The Effect Of 9/11 On America And The Whole World

A majority of Americans are well aware of what happened on September eleventh in two thousand in one. After this attack and confirming it was in fact a terrorist attack George Bush decided he wanted to show the world that America was going to strike fast and organized. Bush didn’t sign off until September eighteenth and by October seventh troops began strikes against the Taliban military and al Qaeda training camps in Afghanistan. Thus, the initiation of “Operation Enduring Freedom. ” This leads me to the discussion of people in the government and citizens in support of decisions made and how those decision affected the entire world.

First, I’m going to be talking about government officials that were opposed to sending troops and those who were in support of it. Barbara Lee was a congress women who was not in support of starting a war in Afghanistan. Although she was the only one who opposed, she believed military action would not resolve the terrorist issues that weighed on the country after nine eleven. She also noted whether they agreed to go to war or not the president could deploy troops and start a war. The President had the power as commander in chief to do so. Lee received letters from citizens with seven boxes approving of her stance on war and four boxes disapproving. Other than Lee, the rest of the government officials agreed with sending troops. The only thing that officials might have disagreed on was spreading the troops to Iraq also. After nine eleven American citizens were scared for their country, their loved ones, and their lives. Was there controversy over sending troops to Afghanistan that would lead to starting a war? Yes. Bush sent troops to protect our nation and show that America was still strong and would make it through everything. Just like any other war there comes the question “what about all the innocent people?” Which I feel was the main reason people were conflicted. Yes, we want to strike back, but at what cost. You want to defend your country and it’s hard to think that you might be harming innocent children and families while doing so.

Then I think about how the terrorist didn’t think about harming children and families in our country when they decided to attack us. How people felt about the war is definitely complex in my opinion. I believe that the war was necessary because America needed it for justice, but I also believe that the war could have caused more problems rather than resolving them. The entire world was changed after nine eleven. The major change after the terrorist attack was air travel. Not one country took the change lightly. Air travel got stricter than it had ever been. According to New York Times “…a senior intelligence official conceded. "We're better than we used to be at monitoring terrorist activities, but today makes it obvious we are not nearly good enough. "” After nine eleven the return to air flights was a slow process. A lot of the flights that were allowed to continue flying were on a priority basis and no international airlines were allowed into the US. Part of the reason airlines took a while to get flights up and going had a lot to do with meeting the stricter security guidelines. Nine eleven took place on a Tuesday and flight were canceled until Thursday. According to CNN “The Federal Aviation Administration, which had allowed airports that met strict security guidelines to reopen Thursday morning, ordered all three of New York's major airports closed around 5:30 p. m. Thursday” even though flights were resumed they were still somewhat on a “ban” due to the rules that airlines had to follow. Not only did the attack persuade countries and airlines to jack up their security protocols, but it also bought multiple countries together. In a time of crisis, no matter what country you are from you felt the effects of nine eleven like it happened in your own back yard. And that exactly what we saw from allies. Countries mourned with America and fought this war with America. Not only did monumental crisis effect America, but it also effected immigration. At the time, America was raw and hurt so it only makes sense that immigration would be hurt by this. America was attacked by outsiders and how did we know who exactly was coming into our country?

After I watched a video “The Effect of 9/11 on Immigration” representative Zoe Lofgren said that “…it’s worth remembering that the nine eleven hijackers all came in with visas I mean they didn’t sneak in…” not only is that scary, but it shows why Americans were scared to let anyone into the country. Due to this, foreign students were having complications getting into the nation to receive their education. Not only was the world affected by a terrorist attack, but it also made other countries realize their threats and security issues. It took losing lives of hard working Americans to reevaluate and reconstruct our security issues. When America decided to send troops, the operation was called Enduring Freedom. Enduring means a long time which I find ironic especially because we still have troops on the ground in Afghanistan. Even after the American soldiers captured Osama bin Laden we remained in the country. The capturing of Osama bin Laden felt like a weight lifted off of America’s shoulders. It was all anyone could talk about In conclusion, nine eleven wasn’t just a wakeup call for America, but also a wakeup call for the world. The fear that September eleventh brought on people has never been forgotten and it never will be. America was never the same after the attack, but America was stronger and everyone came together in mourning the loss of innocent lives.