WEEK 6

The most basic definition of 9/11 would be; “On September 11, 2001, 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda hijacked four airliners and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States. Two of the planes were flown into the towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, a third plane hit the Pentagon just outside Washington, D.C., and the fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.”(History.com) these planes were all hijacked my members of the extremist militant Islamic group known as Al Qaeda. Since we have the largest military in the world, Al Qaeda didn’t have the power to take our troops down in large quantities, instead they attacked a national landmark to provoke widespread fear and confusion to untimely spread their voices and opinions on how our lives should be lived.

                Many people, especially republicans want to respond to this violence with more violence. Our own people have crossed over and joined such terrorist groups like ISIS, as it is being glorified in many recruiting videos along with propaganda against the U.S government, mixed with angst and hatred for their own homeland; it’s very easy to see how this is quite possible. Right Wingers would say that we actually have not done enough to keep this country safe and must do more, even if that means sacrificing certain things. "It's fair to say that we face more threats, coming at us from more places, involving more individuals than we have at any time since 9/11," (CNN) These such situations would terrify just about anyone. Republicans would argue that while we are safe(ish) today, more could be done if everyone had a gun and the upmost ability to defend themselves.

                9/11 was a worldwide tragedy, many, many lives were lost and it affected just about every Americans life on that day. Everyone knows someone who was affected by that day. We as a country did not overreact to 9/11. As a government however we did. Islamophobia is very present today and it’s an incredible problem. “We must keep Al Qaeda in perspective. It’s a small band of fanatics who have alienated the vast majority of Muslims.” (Yale Global) When extremists only make up an incredibly small population of Muslims. We are safer today, of course we are safe our military is incredibly vast and we have so many precautions set in place now. No one is “winning” the War on Terror, and no one is losing either. It is just draining for both sides physically and mentally, and it needs to stop. I know world peace is a long shot, but I feel as if we would just learn to understand each other in other ways instead of using violence, things could get solved. Though neither side is willing to negotiate or listen to reason, so as of right now we are at a standstill.