September 11th, 2001, is a historical moment that still affects the many lives of people today. It has made an unforgettable impact on the United States in which approximately 6,000 people were injured and nearly 3,000 people lost their lives to an act of terror. People were astonished by the fact that they were witnessing the country under a terrorist attack, while others did not know what was happening. Al Qaeda was held responsible for the thousands of innocent lives lost but for some odd reason, people feel as though George W. Bush is to blame. Bush was faced with many difficult decisions to make post 9/11, which naturally caused many to look to him with questions, answers, and plans for recovery. Faced with the hard trials he had to overcome, Bush responded appropriately to the 9/11 attacks during his presidency.
September 11th, 2001 was a day in which a terrorist group called “al Qaeda” attacked America in a serious of four attacks. Under the leadership of Osama bin Laden, head of al Qaeda, a total of four planes were instructed to hit various places within the U.S. The attacks were executed by bin Laden along with 19 hijackers. Two of the hijacked planes crashed into both the North and South Twin Towers, located in New York City. The buildings collapsed killing and injuring thousands of people. The third plane was flown into the U.S. military headquarters, known as the Pentagon in Arlington. The final plane was meant to hit the Capitol in Washington, but due to the courageous passengers who were onboard and fought the hijackers, it crashed in a rural area in Pennsylvania which killed all 44 people onboard. Al Qaeda is an Islamic terrorist group that strives to create a Muslim state independent of other countries. They believe that the freedoms of the U.S. citizens are evil and do not want the U.S. to spread freedom to other countries. Although al Qaeda believes in this, most Muslims do not share in the belief. In November 2002, bin Laden’s “Letter to America” stated that al- Qaeda’s motives for attacks included Western support for attacking Muslims in Somalia, supporting Russian atrocities against Muslims in Chechyna, supporting Indian oppression against Muslims in Kashmir, the Jewish aggression against Muslims in Lebanon, presence of U.S. Troops in Saudi Arabia, U.S. support of Israel and sanctions against Iraq. Although bin Laden had been caught under President Barack Obama in May, 2011, the actions he made still affect the way Americans live their life today.
Bush had many plans to recover America. There were many steps involving the recovery of America. During the time of the attack, Bush was at Emma T. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida. He was reading a book to 2nd graders to promote his education program. He was aware of the crash of Flight 11 into the North Tower before entering the classroom, but only thought of it as an accident. It was not until 9:06 a.m. Andrew Card whispered into his ear that the nation was under attack. Bush sat there befuddled. He believed that the first step of any successful crisis response is to project calm. If he were to react as he wanted to, he would have frightened the children and created more questions that would have taken time to answer. Bush waited until the reading with the children was over and then instead of speaking about education at the speech after the reading, he explained to the community how the nation was under attack. Although many people disagree with Bush’s decision to remain calm during the time of the attack, there were not many other things he could have done. 9/11 was the most devastating surprise attack since Pearl Harbor. The capital was attacked by an enemy for the first time since the War of 1812. In one morning, Bush’s presidency had become clear, he needed to protect the people and defend the freedom that was under attack. Bush did not decide to take action until he was certain that the nation was under attack, and after the second plane hit the Twin Towers, he was certain that this wasn't any accident -- our nation was under attack. Bush’s first decision as wartime commander in chief was when he told Dick Cheney that the pilots should contact suspicious planes to land peacefully. If they failed, the pilots were instructed to shoot them down. Despite how much they may cost, taking one down could save numerous amounts of lives on the ground. Later that night, Bush gave a speech in which he wanted to explain to Americans what happened, and what was going to happen. His primary goal was to express comfort and resolve, comfort in which we would recover from the attack, and resolve in which the terrorist acts would not be gone unnoticed and that the people of the nation will receive justice.
In response to 9/11, Bush enacted many laws that attempted to help recover America as it once was. The USA Patriot Act was signed into law by Bush on October 26, 2001. The title is an acronym that stands for America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001. This act represents the U.S. government’s primary response to the terrorist attacks on 9/11. This law focuses mainly on reinforcing arsenal tools available to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and federal prosecutors for identifying terrorist networks operating both internally and externally of the United States. Following 9/11, the federal government attempted to quickly develop a security framework that focused on protecting the country from large- scale attacks directed from abroad. A key point in this framework included the creation of Department of Homeland Security in March, 2003.The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was also created in response to the 9/11 events that took place. TSA takes special caution in public transportation. There are many new regulations, especially within airport security. Bush felt that declaring war could contribute to more anxiety amongst the nation, and so he waited a day before announcing his decision in his speech the following day. Bush believed that Saddam Hussein acquired chemical and nuclear weapons which could have been a threat to the U.S. After the search for evidence in Iraq, they did not find anything.The war in Iraq is similar to the Afghanistan War in that both wars were wars of aggression. The invasion of Afghanistan was to combat terrorism. Taliban government in Kabul were harboring bin Laden and the U.S. wanted him. Since Afghanistan would not give him to the U.S. Bush sent troops to invade them.
Although Bush’s response to the 9/11 attacks were appropriate, some of the decisions he made afterwards were not necessary in response to recovering from 9/11. The Iraq war is a great example of this. In 2002-2003 Bush cited the possibility of Saddam Hussein acquiring chemical and nuclear weapons. This could have been a threat to the U.S. He and other officials also believed that Hussein had connections with al Qaeda. After Americans were almost certain about the chemical and nuclear weapons, America invaded Iraq, just to find out that there were no chemical or nuclear weapons. The deaths ranged from over 100,000 to 180,000 in the span of 8 years. This could have been avoided if before invading Iraq, the U.S. was certain that there were chemical and nuclear weapons there.
9/11 was the first war of the twenty first century. It was a hardship that America had to overcome, but with the support of government, friends, and family, America overcame it together. Many would agree that George W. Bush’s response to the 9/11 attacks were appropriate, while others do not, but it is certain that he did do his best to help America recover from the tragic time it faced. There is no one to blame other than the terrorist organization, al Qaeda. The reformations that took place after 9/11 made the country stronger, and although America was once united with grief, it is now united in vengeance towards those who were responsible for the tragic day, 9/11. The memories of the lives taken away that day will forever be loved and missed. To those of you who think our nation isn't as strong as it is -- think again. Because, our nation is not only strong in regards of military force, but it is strong in unity among one another, and this is what will allow us to succeed as whole, from the help of each and every member of this nation.
