Foreign Policy of the United States after 9/11 - Essay Example

Foreign Policy of the United States after 9/11 Background On the 11th of September, 2001 at 8:46 am in New York City, terrorists commandeered a commercial flight from Boston and crashed it into the north tower of the World Trade Centre. After about 15 minutes, a second plane from Boston crashed into the south tower (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2011). Both buildings erupted into flames. At 9:40 am, a third plane from Washington, D.C. would later strike the southwest side of the Pentagon (History, 2010). A fourth plane from New Jersey would also crash into the Pennsylvania countryside. One of the passengers was informed of the attacks through a cellular phone and he went on to overpower the terrorists aboard the plane (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2011). Just before 10 am in the morning, the south tower of the WTC collapsed; it was followed by the North Tower 30 minutes after. Other buildings in the vicinity of the towers were also damaged and would later collapse (New York Times, 2011). From these attacks, about 2750 people would perish, 184 from the Pentagon attack, 40 from the Pennsylvania crash, and the rest were WTC casualties (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2011). All of the 19 terrorists carrying out the attacks were killed. Four hundred police and fire fighters responding to the attacks also lost their lives that tragic day (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2011). The September 11 attacks would go down in the history of man as one of the most shocking and tragic attacks during what was largely considered peace time (as opposed to war time). The attacks faced widespread condemnation from most countries and most social, ethnic, and religious groups in the world. Muslim extremists and anti-American groups in the Middle East cheered on the actions of the terrorists. In the aftermath of the attacks, Osama bin Laden, through his Al-Qaida terrorist organization, took credit for the attacks. His group was considered a Muslim extremist group; they did not agree with the actions and ideologies of the US and their actions were rooted on the desire to inflict terror on the people and on the authorities governing the most powerful nation in the world. Based on the 9/11 attacks, this paper shall basically discuss the details of the attacks. It shall also discuss the response of the US immediately after the attacks; in other words, it shall discuss their War on Terror. As an essential part of this discussion, a background of the Middle East shall also be presented in the hope of establishing a comprehensive and a scholarly understanding of the subject matter. Discussion The 9/11 attacks were initiated by a group of Muslim extremists which are mostly based in the Middle East (Pelovangu, 2010). It is apt therefore to start this discussion by providing a background to the Middle East and the events and situation in the region which have led to the 9/11 attacks. A group of fanatical Islamists and extremists had originally designed to formulate a caliphate covering half of the world (Tristam, 2011). Their fervour was fuelled by one man’s charisma and leadership -- Osama bin Laden. However, their goals were not really based on the desires of changing and making the world a better place. But their actions nevertheless were slowly changing the world. Through his Al-Qaida organization, the group was prompted to carry out various attacks on shoestring budgets and nothing but the desire to fulfil their life’s mission (Tristam, 2011). Their attacks were however not carried out solely by the organization. The Al-Qaida group represented a small but influential strain in Islam Extremist movement which has been dominant in the Middle East and South Asia as a response to Western domination and globalist presumptions (Tristam, 2011). On one hand, Al-Qaida is the extreme expression of the conflict within Islam itself – not so much the conflict between Islam and the West; and an expression of the progressive reform and oppressive conservatism which has been controlled and stifled by Muslim societies and Muslims philosophies. This controlled and diminished progress within the sect was an ideal launching off point for Al-Qaida which was very much opposed to reform and the white and Western teachings which set out to overthrow corrupt Arab and Islamic practices in the Middle East (Tristam, 2011). The Middle East is considered to be a region rich in oil. The politics and issues stemming from the region have mostly revolved around oil (Askari, 2006, p. 7). With the major energy reserves which help support western economics, the involvement in the Middle East has always been an important element for various superpowers and world leaders, including the US, Britain, Soviet Union, and France (Shah, 2010). Before the discovery of oil in the region, the region has already seen many wars and conflicts over land and rich resources. The decline of the Ottoman Empire saw the rise of European Imperialist which was more interested in conquering and controlling different areas of Asia (Berberoglu, 1999, p. 7). In contemporary times, foreign interest in the region has mostly been credited to the oil reserves in the area. Due to this interest, Western nations have been fashioned to the propaganda and the vilification of the Arab region and the people of the Middle East, and consequently, Islam in general (Shah, 2010). Western nations stereotyped the Middle East and the Arab world as an Islamic region as well. Islam was also negatively portrayed for its backward ideas. As a result of negative stereotyping, justifications for foreign involvement in the region were set forth. Cultural stereotypes were attributed to the Middle East region and they were also portrayed as rogue states (Amirahmadi, 1993, p. 22). When the 9/11 attacks were seen, this image became much more dominant in the Western context. The Middle East is one of the most militarised regions in the world; moreover, arms sales are also rampant in this area (Shah, 2010). Many of these people who have felt suppressed by their religion, their country, and by the Western colonialists, have developed feelings of militancy. This led to the rise of Islamic militancy and extremism, alongside acts of terrorism and anti-west (mostly anti-US) sentiments (Palmer and Palmer, 2008, p. 18). When the US intervened (or interfered, as perceived by these extremists) during the Iraq-Kuwaiti war, these feelings of antipathy against the US and the west were further spurred. In the years following the First Gulf War, other terrorist and Muslim extremist attacks were carried out against the US and against other Western nations. Efforts to suppress and prevent these attacks were insufficient because many of these terrorists were willing to go through extreme measures (suicide bombing) to prove and emphasize their point (Charny, 2007, p. 146). All these factors when taken together would eventually lead to the 9/11 Twin Tower attacks. In the hours following the attack, President George W. Bush condemned Osama bin Laden and his Al-Qaida group for their participation in the attack. A profile of bin Laden was also outlined and conceptualized (Bugliosi, 2008, p. 176). Based on their accounts, bin Laden was labelled as an international terrorist due to his participation in the African US embassy bombings. Bin Laden was described as Saudi born, later recruited during the Soviet-Afghan war to assist the CIA in fighting off Soviet invaders (Chossudovsky, 2001). A good number of Afghan jihadists participated in the Soviet attack which was largely supported by the US. This war was supported also by the Golden Crescent drug trade funds. More arms were fed into Afghanistan and this eventually sped up Soviet withdrawal in the region (Meher, 2004, p. 10). The CIA also utilised Pakistan military intelligence services in order to train these Islamic troops. This training also set forth that the Soviet troops were atheist who were violating the ideologies of the Islamic people of Afghanistan (Cooley, 2002, p. 41). In effect, these Islamic jihadists were fighting the war against the Soviet Union in behalf of the US. When the Soviet Union disintegrated, the Islamic jihadists did not cease their activities; but their actions were now directed towards the US and other western nations (Burns, et.al., 2005, p. 5). The Response of the US immediately after 9/11: War on Terror By 1 pm on that fateful day, Bush expressed that the necessary security precautions have been taken and the US military was put on the highest level of alert all around the world (CNN, 2001). He also expressed that the US will “hunt down and punish those responsible for [the] cowardly acts” (CNN, 2001). A state of emergency was also declared on the city of Washington and on the same day, five warships and two aircraft carriers were deployed from the US Naval Station in Norfolk, Virginia to protect the East Coast from other possible attacks (CNN, 2001). All flights were grounded and cancelled until noon EDT Wednesday at the earliest. At 8:30 pm on September 11, George Bush would address the nation and would reiterate the resolve of the American people. He also expressed a warning against the perpetrators of the attack and those who were harbouring them (CNN, 2001). On the 22nd of September, President Bush declared the War against terror and the goals of this war were to find and punish Osama bin Laden for the attacks and to utilize the economic and military resources in order to stop the proliferation of terrorism (Johnson, 2004, p. 227). Bush also declared that this war on terror would not be limited to the Al-Qaida group alone, but it would cover other terrorist groups (VOA, 2007). President Bush claimed that the Taliban group in Afghanistan was sheltering the group and demanded that they surrender bin Laden and his cohorts. They refused. This prompted the US and British forces to launch attacks against the Taliban in Afghanistan on October 7, 2001 (CNN, 2001). These attacks struck the Afghan capital of Kabul. The Afghan Northern Alliance then launched a ground attack and by November, the Taliban began to collapse in some of the Afghan provinces (VOA, 2007). The rest of the Taliban forces fled to the Kabul area and on to the city of Kandahar. Soon after, the military attacks defeated the Taliban group, leading to the capture of Taliban fighters and Al-Qaida terrorists; bin Laden however, remained at large (VOA, 2007). Enemy fighters captured in Afghanistan were then detained in the US Navy detention centre at the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. They were labelled as unlawful enemy combatants; these prisoners were not given the rights provided under the international treaty on the just treatment of war prisoners. The US government also detained many foreign citizens for violating immigration laws. No terrorism charges were brought against them (Scheppler, 2005, p. 15). In October of 2007, the Congress passed the US Patriot Act. This act set forth that the US government with power in the extraction of information from suspected terrorists in the country (VOA, 2007). This act caused much concern among civil rights experts because it potentially violated a person’s rights to privacy. In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, various government agencies were called out because they failed to cooperate in the gathering of intelligence which might have prevented the attacks (VOA, 2007). In 2002, the Department of Homeland Security was set up in order to improve the country’s defences against terrorism. About twenty-two agencies were also combined into one new department composed of 200,000 employees. This agency, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) became one of the major changes introduced into the US as a result of the 9/11 attacks (Dempsey, 2007, p. 337). President Bush considered the war on terror as “World War III” (ABC News, 2006). Specifically, Bush expressed that the act of revolt by the passengers on the hijacked flight 92 was the first counter-attack leading up to the Third World War. President Bush reiterated that the war was one against terrorism, not against Afghanistan (Huang, 2001). As a result of the implementation of the Patriot Act, more power and authority was given to the US and its authorities in carrying out its anti-terrorism actions. Attacks carried out against Afghanistan and the Taliban group in the Middle East, as well as other parts of the world where terrorist activities were being carried out came within the coverage of the US. The Bush Administration has also tried to do right by Afghanistan in the aftermath of the attacks by offering financial aid in rehabilitation to the country (Huang, 2001). But basically, the damage to the nation has already been done. Two years after the 2001 attacks on US soil, Iraq was seen as a potential terrorist threat with its alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction (Cordesman, 2003, p. 314). This eventually led to the invasion of Iraq by US troops. The War on Terror was also used as a justification by the US for its Iraq invasion. Eventually, in the process of its Iraqi invasion, Saddam Hussein was arrested and brought to trial for war crimes (HRCR, 2007). No weapons of mass destruction were found in Iraq; however, Iraq was still a hotbed of terrorist activities and social unrest. Other attacks and covert military activities launched by the US in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks were justified by its declaration of the War on Terror. To this date, this war has yet to end. Works Cited 9/11 Attacks (2010) History Channel, viewed 22 January 2011 from http://www.history.com/topics/9-11-attacks 9/11 Attacks (2001) New York Times, viewed 22 January 2011 from http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/subjects/s/sept_11_2001/attacks/index.html After Attacks of 9/11, Bush Launches 'War on Terror' (2007) Voice of America, viewed 22 January 2011 from http://www.manythings.org/voa/history/233.html Amirahmadi, H. 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