9/11 and the effects on western civilization - Term Paper Example

?Running head: 9/11 AND THE EFFECTS ON WESTERN CIVILIZATION 9/11 and the effects in America and Western nations Insert Insert Grade Insert Tutor’s Name 29 March 2011 Outline Introduction 9/11 and the effects in America and Western nations Conclusion Works cited 9/11 and the effects on western civilization Introduction In the modern world, terrorists’ tactics and operations have largely been boosted by the free nature of societies. This free nature of societies is also attributed to lack of ability by a nation to foresee, prevent or even mitigate the aftermath of terrorists activities. Some of the recent attacks in western nations and America in particular are just but a few examples of terrorists’ infiltration on western nations and America. Western values are not only attacked in their home countries but also abroad in countries like the Middle East, Egypt, Iraq, and Japan. Terrorists employ different strategies that incorporate racism, religion, as well as ignorance to attain their objectives of diffusing any influences originating from outside their societies in their quest to oppress the free will and thought of their society. In recent times, the threat posed by terrorism on western civilization has acquired different foams, leave alone being invisible and attaining various hiding areas. The terrorists have a problem with the western ideals, as they perceive them as a threat to the supremacy they hold over their society, to their free will and to their terrorist operations. In this new century, firsthand experience has being attained by the threats issued by various terrorist groups (Sullivant 35). 9/11 and the effects in America and Western nations The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks as well as other worldwide attacks in modern times have constantly being used as a benchmark of a new period by government officials, as well as shareholders and enterprise executives. America’s efforts and strategies in protecting its independence and sovereignty commenced over six decades ago. These strategies comprised of economic, political, military, as well as cultural engagement. In undertaking these strategies, America has influenced various countries and people to follow suit in their path of individual freedom, democracy, and maintaining peace with their neighbors. However, not everyone in the world agrees with these efforts undertaken by America as some people are threaten by these efforts, which they term as western influence. These people resolve to use of terrorist strategies as on America and European nations as they find it difficult to confront these western nations on traditional battlegrounds. These tactics of terrorists involve taking full advantage of the freedom and liberty present in western nations to planting terrorist perpetrators in these countries for the sole reason of attacking the homeland, their interests abroad and their allies (Sullivant 35). The September 11 attacks had a huge impact in America that lead to a counter offensive by the American government. The war in Afghanistan and Iraq are some of the counter offensives that were used to indicate to the terrorists that America could not be targeted freely. The Muslim world had a completely different opinion on the war in Afghanistan and Iraq whose cause, according to America, was attributed to the terrorist attacks of September 11. According to the Muslim world, the war in Afghanistan is a reflection of a war against the Muslim world. In this case, this perception could lead to the rise in numbers of potential terrorists. This therefore raises the figure of the so-called martyrs who are ready to emulate the September 11 terrorists (Caraley 40). According to Caraley, the September 11 carried with it a ripple effect that was felt in various sectors of the economy and operations. The airports were closed down for days as security measures were enhanced, leading to increase in cost of air travel system. Moreover, the Federal Bureau investigation underwent curtailment as groups of agents were dispatched to counter terror operations (Caraley 41). According to Crockatt, the trauma attributed to September 11 terrorist attacks were mainly caused by the unforeseen nature of the attack. The aftermath effects were not only psychological but also material. One of the numerous natures of terrorism is that it often achieves as well as seeks an impact that is not proportion in comparison to its physical effects. This is often achieved by ensuring all rules of civilized behavior are broken. In response to these kinds of terrorism challenges, the rational move to make is to affirm the commitment to civilized values and civilization. In relation to America, the American leadership is to be felt in the fight against barbaric ways all in the aim of protecting civilization. The civilization effect took a drastic turn around and not restricted to the west when countries despite of their cultures joined the United States in the war against terrorism were considered civilized despite of their geographic location (Crockatt 22). McGoldrick indicates that the September 11 terrorist attacks were perceived as an indication of attacks against the West. In his reaction speech towards the terrorist attacks of September 11, President Bush indicated that the war on terrorism was a worldwide fight in achieving civilization. In addition to this, the president indicated that the war on terrorism was not only America’s fight but also a civilization fight (McGoldrick 11). The invasion of Iraq had captured the world’s attention despite lack of evidence linking Iraq to the September 11 attacks. The insinuation put across by the then British Prime Minister Tony Blair was that there was a great risk posed by nations like Iraq in developing weapons of mass destructions that would later be supplied to terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda. The invasion of Iraq is indicated as one of the aftermath effects of September 11 as the US president George W. Bush stated that from the lessons learnt in the terrorist attacks of September 11, America could not wait around to see what Iraq can do with weapons of mass destruction. In general, the psychology of America had been changed from the day the terrorist attacks of September 11 took place to the present day; the only difference is that it has not changed the psychology of the whole world altogether (McGoldrick 18). The war in Afghanistan according to the then American government was instigated by the effects of the September 11 attacks. According to Spielvogel, the hijackers who hijacked four planes used to perpetrate acts of terrorism were based in Afghanistan, led by their leader Osama bin Laden. The activities of the Al-Qaeda group enjoyed protection from the Taliban who were fundamentalist militants. The US President George W Bush pushed by the terrorist acts of September 11 vowed to wage war on terrorists groups responsible and any other terrorist groups that participated in the September 11 attacks. This hence initiated the war in Afghanistan. The American sources had the center role in this war as some of the Afghan forces that were opposed to the Taliban gave an assisting hand in ensuring the Taliban were pushed out of Kabul, which is the capital city (Spielvogel 1093). The attacks in terrorism acts have risen in the past decades and the difference is that these attacks have been extended into the US and European soils. This has also increased the fear of Islam being depicted as the main sole nemesis of the western civilization. The assertion made is that their culture and religion is attributed to violence. According to the daily headlines, deadly terrorists’ attacks have been caused by the US led invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan. Hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and tens of thousands of Afghans have in one way or another lost their lives from the US led invasion. This is contrary to the total number of terrorist activities linked to the Muslim community that stands at one percent. In the awake of these statistics, the numbers represent a different perspective of the Americans who are considered not less in resemblance to the Muslim terrorists. According to Dabashi, the civilization attributed by Americans is not genuine at all. This is because when the Iraqis are driven by the love of their country to take arms and prevent foreign invasion they are termed as terrorists but when the Americans assemble, their military power for the sole purpose of resulting to submission of the Iraqis it is termed as liberation (Dabashi 33). The US citizens have had to bare a huge burden of fear since the terrorist acts of September 11. The whole situation has never been an Islam versus the West situation as put by different people across the divide but rather an opposition that is politically manufactured (Dabashi 33). The September 11 terrorist attacks had a huge impact on the security measures and transformation at the American airports. The Aviation and Transportation security Act was signed into law as well as a new Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was established whose main aim was to offer protection to the America’s transportation system and maintain freedom of commerce and movement. The TSA incorporated thousands of federal personal whose work was focused on undertaking screening duties. The 9/11 attacks have placed the air travel under huge scrutiny than any other sector of American life. Tougher measures have been introduced in the screening procedures of the millions of traveling passengers as well as their luggage. This has led to the number of knives and guns intercepted at the airports to triple as strong x-ray machines are used to scan the luggage. The domestic security officials also incorporated the use of computers in recognition of foreign visitors who enter and leave America. Additional security measures were taken in 2006 when the domestic homeland security banned the carrying of liquids as well as gel in the carry-on luggage. The three main security operations introduced at the airports are; Access control, Profiling and Explosive detection (Dempsey 132). Conclusion The 9/11 terrorist attacks is one of the biggest terror attacks to have ever been witnessed in American soil since time in memorial. The attacks had huge effects in America as and in the rest of the world at large. The attacks were used by the US government as the basis of their invasion in Iraq and Afghanistan although critics argue that this was just a smoke screen by the Americans to fulfill their hidden agendas. The effects of these attacks were felt in the airport security systems in America and their policies in terms of civilization. Works Cited Caraley, Demetrios. September 11, terrorist attacks, and U.S. foreign policy. NY: The Academy of Political Science. 2002. Crockatt, Richard. After 9/11: cultural dimensions of American global power. NY: Routledge. 2007. Dabashi, Hamid. Islamic liberation theology: resisting the empire. NY: Routledge. 2008. Dempsey, John. Introduction to Private Security. CA: Thompson Wadsworth. 2008. McGoldrick, Dominic. From '9-11' to the 'Iraq War 2003': international law in an age of complexity. NE: Hart Publishing. 2004. Spielvogel, Jackson. Cengage Advantage Books: Western Civilization, Complete. MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. 2010. Sullivant, John. Strategies for protecting national critical infrastructure assets: a focus. NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2007. Read More