Blog Post #6 – 9/11 & A Few Weeks After

Question #1: How were the perpetrators of the attack not cowards?

Question #2: Aside from being strong, what else should America be?

Question #3: What should the “armed response” and counterterrorist operations consist of?

            I still remember seeing the attacks on television as I was getting ready to go to school.  My dad frantically insisted that I go to the living room and see what was on the news.  It was then I saw the first plane crash into a tower, I must have watched the same clip of the plane crashing between 3 and 5 times before I ate breakfast and got ready.  Not only do I still remember that image, I also remember adding the word terrorist to my vocabulary.  Before I left for school the second plane crashed and took down the other tower.  I also watched that scene quite a few times.  The news did a great job of making me remember the events that transpired; and it was enough to make just about every American outraged with the Middle East, especially Iraq.  One thing the author mentioned that I agree with: “Our leaders are bent on convincing us that everything is O.K.” (Sontag 1)  Within a day of the attack, that appeared to be the only thing on the news.  I certainly didn’t think that was the case.  At that time many Americans felt vulnerable and at the same time appalled as to how such a devastating event could happen.  That is why it wasn’t long before the war against the Middle East started and Homeland Security became a reality.  Security has stepped up a tremendous amount following the attack and it still remains that way.  I still remember a simpler time when the TSA wasn’t so uptight about security and waiting hours in line for multiple security checks when flying just wasn’t the case.  I think it’s safe to say that all of the extra security measures brought on by the attack have done their job at preventing another attack.  I also agree with the authors closing statement in her interview: “An armed response—in the form of a complex and carefully focused set of counterterrorist operations; not a war—is necessary. And justified.” (Sontag 2) The past few sentences I wrote mentioning tighter security is probably what she meant was necessary and justified.  I won’t state my position regarding the whole war in the Middle East because politics simply aren’t worth arguing over.