9/11 Attack

Introduction

September 11 or simply the 9/11 is one of the most horrific and inhuman kinds of an attack to ever be performed in the American history. These attacks were coordinated and executed by the Islamic terrorist groups mainly the al-Qaeda in the early morning of September 2001. In this attack, there were more than 2,500 people who lost their lives and many others left with major injuries (Keniston and Jeanne, p65). This attack involved four aircrafts which departed from the Eastern part of United States destined for western part of the city, California, were practically taken over by terrorist. The first two aircraft specifically the United Airlines Flight 175 and the American Airline crashed into the south and north tower of the building which belonged to the world trade center respectively in the New York (Hall and Andrew, p860). After less than two hours both towers collapsed with the debris causing a serious fire which also leads to the collapse of the immediate buildings to the towers.

Within less than 2hours, another aircraft crashed into a building in Virginia and this impact lead to the collapse of the building. A fourth and final aircraft which had been focused towards Washington, D.C crashed into a military perimeter wall causing an explosion and the death of all the passengers onboard (Keniston and Jeanne, p87). Wall Street, United States, and Canada civilian airspace were closed until 13th September 2001.

How the 9/11 attacks affect American security policies

The 9/11 attack seriously changed the security policies in the United States forever. In the American history, there has never been any aggression at the borders of the country except during the attack on Pearl Harbor. The United States rose from the sleep on the 9/11 attack in 2001 to see and experience one of the well planned terrorist acts carried out on the American soil (Hall and Andrew, p856). The act was live and broadcasted on national television for the world to see. The security agents who were involved in inspecting the terrorist at the airport could never detect their intentions as they all looked like they were nothing but innocent travelers since they never carried any bombs or guns with them. After the attack, the United States assigned federal soldiers in all the airports and also improved the security system at the airports. Today there are many terrorists who have tried to gain access and do harm on innocent people by bombing the airplanes, on trains and public transport through explosives injected into their bodies or fitted on the bodies with no luck (Ciuk, p410). American security has secured their borders and even gone an extra mile of securing other parts of the world through flashing out any suspected terrorist groups.

Homeland security which was enacted after the 9/11 attack has taken chances through inflicting security measures on the daily aspects of an average citizen. Installation of metal detectors on every entrance space for the high schools and colleges has been a move by the government to have a tight security (Keniston and Jeanne, p45). Security agents have now been boarding every airliner without detection and they are highly trained mercenaries to act in case an incident similar to that of 2001 will ever happen. Globally there are troops who are crossing borders to look for any unknown enemies who do not reside in particular places but stay briefly to commit murder or a terrorist act. Homeland security act was developed in November 2002 as a strong force which combined more than 20 federal agencies in the United States to bring up a force that would act independently in case of danger or a threat on the American soil. All the agencies together were provided with the power to act in and amongst them as a single entity in ensuring that the security is up and that every civilian is safe at all times (Holland and Ty, p270). Surveillance of every moment and the activities every common citizen was doing now became the government’s daily job as stipulated in the United States Patriotic Act. There were no longer any private conversations in the United States as an aim to ensure that the security agents are alerted in case of any suspicious activities (Woodward, p35). Records in the library, applications in colleges, ethnic origin of every person, colors favorite to every person are analyzed and recorded and in case there is a suspicious behavior the security is alerted and immediately acted upon. 

Today there are terrorist gangs which are willing to give up their lives and kill people as an act of suicide bombing. This is a serious issue which is affecting the United States and the world in general. The United States has enhanced the security measures by requiring the passengers to arrive at least 2 hours prior to boarding an aircraft (Cameron, p9). Cockpit doors have been hardened and there are thousands of security personnel who are always in the air to ensure that the air is safe. At the inspection point, passengers are required to remove their shoes, belts, jackets, empty the pockets and even screen their bodies.

How 9/11 impacted U.S. foreign policy

The foreign policies in the United States changed in an open way immediately after the attack of September 2001. After Bush assumed office in the beginning of 2001 the major foreign policy initiative was to have a missile shield over Europe (Woodward, p24). The main idea behind such acts was to ensure that the United States was safe when North Korea and Iran launched any missile. In the same month of September, the president changed the focus of the speech that was directed to making certain policies known to the world. Nations use the preemptive method to ensure that the enemy and his actions are very eminent. After the United States did an invasion of Iraq in 2003, the policy was broadened in order to give room for the preventive warfare (Woodward, p56). Saddam Hussein who was the leader in Iraq was now accused of being the supplier of weapons to the terrorist and therefore the reason as to why the United States attacked Iraq. This attack was done in order to prevent Iraq from ever funding or assisting the terrorist groups accordingly. Humanitarian assistance in the United States has now transformed into the subject of foreign policies demands and in most cases has militarized their efforts. Nongovernmental organizations which are working under the USAID have provided a worldwide aid without the consent of the United States foreign aid (Cameron, p12). The government requires that the NGOs should also follow the anti-terrorism policies in order to reduce the chances of terrorist groups hiding under the NGOs.

How 9/11 impact American views of Islam

After the horrific attack, the Americans changed their perception towards the Muslim Americans and viewing all of them as a terrorist in their midst. There has been an increased discrimination towards the Muslims, Arabs, Middle Eastern persons mainly from the Americans and other cultures as they see them as threats to their lives. Racism in America and especially to the Muslims has increased over time and hostility has dominated amongst the communities (Khan, p580). Despite the actions done against the Muslim Americans, there are a number of efforts which have been carried out to ensure that they are safe and viewed as fellow members of the community. In Europe and the United Kingdom, there has been an increased level of hatred and discrimination with many people opting to dismiss or suck any Muslim American person working at any organization in those countries.

Discrimination against the Muslims has increased worldwide with not only after the attack but also before the attack where some countries have determined the Muslims as the main causes of violence. This kind of hatred towards the Muslim community can now be determined as the main cause of the Islam being viewed mostly by the media as a threat to the survivability of human race (Khan and Kathryn, p70). In America, there are two types of Muslims, the Muslim religion and Muslim people as recognized by many in the communities especially the Americans. In order to have a difference between the two and in a way try to avoid being prejudiced in expressing dislike, they use an abstract of an idea to discriminate both the religion and the people. Physical abuse and also verbal terms have been focused on the Muslim community causing a lot of mayhem to the Muslims be it in school or on the streets of the cities. In 2010, there was an event where an American pastor planned for the burning of the Quran book which is the bible used by the Muslims (Khan, p580). This display shows how far the Muslim community is disregarded and hated in America. In a country like Norway, there has been a series of events where the Muslims have been killed innocently in a bid to stop any Muslim invasion in the country.

Conclusion

9/11 is one of the saddest memories that still ring in the minds of Americans and the general world. Attackers were mostly from the Islamic religion who came from Saudi Arabia and others who came from the Arabic nations in the Middle East (Ciuk, p413). The attack that claimed at least 3,000 lives in 2001 and over 250,000 more than a decade and a half later was funded by an Islamic terrorist group, al-Qaeda lead by a fugitive from Saudi Osama bin Laden. The al-Qaeda claimed to have done such an attack since America had involved itself in the Persian Gulf war and supported Israel in the event. Some of the attackers had been in America for over a year and even attended commercial flights lessons as a way to sharpen their skills on flying an airplane (Woodward, p56). All the four attacks caused a serious damage to the American people and the economy in the world. After the attack, the perception of Americans towards the Muslims changed drastically. Many Muslims were discriminated and also killed in some parts. Other parts of the world joined America in the fight against terrorism and in the year 2011, a decade later, the leader of the al-Qaeda group was killed in Pakistan following years of manhunt through a military action.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works cited

Cameron, Robin. "Introduction." Subjects of Security. Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2013. 1-12.

Holland, Jack, and Ty Solomon. "Affect is what states make of it: articulating everyday experiences of 9/11." Critical Studies on Security 2.3 (2014): 262-277.

Keniston, Ann, and Jeanne Follansbee Quinn, eds. Literature After 9/11. Vol. 1. Routledge, 2013.

Khan, Mussarat, and Kathryn Ecklund. "Attitudes Toward Muslim Americans Post-9/11." Journal of Muslim Mental Health 7.1 (2013).

Woodward, Peter. US foreign policy and the Horn of Africa. Routledge, 2016.

Ciuk, David J. "Americans’ value preferences pre‐and post‐9/11." Social Science Quarterly 97.2 (2016): 407-417.

Hall, Todd H., and Andrew AG Ross. "Affective politics after 9/11." International Organization 69.4 (2015): 847-879.

Khan, Saera R. "Post 9/11: The impact of stigma for Muslim Americans." Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology 20.4 (2014): 580.