James Strine
Professor Reiling
November 8, 2018
Intro to World Politics
9/11 and Security and Economics Issues
National security and economic issues are two big topics of discussion in the United States, and the laws that are in place today are likely as a result of September 11, 2001. 9/11 was and is still is one of the most important events in United States History. In terms of national security, this event had a huge effect on the laws and restrictions that was thought to be safe enough. This event also had a huge effect on the economics in the United States. It led to President Bush starting a war in Afghanistan and spending a lot of money on the Military and led to the U.S. debt crisis in 2008. This act of Terrorism from Al Qaeda shocked the world when they two planes hit Tower One and Tower Two of the World Trade Center, killing 2,763 people. A third plane hit the Pentagon, killing 189 people died. This event opened our eyes to the weaknesses in the security we have around our areas of transportation. This event caused the current President, George Bush, to take a realist approach and respond with the War on Terror and the War in Afghanistan. 9/11 was an example of Al Qaeda, as well as Afghanistan, trying to assert their power to the world. Osama bin Laden declared war against the United States in 1996, and in 1998, he co-signed a fatwa in the name of the World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders. The reasons he gave for the 9/11 attacks and the issues he had with the United States were still around after the event and were still around for around a decade. The issues that were brought about by the attacks were very serious and were answered quickly after the event. The response to the event was aided financially and politically by Allies of the United States and groups from who made up the Multi-National Force. Neither Economics nor Politics solved the issue and we, as a country, are still recovering from the economic toll that this entire situation put upon us. September 11, 2001 was an important event in making us realize that the issues within our international, national, and personal security and economy.
Three years after the 9/11 attacks, Osama bin Laden’s “Letter to America,” was released and in it, were some of the reasons why the 9/11 attacks happened. The first of the reasons was the United States support of Israel and the help we gave to Britain in Palestine. Other reasons are that we stole their wealth and oil because of our International and Military power, and that we occupy their countries with Military bases to control their lands. He then said, “These tragedies and calamities are only a few examples of your oppression and aggression against us. It is commanded by our religion and intellect that the oppressed have a right to return the aggression. Do not await anything from us but Jihad, resistance and revenge. Is it in any way rational to expect that after America has attacked us for more than half a century, that we will then leave her to live in security and peace?!” These issues and reasons that he speaks about after the 9/11 attacks are still going on and we still support the Israel and we still have bases in Iraq. We were still enemies with Osama bin Laden before the attacks. In 1996 and 1998, he co-signed a fatwa in the name of the World Islamic Front for Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders. Inside of these documents, Bin Laden is preaching death to Americans because of everything they have done against Al Qaeda. As a country from security purposes, the United States should have taken this more seriously and been prepared for a Al Qaeda attack.
There were many serious changes in the Security area as a result of this event. Personal, national, and international security were broken, and new laws were put in place to fix that. After 9/11, immigration and deportation became a big topic of discussion and President Bush created the Department of Homeland Security. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was created in 2002 and the agency has overseen a massive increase in deportations; they have nearly doubled since 9/11. Department of Homeland Security’s Yearbook of Immigration Statistics, there were roughly 200,000 annual deportations a year between 1999 and 2001. Because of the 9/11 attacks, hundreds of thousands of people were deported even if they had been living in the country for a long time. These attacks had people on edge worrying about the chance that we get attacked again and had certain groups of people worrying about getting kicked out of the country. Another impact that these attacks had on our personal and national security was the effect it had on our Airports. Before these attacks, airport security was a lot more lenient and easy going. You could bring lighters and small knives, like box cutters, onto the plane, no problem. But today, there are big lines at security, full body scans, multiple items of clothing off, and no liquids above a certain amount. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was created after the 9/11 attacks and is it still in charge of all Airport security. In the 9/11 attacks, 11 hijackers took over four planes using knives and other weapons. Today, that would not be able to happen, but in 2001, the security was too lenient, and the checks were not thorough enough.
The economic problems that were seen as a result of this event is the absurd amount of money that the United States spends on the military and defense department. The attacks themselves ended costing an estimated “$55 billion.” In response to the September 11th attacks, President Bush launched the “War on Terror” and started a war in Iraq. “It cost Al Qaeda approximately $500,000 to plan and carry out the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, The New York Times says it cost the U.S. $3.3 trillion, or $7 million for every dollar that Al Qaeda spent.” The United States was already in an economic crisis and this just put them farther into the hole. This debt crisis that the United States put upon themselves still hurts us today. In 2001, at the time of the attacks, “the stock market closed for four days… the first time since the Great Depression.” These two crises were a result of the extreme amount of spending that our government did. They are two good examples of the economic issues caused by our Realist Government.
September 11th, 2001 was one of the most significant events in United States history. Its effects on this country has been a key factor in shaping the country to what it is today. A lot of the laws and systems that we have in place today in terms of security and economics are a result of this event. The US government took a realist approach to dealing with the aftermath of these attacks. They spent a very large amount of money defense and military to protect their country and to try and take out Al Qaeda. The US government also put themselves in a financial crisis because of this spending. Causing the Stock Market to shut down for four days and put them in debt of over three trillion dollars.