The war, however, is ongoing and has not been won. Critics point out that the Afghan conflict has contributed to the destabilization of neighbouring Pakistan and Afghanistan itself is far from at peace—Lord Ashdown, British diplomat and former international High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, has gone as far as to describe the country as "a failed state". The US government has also asserted that the US invasion of Iraq is connected to 9/11.
Because the attacks on the United States were judged to be within the parameters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO declared section 5 of the military alliance to be met, making the US war on terror the first time since its inception that NATO would actually participate in a "hot" war.
Security
The September 11 attacks also precipitated a focus on domestic security issues and the creation of a new cabinet-level federal agency, the Department of Homeland Security. The USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 was passed soon after the attacks, giving law enforcement agencies sweeping search and surveillance powers over US citizens. This led to the creation in 2002 of the Information Awareness Office (IAO), led by John Poindexter. The IAO has initiated a program called Total Information Awareness, amended in May 2003 to Terrorist Information Awareness (TIA), with the aim of developing technology that would enable it to collect and process massive amounts of information about every individual in the United States,and trace patterns of behavior that could help predict terrorist activities. The information the IAO would gather includes Internet activity, credit card purchase histories, airline ticket purchases, car rentals, medical records, educational transcripts, driver's licenses, utility bills, tax returns, and other available data. Critics of the IAO believe it goes too far in the sacrifice of civil liberties and privacy, putting in place an Orwellian infrastructure prone to abuse. Many major events the United States has hosted since September 11, 2001 have been designated National Special Security Events (NSSE), because of concerns of terrorism. Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia Chief Charles Ramsey made the point clear before the state funeral of former US president Ronald Reagan: "In a post 9/11 world we have to be very concerned about that and aware of the potential for something to happen."
In the immediate aftermath of the September 11 attacks, the United States and other countries around the world were placed on a high state of alert against potential follow-up attacks. Civilian air travel across the US and Canada was—for the first time ever—almost completely suspended for three days with numerous locations and events affected by closures, postponements, cancellations, and evacuations. Other countries imposed similar security restrictions. In the United Kingdom, for instance, civilian aircraft were forbidden to fly over London for several days after the attack.
Reactions to the September 11 attacks
The attacks had major worldwide political effects. Many other countries introduced tough anti-terrorism legislation and took action to cut off terrorist finances, including the freezing of bank accounts suspected of being used to fund terrorism. Law enforcement and intelligence agencies stepped up cooperation to arrest terrorist suspects and break up suspected terrorist cells around the world.
The attack prompted numerous memorials and services all over the world. In Berlin, 200,000 Germans marched to show their solidarity with America. The French newspaper of record, Le Monde, ran a front-page headline reading "Nous sommes tous Américains", or "We are all Americans". A national day of mourning was held in Ireland on Friday, September 14, the only country other than the US to do so. In London, the US national anthem was played at the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. (To mark the Queen's Golden Jubilee, New York City lit the Empire State Building in purple and gold, to say "thank you" for this action.) In the immediate aftermath, support for the United States' right to defend itself was expressed across the world, and by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1368. Australian Prime Minister John Howard was in Washington D.C at the time of the attacks and invoked the ANZUS treaty.
Reaction to the attacks in the Muslim world was mixed. Also, shortly after the attack, the media picked up on a number of celebrations of the attacks in the Middle East with images of these celebrations being broadcast on television and published in print. Less publicized were public displays of sympathy, including candlelight vigils in countries like Iran.
US public reaction
Following the September 11, 2001 attacks, George W. Bush's job approval rating soared to 86%. On September 20, 2001, the president spoke before the nation and a joint-session of Congress, regarding the events of that day, the intervening nine days of rescue and recovery efforts, and his intent in response to those events. In the speech, he characterized the speech itself as being akin to the President's customary State of the Union address.
The attacks also had immediate and overwhelming effects upon the United States population. People began rallying around the popularized phrase, "United We Stand," in hopes of being resilient and keeping the American spirit alive in the face of a devastating attack. Many people joined together to help the victims. Gratitude toward uniformed public-safety workers, and especially toward firefighters, was widely expressed in light of both the drama of the risks taken on the scene and the high death toll among the workers. Many people paid tribute to the police officers and fire fighters by wearing NYPD and FDNY hats. The number of casualties among the emergency service personnel was unprecedented. The highly visible role played by Rudy Giuliani, the Mayor of New York City, won him high praise nationally and in New York City. He was named Person of the Year by Time magazine for 2001, and at times had a higher profile in the US than President George W. Bush.
Blood donations saw a surge in the weeks after 9/11. According to a report by the Journal of the American Medical Association, "...the number of blood donations in the weeks after the September 11, 2001, attacks was markedly greater than in the corresponding weeks of 2000 (2.5 times greater in the first week after the attacks; 1.3–1.4 times greater in the second to fourth weeks after the attack)."
Two major public reactions to the attacks were a surge of public expressions of patriotism not seen since World War II, marked most often by displays of the American flag; and an unprecedented level of respect, sympathy, and admiration for New York City and New Yorkers as a group by Americans in other parts of the United States. Some criticized this particular reaction, noting that not everyone who died was from New York (for example, some of the passengers on the planes), and that the Arlington, Virginia community also suffered in the attacks. At the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show that took place in New York in February 2002, a tribute was paid to the search and rescue dogs who not only assisted in locating survivors and bodies from the rubble, but were also inside the World Trade Center buildings before they collapsed.
Backlash and hate crimes
In the weeks following the attacks, there was a surge in incidents of harassment and hate crimes against Middle Easterners and others thought to be "Middle Eastern-looking" people—particularly Sikhs, because Sikh males usually wear turbans, which are stereotypically associated with Muslims by many Westerners. Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh man, was one of the first victims of this backlash; he was shot dead on September 15 at the gas station he owned in Mesa, Arizona. In many cities there were reports of vandalism against mosques and other Islamic institutions, including some cases of arson.
In 2008, author Moustafa Bayoumi released the book How Does It Feel to Be a Problem?: Being Young and Arab in America. The author says mass arrests and deportations of Arabs and Arab Americans were conducted by the various government organizations, including the FBI, often with insufficient evidence to connect them to terrorism; that some were incarcerated indefinitely without notifying the detainee's relatives, as if they had just disappeared. Bayoumi maintains deportation of Arabs and Arab-Americans significantly increased following 9/11, oftentimes at short notice, saying in one case a man was deported without his clothes.
On July 20, 2011 Mark Stroman was executed for killing a Dallas store clerk during a shooting spree taken in revenge for the 9/11 attacks.
Park51
Park51 (originally named Cordoba House) is a planned 13-story Muslim community center to be located two blocks from the World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan. The majority of the center will be open to the general public and its proponents have said the center will promote interfaith dialogue. It will contain a Muslim prayer space that has controversially been referred to as the "Ground Zero mosque", though numerous commentators noted that it was neither a mosque nor at Ground Zero.
It would replace an existing 1850s Italianate-style building that was being used as a Burlington Coat Factory before it was damaged in the September 11 attacks. The proposed multi-faith aspects of the design include a 500-seat auditorium, theater, a performing arts center, a fitness center, a swimming pool, a basketball court, a childcare area, a bookstore, a culinary school, an art studio, a food court, and a memorial to the victims of the September 11 attacks. The prayer space for the Muslim community will accommodate 1,000–2,000 people.
9/11 related plots and attacks within the US
Thwarted attacks include:
A similar al-Qaeda plan to crash airplanes into the US Bank Tower (aka Library Tower) in Los Angeles and in other buildings elsewhere in the US as part of a 'second wave' of aircraft hijackings to be in the spring or summer of 2002
The 2003 plot by Iyman Faris to blow up the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City
The 2004 Financial buildings plot which targeted the International Monetary Fund and World Bank buildings in Washington, DC, the New York Stock Exchange and other financial institutions
The 2004 Columbus Shopping Mall Bombing Plot
The 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot which was to involve liquid explosives
The 2006 Sears Tower plot
The 2007 Fort Dix attack plot
The 2007 John F. Kennedy International Airport attack plot
The 2010 Times Square car bombing attempt
Successful attacks include:
The October 2002 sniper attacks in Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. Ten people were killed and three others were critically wounded in those shootings.
The June 1, 2009, Little Rock recruiting office shooting. One person was killed and another was wounded.
The November 5, 2009, Fort Hood shooting in Texas. 13 people were killed and 30 others were wounded.
All about September 11 Attacks
September 11 attacks
Aftermath of the September 11 attack
Airport security repercussions due to the September 11 attacks
Al-Qaeda
Able Danger
Aafia Siddiqui
Beliefs of Osama bin Laden
Blowback (intelligence)
Bin Laden family
Bojinka plot
Bosnian mujahideen
Bosnian War
Building what Facts
Building what
Casualties of the September 11 attacks
CIA-Osama bin Laden controversy
Childhood of Osama bin Laden
Closings and cancellations following the September 11 attacks
Compiled Footage of Building
Health effects arising from the September 11 attac
Hijackers in 9 11 attacks
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
Location of bin Laden
Militant activity bin Laden
Motives for 9 11 attacks
Osama bin Laden
9 11advance-knowledge debate
Planning of the September 11 attacks
Reactions to the September 11 attacks
Responsibility for 9 11 attacks
9 11 pollution controversy
Rescue and recovery 9 11 attacks
Timeline for the day of the September 11 attacks
U.S. military response during the September 11 attacks
1993 WTC bombing
No comments:
Post a Comment