America’s Response toTerrorism after 9/11IntroductionIn this case studyI will be examining the disastrous event that accrued on September 11, 2001. I will explore theNational response after this disastrous event, and will specifically explorehow the United States of American responded after this event. Looking at the action plan that was put inplace to help prevent future terror attacks like this from happening in ourcountry again. I will also be looking at the nation’s reactions to this eventboth during and after, examining the ripple effect it placed on social prejudice,which can be seen in the actions taken by airlines and other agencies.
On September 11, 2001 hijackers who wentthrough airport security boarded four American planes and overpowered pilotsand passengers, to use these crafts as weapons. Although the almost one hundredthousand people below in New York City were not impacted, the first responderson the sense were also saving many lives during the collapse of the towers.After these attacks a global strategy was created to dismantle the Al Qaeda networkand created long-term action to conquer this hatred ideology of America thatcontributes to this Islamic terrorism. Some of the recommendations thatcame out of the reports on the response to terror, was to attack organizationsand any other organizations by preventing the growth of it’s of Islamicterrorism. Also, by defining the United States message in defending US idealsprotection against and preparation for terrorist attacks by reforming USHomeland security. This event is significant becauseit was one of the most tactics events of its time. It was almost a sort of wakeup call to the nation’s security that we need to pay more attention and gatherIntel that will be reviewed in a timely manner. Also, it showed the UnitedStates more about domestic terrorism.
Iwould like to explore the nation’s attitude on terrorism after this event andalso explore the stereotypes and prejudices brought about. It is important to see how the nation viewsits differences and also how the treat them. In media, legislation, and even airport security you can still see thenation’s fear of terrorism, and the prejudices against all Muslims can still beseen today. The attack TheSeptember 11th crisis took place under President Bush’s administration. With guidance fromhis advisors he was able to effectively respond to the crisis. During the daysthat followed the attack government agencies like the U.S. intelligence andsecurity sought to define the cause of this disaster and identifying theculprits and which organization they represented, Bush also had to look at thecountries they came from.
(Hart, P., TINDALL, K., & BROWN, C. 2009:483)Bush was very proactive in hisinvolvement in the deliberation on how the government would respond, he wouldlater announce a war on terrorism. (Hart, et al. 2009:481) Some think that theaction by the government creates a delusional fear of terrorism. Yes, terrorismis real but in the article by Muller (2012), he states that only a small amountof cases of terrorism against America have been examined but that small numberfeeds into the fear American’s have, butit doesn’t justify the trillions of dollars spent on this war. (Mueller, J.
,& Stewart, M. 2012: 83)Communication during this disasterwas key to the administration, Bush presented informed information to the mediabut did little else, the significant response from other levels of governmentsuch as Mayor Rudy Giuliani succeededwhere Bush failed, he was in charge for the immediate emergency response andrecovery operations for the city. (Hart, P. et al. 2009:485) Inthe article by Fenwick (2002) it details the legislation response afterSeptember 11th. They take alook at counter terrorism legislation to help protect democracy while fightingterrorism. The article takes a stance with the government, seeing that it iswithin the government’s rights to take extraordinary measures when it comes toterrorism.
It looks into the Human Rights Act 1998 and how it contended withthe government to give citizens powers, Terrorism Act 2000 and the Regulationof Investigatory Powers Act 2000 that came into legislation as a direct responseto counter terrorism. (2002:725) The creation of these Anti-Terrorism Actsseeks to create an effective legislature that would give the government justificationfor a range of measures to fight against terrorism, for example those who weresuspected of terrorism under an act the government would be allowed to ignore aperson’sThe s humans rights. (Fenwick, 2002:727) Thejust of this article breaks down the acts by what they are entered to do andthe legal rights they allow the government to act in the interest of nationalsecurity.Although9/11 does bring change to legislation and also allow those in power to useAmerican policy to their own agendas. (Cole, 2006:30) Articleby David Campbell (2001) he looks at howthe events of September 11 created an altered perception of time. Because thisevent was so traumatic for the American people, he goes on to explain thestruggle that society had to put a meaning behind why this event happened andthe consequences of this event on the public. With this one violent event thathappened in US history form policy what’s one of the first things that we havelooked at during this time.
UnitedStates government specifically President Bush stated that it was ‘our values’that were attacked, this shown in the media went on creating a hostileenvironment that everybody hates America and that is why they’re attacking.(Campbell 2001) Thisgoes on to show how media coverage overview influenced American citizens. Onestudy of adolescent adjustment to the terror attacks used survey to question both parental response andthe adolescent impacts. This article explains the study done on adolescentsafter the event of September 11th. The data collected from a web-based survey foradolescents asked questions to help assess the participants stress symptoms.Evaluating adolescent support given to them from parents and information andcoping advice received.
(Gil-Rivas,Virginia, et al. 2007) Looking at thesymptoms over seven months after 9/11, this study examination of theadolescents exposed to the attacks either through first hand accounts orthrough watching the events unfold on television we examined for stress andother PTS symptoms. (Gil-Rivas,Virginia, et al.
2007:1064) This survey shows thatnot only adults were affected by 9/11 but young people to and the tools thatwere given to the adults to help them means to assist in provide coping. ResponseTheresponse to this disastrous attack could have gone many different ways. Anincrease in driving and a decree in flying, people traveling were looking forother modes of transportation. This fear of flying for fear of terrorist andalso many people were deterred because of the new security measures for airtravelers. A chapter in the book The Long Shadow of 9/11,K.
Riley (2011) looks at the changes that happened with in the airport. Looking at TSA also known as transportationsecurity administration the airport started increasing physical awareness forair travelers. If you ever traveled after 9/11 you know that going through TSAis a tedious thing, national attention was put in airports to better examine travelers belongings and what passengersbrought on planes.
The first change was full body imaging scanners that wereput in the at the end of security lines, these stand both the body andtravelers baggage passenger security scans and screen while effective did notfind everything. (Riley, 2011:148) Creatinga system that would accomplish passenger risk management effectively thesubjected travelers coming into the United States to higher levels ofinspection. They also ended up creating a “trusted traveler program” thatprovided travelers a way to bypass the increased security screening. While thisis not foolproof it does screen the applicants very thoroughly with abackground checks, fingerprints and also an extensive traveler profile. (Riley,2011:155)After9/11 they added frisking as a primary method because attempted attackers wouldhide materials wonder person and that did not always show up on the scans. (Riley,2011:149) This response from the airport safety shows one of the biggest affectof 9/11, especially because the attacks of 9/11 came from the air so thebiggest response from corporations like the airport needed to make the safetyof passengers and priority and with that came stricter traveling rules andscreenings.
The aftermathThe ongoingoutcome of 9/11 is seen in many ways. In the chapter by Hoffman, B., & Kasupski, A the authorsaddress what changes came from the surviving family members of those involvedin 9/11.
The surviving family memberscreated groups that would push public policies to improve government’s responsesto terrorism and also in show Memorial for those that we’ve lost during thisterror attack. (Hoffman, B., & Kasupski, A. 2007:3) This chapter looks atthe many members of these groups that while diverse all have one thing incommon and the aftermath of this attack that they wanted some type of changethey wanted guidance and they wanted information.
This chapter really showsthat the family members voiced questions and concerns to government officialsthat wouldn’t have been addressed publicly had they not demanded answers. Thisallowed the public to be a part of political efforts that were taking place.Although change was ddefinitelybeing implements this chapter shows that thefamilies knew the importance of the media and with that public pressure onresults. (Hoffman, B., & Kasupski, A. 2007:6) The intelligence communitywas in need of some type of reform and reconstruction and with the familiespushing for answers the investigations came up with detailed reports onintelligence failures and accountability. (Hoffman, B.
, & Kasupski, A.2007:6) In this chapter it goes on a name many groups that are made up of thesurviving members of the victims of 9/11 but also they’re made up of citizenswho want to promote and participate in these activities to push legislationanswers and change in things like the airline industry. (Hoffman, B., , A.
2007:14) Assisting people in the form of financial relief fundsand also offering free services to help with members that we’re suing foranswers and accountability of this disastrous act. And the article by Juan Cole heprovides an informed opinion of the 9/11 attack. Cole (2006) Sees the attacksof 9/11 as a clash over policy, that was portrayed in the media as an attack onAmerican values when it was some more. While many thoughts that this attack was avictory for Al Qaeda it brought much attention to the organization that they weren’tanticipating, but although there was an internal struggle with leadership theywere able to capitalize on the Iraq war. (Cole, 2006:28) Another response to the attack wasa massive response to aid the victims of the attack. In the article by Saraswat, S.
, & Williams, C (2002) themedia and internet were extremely significant in providing information of theneed for disaster relief and the ppublic’sresponses was instant. This studyshows how online companies assisted in the contributions for relief. (Saraswat,S., & Williams, C. 2002:4) Many companies gave millions to aid in therelief effort, it was shown that it wasn’t just the company owners, employeecontributions were matched by many companies in additional to generalcontributions donated by the companies. (Saraswat, S., & Williams, C. 2002:7) Conclusion This war on terror with never trulyend, Cole (2006) explains how with the administration the focus merely shiftsfrom one group to another.
(Cole, 2006:30) After 9/11 the creation of theresponse commission that assessed crisis performance presented governments witha framework of a need for an effective disastrous response. This would later beexpanded upon after the damage done by Hurricane Katrina. (Hart, P,2009:489) The challenges that come afterdisastrous events are important to the configuration of effective response fromall levels of government. Having an effective outline of when otherlevels of government need to assist a community is key to saving lives.
With9/11 information was overlooked and mistakes were made that costs many peopletheir lives. Creating a policy that looks closer at all travelers coming infrom international flights and other countries is Memorials for those that were lostin this tragic event were put up in a variety of ways after the attack, theAmerican people truly came together. To create a memory for the World TradeCenter towers for the New York firefighters and for all victims of theSeptember 11 attack. (Hyman, 2007:183) In the article by Hyman, he showed thetensions among the people around New York City. While creating a collection ofwork that showed images of memorials and American pride he was not alwayswelcome.
Being an unknown person in some of the towns around the city people weregenerally suspicious, jumpy and not happy with a stranger taking pictures orbeing on their property. (Hyman, 2007:184) While American were showing pride by hanging up the flag or pictures,the tension many had for unknown persons grew along with it stereotypes againstother races. America has long been a meltingpot of cultures. In his search formemorial art, Hyman found artwork and murals that that depicted powerfulstatements of love and remembrance but also of identity.
While people did cometogether they also created a divide, fearing differences. We will continue tolearn from the attack and hopefully one day this war on terror will end.
