showed their patriotism, grief, and support in different ways than others. Some hung American flags from porches, car antennas, or even put a pin on their shirts. Lines to donate blood were sometimes a days-worth long. “Nearly 36,000 units of blood were donated to the New York Blood Center after the September 11 attacks” (Editors, History.com. “Reaction to 9/11.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 13 Aug. 2010, www.history.com/topics/21st-century/reaction-to-9-11.). This wasn’t just in New York City; the pain was felt everywhere. Across America and even internationally everyone felt unprecedented the expression of shock, horror, solidarity and sympathy for the victims and their families that were affected on 9/11. Citizens helped the most they possibly could during and after the attacks. They made heroic efforts to contribute for their city and stand strong united together. Everyday citizens put their lives on the line to save the lives of others. Their heroism isn’t forgotten, even today. Welles Crowther was a 24-year-old equites trader, he went into one of the burning towers to bring out as many people as he could. While directing many others out of the building, he carried an injured woman down 15 flights of stairs. Even after this he went back in to help, the structural safety of the building was compromised at this point and the building collapsed. His body was recovered next to the firefighters who were on their way up to rescue more people. He saved up to eighteen people that day and is labeled their hero. Stories like this aren’t uncommon, regular people all over the city showed heroism and patriotism for their city and community.

One of the four planes, flight 93, left from a Newark airport headed towards San Francisco California. The terrorists attempted to hijack this plane, and it’s thought that they were going to aim for the White House or another important government building in Washington D.C. They never made it there. This is because of the civilian heroism the passengers displayed on the plane. When it was realized what was happening, they attempted to enter the cockpit, but it was locked from the inside. Over three of the passengers on the plane attempted a counterattack. Then a vote was taken by the passengers, whether they would attempt to take the plane back or wait to die. They voted to fight back. “Worried that the passengers would soon break through to the cockpit, the hijackers made the decision to crash the plane before reaching their final destination.” (Editors, History.com. “Flight 93.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 9 Nov. 2010, www.history.com/topics/21st-century/flight-93.). The plane hit a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania going 580 miles per hour. Without the heroic efforts made by the passengers on flight 93, there could’ve been a lot more tragedy. This is just another example of civilians showing heroism and patriotism. There is also a memorial at the crash site dedicated to the passengers on the plane.

The effects of these two lessons are still felt today, some of the most important being, the increase in airport security, and memorials to remember what we have lost and evolved from. Uniting together against and despite terrorism is one of the reasons for this. If we would’ve had stricter, more restrictive airport security, 9/11 could’ve been prevented. Airport security has changed for the better, as it only benefits everyone to be safer. Some of the changes to airport security included TSA, which is the Transportation Security Administration, and the Patriot Act, but there were many more legislative acts passed as well. “We also tightened the rules of our country dramatically. Soon after, Congress introduced strict measures and initiated monitoring as a means of protection. Officials passed 48 pieces of legislation, created over 260 new government organizations and spent over $600 billion on homeland security from 2001 to 2011 (Gelfand, Michele. “After 9/11, Americans United. Today, Fake Threats Divide Us.” Time, Time, 11 Sept. 2018, time.com/5392451/september-11-tightness-immigration-fears/.).” These sentences from a TIME article published last year shows what great lengths that we went to feel “tightness” or closeness within the country. The terrorist attacks made us feel vulnerable as a country, and to feel the “closeness” again, people were willingly to give up a bit of personal freedom. The Patriot Act is a three hundred-page document which was passed by George Bush and Congress, just a few weeks after 9/11. It had many intentions and some of the actions of the legislation is controversial. The aim of the act was to “detect and deter terrorism” Some of the improvements the act intended to make include: “allowing law enforcement to use surveillance and wiretapping to investigate terror-related crimes, allowing federal agents to seek federal court permission to obtain bank records and business records to aid in national security terror investigations and prevent money laundering for terrorism financing, improving information and intelligence sharing between government agencies” (Editors, History.com. “Patriot Act.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 19 Dec. 2017, www.history.com/topics/21st-century/patriot-act.). Although providing a sense of security in the moment, the FBI can’t prove that the Patriot Act lead to the detection of any terrorist threats or possibilities. Another way airport security was strengthened was the establishment of TSA. TSA, or Transportation Security Administration was established November 19th, 2001, only a little over two months after the 9/11 attacks. Some of the things to be placed in airport security because of TSA is: hardened locked cockpit doors, one hundred percent screening, whether that be body, baggage or background, and more experienced, specialized workers. Besides these, TSA plays an important role in protecting the country from unexpected and unparalleled threats. Threats evolve along with the country, and alongside the protection must evolve as well. TSA may be a tedious bother while rushing to catch a flight, but its protection for the country is inherent.

Airport security isn’t the only thing that changed to help us realize the effects that terrorism has on a county. One way that we united together after the horrors of 9/11, was by commemorating and remembering the tragedy by making a beautiful memorial in honor of the victims. This tribute was to show that “closeness” as a city, country, and nation. The memorial features two big reflection pools where the twin towers used to stand. The edges of the pools feature the names of the victims etched into the bronze panels. “This is a powerful reminder of the largest loss of life resulting from a foreign attack on American soil and the greatest single loss of rescue personnel in American history” (“About the Memorial.” National September 11 Memorial & Museum, www.911memorial.org/about-memorial.). The memorial has a profound effect on visitors. Even as someone who wasn’t alive when the attacks occurred, when you visit the site, you can feel the loss and tragedy that happened. All the memorials have a similar effect. Another feature of the memorial is a Callery Pear tree. It was discovered at Ground Zero, or the wreckage of the World Trade Center site. This is also called The Pile. The tree was severely damaged, but endured the attacks, and thus being labeled the Survivors Tree. Today, the tree stands as a living reminder and symbol for rebirth, resilience, and survival. It’s deformed stump and trunk grew into smooth limbs, a reminder that something beautiful can grow from something so horrible. The memorials aren’t just limited to NYC though, many other states feature memorials dedicated to the remembrance of the attacks. For example, in Bayonne Harbor, New Jersey, there is a memorial called To Struggle Against the World Terrorism, is to honor the victims killed. The Pentagon also features a memorial. “The National 9/11 Pentagon Memorial has 184 illuminated benches made of stainless steel inlaid with granite, one bench for each innocent person who died on September 11, 2001 when terrorists hijacked American Airlines Flight 77 and crashed the plane into the Pentagon building” (Craven, Jackie. “How Have Architects Honored 9/11 Victims?” ThoughtCo, ThoughtCo, 2 Sept. 2018, www.thoughtco.com/september-11-memorials-architecture-remembrance-4065282.). The Pentagon was also targeted on the 9/11 attacks. These memorials all over the country show the unity and solidarity our country had.

While this is a more recent historical event, it still carries weight, and shows some of the important lessons that we had to learn as a country. The attacks that targeted four U.S. government buildings, on September 11th was one of the worst terrorist attacks in Americas history. Through the devastating tragedies, many important and necessary lessons were learned such as terrorism exists everywhere, and despite the hard times, we will band together and unite to stand strong. The attacks, like most other terrorist attacks were unexpected and very surprising. Many people couldn’t believe that their city was being targeted. The terrorists entered the country legally, which is a surprising factor about the attacks. Although the tragedy was deeply upsetting, many people bonded and united as a city, country, and nation. Some of the effects of the attacks include increased airport security and memorials in honor of the victims. TSA and the Patriot Act are results of better travel and airport protection. Memorials show tribute to the remembrance of that day. There are memorials located all over and many produce similar feelings to the one located at Ground Zero. September 11th was a tragedy, one that needs to be remembered. The lessons learned are important to us as a country, we are safer because of it. If you are ever in New York City, take the time to go visit the memorial and pay your respects, it’s important.