On a Tuesday morning Spetember 11, 2001, a tragedy struck the United States and it changed the course of history. World Trade Center Twin Towers and the Pentagon were targeted by hijacked aircraft, killing thousands, and initiating the death of almost a million in the name of the victims of 9/11. An act of terror was committed, regardless of whom the committer was. Such a horrendous act deserves a genuine unbiased investigation, which the United States government failed to provide. The 9 11 Commission report, set out to “prepare a full and complete account of the circumstances surrounding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks”, found out that 19 arab hijackers led by Osama Bin Laden breached the Unites States’ defense system, crashed into the twin towers and pentagon, and eventually resulted in structural failure of the Twin Towers leading to the collapse.
This paper will discuss domestic terrorism that has happened in the past, potential attacks that could happen today, and the tools and tactics that have been put in place to prevent domestic terrorism. New York has always been a target of attack for terrorists. It is the nation’s largest city and it has been the gateway for many immigrants throughout history. Not many people know of just how many terrorist attacks have happened on American soil. For example, there was the Oklahoma City bombing, the Unabomber, the Waco Siege, and, of course, 9/11.
It went down as an unforgettable day of infamy – the start of the war on terrorism began on September 11, 2001. Terrorists associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda hijacked four airliners and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States. As the incident occurred, it was televised; millions of Americans watched in horror as two hijacked planes crashed one after the other into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Immediately following the attacks, various theories surfaced and many people began to label the attacks as a delicately orchestrated conspiracy. One such theorist, David Ray Griffin, wrote an essay to show the facts behind his ideas: The Destruction of the World Trade Center:Why the Official Account Cannot Be True ( Griffin, 2005 ).
In this paper we will examine the impact of 9/11 on Americans and the U.S. economy and why the U.S. responded to the terrorism by enacting the USA Patriot act to “protect” America, which had become a big controversial issue to Americans. Another topic we will discuss is the negative effects of the Patriot Act such as violating Americans civil liberties and how the government stereotyped and secretly arrested Arab or Muslim citizens. The tragedy of 9/11 has impacted America in many ways and ever since then, America has made a lot of changes to prevent another tragedy, such as the national security which is tighter than it has ever been in recent years, especially in airports. According to Jennie Wood’s article, she mentions that the airport has way too many restrictions on what to bring in the plane for every traveler, such as, “Liquids and toiletries have to be a certain size and placed in clear, sealed bags. No food or bottled water is allowed through security.
Murray Federal Building October 19, 2012 The Murrah federal bombing was the most vicious attack on American land until the September 11, 2001 attacks. The bombing took place in downtown Oklahoma City in the spring of 1995. The bombing took 168 lives, which included children that were under the age of 6 and it injured more than 680 people in total. Due to the blast around 324 buildings were destroyed and 86 cars were burned. The bomb cost a near $650 million dollars worth of damage.
Islamic Fundamentalism In 1993, Islamic terrorists bombed the World Trade Center in New York City, killing 7 people and injuring more than 1,000. In 1995, 19 Americans were killed and 500 were injured when Islamic terrorists blew up American barracks in Saudi Arabia. Islamic terrorists bombed U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania simultaneously in 1998, killing 258 and wounding more than 5,000. Seventeen U.S. servicemen were killed when Islamic terrorists bombed the USS Cole at a Yemen port in 2000. In 2001, Islamic terrorists hijacked four U.S. airliners and crashed them into the World Trade Center towers, the Pentagon, and rural Pennsylvania, killing more than 3,000 people.
The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki killed millions of people, left families with nothing, and leveled cities. The war would have gone on for a couple more years if we had not dropped the bombs and sent troops to Japan instead. The atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was justified. This is one of the pros for the atomic bombing on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. One of the pros for dropping the atom bombs is that the Japanese would have not surrendered.
Visas. Muhammad Atta and Al-Shehhi were both major players in the Planes Operation in 9/11. November 5th, 1990 was the first terrorist attack on U.S. soil sponsored by Osama Bin Laden where ‘one crazy Arab killed one crazy Jew’. Egyptian American El Sayyid Nosair assassinated Zionist leader Rabbi Meir Kahane by shooting him in the throat twice. July 10th, 2001 field agent Ken Williams sends a memo to the FBI agency in Washington D.C. saying how he had found known terrorists were taking flight lessons in Arizona.
This identifies exactly how long the country has been dealing with such issues. However the public have become more aware of the growing threat of terrorism since the tragic September 11th disaster in America, 2001 and concerns are rising. Terrorism is defined by the European Union as being offences which “include international acts, by their nature and context, which may be seriously damaging to a country or to an international organisation, as defined under national law, where committed with the aim of; Seriously intimidating a population or, unduly compelling a government or international organisation to perform or to abstain from performing any act or, destabilising or destroying the fundamental political, constitutional, economic or social structures of a country or international organisation”. It can be argued 9/11 witnessed a new type of terrorism being unleashed on the world. The sheer scale of the attacks was unprecedented and provoked America’s ‘War on Terror’ in subsequent years.
The second Pearl Harbor, the day of infamy, the start of the War on Terrorism—all of these titles describe the unforgettable day of September 11, 2001. On this day, terrorist hijacked four planes, proceeded to destroy the World Trade Centers, and cripple the Pentagon. Or did they? Immediately following the horrible attacks, various theorists thought of outlandish conspiracies regarding 9/11, such as that the U.S. planted bombs to start the War on Terrorism. To some these conspiracies may seem believable; however, after analyzing them one realizes that there is more doubt than theorists relay.