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.
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.
On September 11, 2001 a tragic event occurred changing the national security system, for ever. That day terrorists from the group Al-Qaeda attacked the United States of America. Two airplanes full of passengers crashed into the world trade center, one plane crashed into the pentagon, and another was purposely taken down by a group of courageous passengers who took over the plane from the hijackers, crashed that plane into an open field potentially saving the lives of thousands. The attacks obviously affected people, and families all over the United States but the attacks resulted in the revolution of the nation’s security. The 9/11 attacks revealed flaws in aviation security which required an assembly of an all new aviation security system, opened a new security department, and had many indirect effects.
That would have meant that fifteen thousand more men would have been taken away from their families. That is one of the many pros for the dropping of the atom bombs. This is one of the cons for the atomic bombing on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Because of the atom bombs being dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki millions of people were killed, and the radiation led illness, birth defects, and death. When the atom bombs were dropped most of the cities in the radius of the blast were leveled.
The continued threat of a terrorist attack has effected the citizen’s way they live everyday life. The aftermath of 9/11 has caused many citizens to become fearful. It also caused many to be more aware and cautioned of their surroundings to be prepare for any situation. But, it also caused many Americans to become very stereotypical and discriminate, which effected many citizens that are Muslim and Middle Eastern descent. The attack on the U.S also damage the economy and also changed many laws to protect the nation.
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. These and other terrorist attacks contribute, not unreasonably, to the Western perception that all Muslims are anti-American terrorists. Terrorist attacks receive enormous media attention, and most Americans base their views of Muslims on the stories they hear on the news. To be sure, most Westerners are unaware of Muslim customs and ideologies, except for what they learn from the media. It is important to acknowledge that not all Muslims are fundamentalists, and not all fundamentalists are terrorists.
After the 9/11 attacks America had the biggest impact on security, industry, and history, not only did the attacks have many effects on the residents that resided in New York but as well the airports. In the months and years after the attack racism and many other slurs became burrowed in peoples minds. The most immediate change was in Air Travel, Congress had federalized security by passing the ‘Aviation and Transportation Security Act’ also known as the TSA, by doing airport security had been revolutionized which had stricter and luggage screening for passengers, only those with tickets could board the plane as well go through security. New threats,were discovered and this only made security worse causing it to check shoes, and banning liquids. The planes themselves went through their own revolution fortified cockpits, and first-class cabin curtains were introduced, an upgrade in the pilot area had been a promotion to ‘Federal Flight Deck Officer’ which allowed them to carry a loaded gun as well act as a federal officer on the plane.A Sept. 11 fee was tacked to each passengers ticket with the TSA causing them to raise 15 billion over the period of 9 years.
The shooting was the reason for some original remonstrations; however there were other factors that sparked the nationwide protests, and the extreme violence which followed. There are many conflicting views and beliefs concerning who or what is to blame for the riots ranging from; social media platforms such as BBM (Blackberry Messenger) and Facebook [5], which encouraged people to revolt. Others justified their actions as a consequence of Government cuts and poor policing, which antagonised some of the more deprived communities throughout Britain. "If you're making massive cuts, there's always the potential for this sort of revolt against that"[7]. Alternatively others blamed opportunists taking advantage of the situation to loot for their own benefit, and cause mindless violence.
Terrorism has affected tourism in many countries which has an effect on various people from different parts of the world to interact socially. New protocols and security have been added in government buildings, post offices and airports for security. Some people resisted and complain about the inconveniences the security measures add but it is all for the greater good and safety of the people. There are also some sociological theories that can shed light on the ideas of terrorism such as the conflict theory. Terrorism – A Global Issue “Terrorism shares many qualities with military and paramilitary groups’ actions, as well as criminal organizations and activities, constituting what is often referred to as grey-area phenomena because terrorism’s multifaceted qualities permit it to fall between the cracks of hard-and-fast identification and definition” (Lentini, 2008, para.
Research has been done in many countries and the repeated conclusion is that the witnessing of violence and in movies and television shows leads to people being more violent. Violence all over the world are reported by newspapers, magazines, TV and radio stations, which aims at selling more copies or attracting more viewers and listeners. There are also some shows that “promote” violence. For example, the depiction of heroes as violent persons who fight against evil, which leads to people taking heroes as their idols. Seeing violence on the screen and then doing violent acts themselves have happened too many times in the world to be dismissed as a coincidence.