Terrorism This Report Is About

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. Religion Was this a religious attack and if so, why was New York a target and not the Vatican? It is ironic that the Moslem terrorists made it clear that they hated Christians and attacked the United States precisely because it is overwhelmingly a Christian nation.

But was it the Christian way of life or our foreign policies abroad? "Millions of Arabs and Muslims hold U.S. foreign policy responsible for the calamity of September 11." (Saghiyeh) The Arabs and Muslims of the world have a history that they can point to that shows we are an abusive world power. America and other Christian nations such as Great Britain have a long history of Middle East and Muslim manipulation. The regular suicide bombings on the Gaza strip is the work of the United States and Britain.

As pointed out by Saghiyeh, Muslims and Arabs saw the existing sanctions on Iraq as cruel and even inhumane. Put into consideration that the first George Bush used the attack on Saudi Arabia by Iraq to procure oil rights throughout the Middle East was seen as thievery by the locals and Muslims. The protection of the Saudi nation was acceptable, however, the aftermath of sanctions and oil expansion for the United States was seen as terroristic and a form of colonialism from their perspective.

The United States was acting just as they did in the 1950's - they were forcing the colonial philosophies on the Middle East and Muslim sects. Should we get the religion that did this? Consider that the people who conducted the attacks were all united members of a single religious sect -- Moslems.

The question then must be asked, was this a religious attack or jihad? I do not believe that because the attackers were Moslems and claimed to be motivated by religious beliefs that from this point forward it is fair to assume all Muslims or Islam as a religion is violence driven. It is important that we as a nation do not single out Moslems or any other group as the only source needing suspicion for future acts. Consider Timothy McVey and what he did in Oklahoma.

For several days after that explosion, Americans and the Media were looking for some Muslim or religious sect in the Middle East to attack. The shock that one of our own perpetrated this horrific act blindsided the American psyche. 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.