Final Reflection: 9/11

I find that until know I had underestimated the real impact september 11, 2001 had on the world, perhaps because I was four years old when it happened and honestly all my memories are vague, and I'm not sure if I dreamed them up based on what I learned later or if I genuinely remember something. I was raised in a world the way it is today, I can't say I have felt a great change in the world during my lifespan. I know that the reason they take even your nail clippers at the airport is because of that horrible day, but for me it has always been this way. This doesn't mean that I don't care, but unlike people who shared their stories on the internet, I can only remember watching images of towers in my grandparent's TV, and again, this might've been only a dream.
Investigating about the topic has shed light on how 9/11 actually impacted the world I live in and therefore my life. Somehow, most of the things I have written about in this blog boil down to two airplanes flying into the world trade center. ISIS has grown and spread from the hate people feel towards the United States for invading their countries and bombing their territory. This is the reason why it was so important to capture Osama bin Laden, and why he was captured and killed with no trial, despite the fact that he is technically still human. This is the reason why there was a movie made about his capture, to rub it in the faces of all those who posed a threat to the United States (and I know there is a series of reasons why killing him was much easier, but the US is allegedly founded on a set of values which I personally find where transgressed when Osama bin Laden was killed and dumped in the sea).
Most of the wars going on today, if not all of them, stem from this sole act of terrorism. The worst part is that this is just what al Qaeda intended, they knew that one act of strategically placed violence could trigger years of violence, practically ensuring that there would be many wars and untimely deaths for the years to come. If it's not al Qaeda, it's ISIS, and it seems as if trying to stop these groups were like trying to clear a flooding house with a plastic cup. The disappearance of one group does not ensure that another will not rise even more powerful and with more hatred. In the end, violence can only provoke more violence and, although it's idyllic and perhaps even utopic, 14 years later might be enough to start looking for new solutions.

Psychology of the widespread reaction

The psychological damage caused by 9/11 had a profound impact on politics and foreign affairs in the United States, no doubt about it, and al Qaeda knew this better than anyone. After the Cold War there was an overall sense of relief, the Soviet Union disintegrated and it seemed as if there was no one big enough to take on the United States, but there was, and they weren't even that big, especially when compared to the Soviet Union. All it took was 19 men to cause horror, confusion, and fear even greater than what was felt during the Cold War, because the war was now going on in american soil. The fact that it was only 19 men is, to say the least, humiliating. How can the world's biggest superpower fail to stop less than 20 men from creating havoc and massive destruction?
This feeling triggered the beginning of the world as we know it today, everyone agrees that the horrific events of that day should never happen again. From the United States' particular point of view, it's also the humiliation that must be avoided, which also explains the vengeance streak that followed September 11, 2001. This was just what al Qaeda wanted, the US was forced into the middle east after receiving an attack where it hurts the most: national pride.

9/11 from the eyes of foreigners

After looking at reactions of the US, I decided to go even broader and look for reactions across the globe, which proved to be much more interesting and varied. Of course most posts show sympathy towards the United States and the tragic events that happened that day, but there was one from a palestinian woman who at the time was 11 who described how people went out to the streets to celebrate. She clearly states that she has since grown up and realized what a horrible even it really was, but she also explains the reasoning behind the celebrations. The United States had been aiding Israel for years with weapons that hurt (and continue to hurt) many palestinians. What happened in New York was something that palestinians lived everyday, they too had seen their friends and family die and suffer from injuries.
This serves as a reminder that violence and extreme acts of violence happen all over the world, and a lot more often than the media reveals. As horrible as it may sound, I can understand people celebrating in Palestine, it must be gratifying to watch your bullies being bullied, but this is not a solution. Tension in the middle east only increased in the following years and reassured the United States in their mission to target any country or terrorist group that they felt posed even a minor threat to the country.    

9/11 from a US citizen's eye

The David Foster Wallace piece we originally read inspired me to look into how people in different parts of the US lived that day, rather than simply reading survival stories. That way, I could have a broader view of how an entire country faced tragedy and the general reaction towards it. It's almost as if time slowed down when the first tower was struck and by the time the second crash was broadcasted, time had stopped altogether. An entire country found itself glued to the news channel, waiting fearfully for new attacks, as the Pentagon caught fire and the towers collapsed.
Only people whose jobs consist of tracking terrorist groups would ever have really considered a direct attack to the United States. This, I find, goes a long way in explaining the disbelief, aside from the fact that planes were flying into buildings which is already hard to believe. Confusion is the most recurrent theme in all of the 9/11 memories, after all, when the Cold War ended there was literally no one who could really pose a threat to the United States, or at least that's what it seemed. All of the stories I read reflected this, the disbelief, the hidden humiliation behind the fear. September 11th reminded the United States that the end of the Cold War didn't mean world peace had been achieved, in fact, it began a whole new cycle of wars.

9/11- sources

US citizens remember 9/11
This article from Federal News Radio consists of  a compilation of stories from 9/11 from people living in New York and other cities of the United States explaining where they where and what they felt at that time. It was linked to another article when searching for 9/11 reactions on google.

Widespread reactions in the US and the world
The History Channel website presents an interesting piece of writing which first details into the United States' general social reaction to the attack, especially the weeks and months that followed. Then it details how other countries' governments aided the United States and sent messages of sympathy. I came across this article when searching for international reactions.

Reactions from foreign countries
The presentation here is very similar to the first item in the sense that it too details what people where doing when the towers were attacked, the difference being that the stories come from various nationalities and therefore show more variety when it came to how involved people felt. I also found these while looking for international reactions.

Psychology of the US reaction
Psychology Today explores the psychological reasoning behind the United States' reaction to the terrorist attack along with the psychological repercussions across the country and in the government. I got to it by searching for "9/11 repercussions."

Deterring terrorism through resilience
This recorded conference features a panel of psychiatrists, sociologists and other experts who discuss how terrorism can be deterred through psychology by creating more united and resilient communities, in order to make them less appealing targets. This video was linked to the psychology today page.

9/11 footage reaction

Undoubtedly, watching any kind of footage of 9/11 results terrifying and watching what was live footage of it only adds to the feeling. Seeing the second airplane crash into the tower while on air seems surreal, like watching a trailer for a movie, except its real. Putting myself in the position of those who were actually watching the news that day, I understand the panic, the confusion and the hysteria. I imagine a feeling similar to the one after the earthquake in 2010, not really understanding what was going on until it was probably too late, staring at the falling builings on the television in disbelief. There is one important difference, though, when the earthquake happened, there was no one to blame. That to me is the scariest part, thinking that there are people with that much evil in their hearts. It's hard to imagine and even harder to believe that there are people like that in this world, which is probably why it took a while for people to realize that it wasn't a mere accident but rather a planned terrorist attack. After all, who could ever imagine that a group of men would literally fly themselves into a building? If knowing that there are people who feel this magnitude of hate towards other, one would have to be crazy not feel afraid, especially after 9/11 proved that someone with enough hatred is capable of literally anything.