American response to 9/11 and national unity after terrorism

Terrorism

This report is about the next day, the after effect - the survivor's guilt and the thirst for revenge. This paper is basically a quick review of the articles "War at Home," "It's Not All America's Fault," and what America's response to terror is or should have been. Mainly, it is an attempt to form an understanding of what the situation was that gave rise to the 9-11 attacks. This report also includes Lance Morrow's "The Case for Rage and Retribution" which appeared in Time Magazine on September 12, 2001. I suppose it does not need to be mentioned that that was just one day after the towers collapsed and the Pentagon was still ablaze. Morrow saw it fit to fight back. This paper is also an attempt to see things from the other side's perspective. I will try to reflect on the three essays and thus write my own by which I can discuss how I feel and what I think should be a way of understanding the Bin Laden's and al Qaeda's of the world.

Pearl Harbor

Lance Morrow brings up a point that we Americans should unite in the way that we as a nation united during the Pearl Harbor attacks. "Let the civilized toughen up, and let the uncivilized take their chances in the game they started." (Morrow) I agree with this line of reasoning but for a different reason. We Americans should already be united and the attacks of September 11th should have been a source to unite us more. However, although we are called the United States, we are not starting from a united front.

Our country is full of drugs, hate, violence and poverty and, well, you get the point. We still have starving children here in the United States in the 21st century even though we are touted as the richest nation in the world. We should have already been united in the wars against drugs, prejudice, hatred and supposedly nonexistent class wars. "In war, enemies are enemies." (Morrow)

My thinking is that our enemies are not necessarily al Quada or North Korea or any of those other places around the world who feel that the United States needs to be put in its place. No, I believe we are our own worst enemy and that we should find a way to be united whether 9-11 occurred or not.

The rapper 2 Pac once said in song -- 'it's the white man I was told to fear but it's my own kind doing all the kill'n here. I understand that I don't have no love for the other side but..." What 2 Pac seemed to understand was that there are outside enemies and they are indeed real. But we as a nation have to be one in a united front whether the rest of the world hates us or not. We need to be united like they were during Pearl Harbor but we needed to be this way on a daily basis whether terrorists were knocking at our doors or not.

Economics

The war came to us and we rarely know of the wars we bring to other nations. "Traveling in the Third World, I've found that to be an American sometimes means to be wondrously celebrated, to excite a deep, instantaneous loyalty in complete strangers." (Johnson) I have a cousin who went to Korea for a tour of duty with the military. What he told me when he returned was that we as Americans are a bit arrogant even when we reside in other places of the world.

The soldiers, for example, where not understanding of why the Koreans did not learn English to better serve the American conscripts. In other words, they were in Korea and they had no inkling to learn Korean and it was on seen on their part as lazy Korean not willing to become American. What the hell kind of thinking is that? But that is our American Foreign policy. Do it our way or we will kick your butts.

We need an awakening from these foreign exploits. We as a nation are not as rich as we would like to think and events like 9-11 may be brewing in our future. Consider our foreign policy in Iraq right now. Saddam may have been a mad man and yes, if Hitler had been taken down sooner... yeah, yeah -- I get all that.

But, to tie these 9-11 attacks to Iraq and to claim there were weapons of mass destruction as a policy to begin a war we cannot afford or control will haunt our nation for years to come. We are so dependent on the Middle Eastern Oil that we have elected a President who has been forced to steal oil rights any way he can. He will make his family rich for many years to come and our nation will be able to continue to drive their Hummer H2 and Lincoln Navigators for a few more years. Eventually our trade deficit and our dependence on foreign oil resources will push us to make some other blunder where we will be required to push another group and a new al-Qaeda will mysteriously appear. Our policies are very abusive and we must reconsider or pay. Think about it, we are all pretty lucky that the Native American Indian's don't have nuclear weapons, ahhhhh, yet Conclusion

In conclusion, this report was about the day after. Americans have a great deal to learn from the attacks on September 11, 2001. Some of us had survivor's guilt and many others had a renewed thirst for revenge from those uncivilized Muslims. This paper was a quick review of "War at Home," "It's Not All America's Fault," and "The Case for Rage and Retribution." This paper however was also my attempt to see things from the other side's perspective, our own perspective and to reflect on the way I wish things really were. As Americans, if we do not make some changes in the way we think and live there will eventually be a new Bin Laden or al Qaeda to let us know we still need to be more open to change.