America's Response: Post 9/11 Terrorist Attack

The 9/11 Terrorist Attack was an event that will forever be remembered in American History. On September 11, 2001, members of the Al-Qaeda organization hijacked four commercial planes early that morning. Two planes proceeded to crash their planes into the North and South towers of the World Trade Center. A third plane later crashed into the side of the Pentagon. Passengers in the fourth plane fought back, but crashed into a field in Pennsylvania, killing all passengers. America responded to the 9/11 terrorist attack in several ways. America reacted in a way that most countries would by mourning for their lost loved ones, becoming a stricter country, and strengthening their self-defense. Many responses that America had were understandable, however,

there were some responses that could have been dealt with differently such as putting more thought into their actions.
One of America’s reaction to 9/11 was a change in immigration, tourism, and deportation.

Ever since the attack, people were afraid to fly internationally. In 2002, the Department of Homeland Security was formed by the Bush Administration to “strengthen border security.” The immigration policies in America became stricter. Tourist visas given to those in Pakistan dropped 70% after 9/11, Americans flying internationally dropped, and deportation rose to 104% from 2001 to 2010. This shows that America responded responsibly when it came to safety and that a lot of Americans feared air travel. Despite the fact that a stricter airplane security was helpful for stopping any kind of terrorist trying to hijack a plane, it meant that American Muslims were racially profiled, assuming they could be terrorists. American Muslims faced far more racial profiling and harassment. This was one of the cons of a tighter homeland security because a lot of Muslim Americans were seen differently. “According to the FBI, 28 hate crimes committed in 2000 were found to be anti-Islamic. In 2001, that number jumped to 481, and it remained above 100 in subsequent years” (Villemez). This was a hard time for those innocent Muslim Americans because they were verbally

abused.
Although there were good responses to the terrorist attack, there are some responses that could have been dealt with differently. Some negative outcomes came from the government’s domestically spying issue and President George W. Bush sending troops into war. Domestic spying was created by the National Security Agency (NSA) to “collect data on U.S. citizens, foreign nationals and governments” (Poladian). Domestic spying was only discovered once Edward Snowden revealed that the National Security Agency was recording personal data. The NSA’s spying involved recording phone calls and emails without the public’s knowledge of them doing so. Although the government is trying to be extra careful by surveillancing all of America, their spying takes away every single American’s privacy and keeping tabs on every person is not as beneficial and is not worth taking away someone’s privacy. Another result that did have a bad outcome was George W. Bush sending troops to Iraq. Because of 9/11, the Joint Resolution law was made which gave the president authority to “use of United States Armed Forces against those responsible for the recent attacks launched against the United States” (Public Law 107-40). This is beneficial when a situation like 9/11 occurs, however, it can easily be taken advantage of. Sending troops into war demonstrates how many new laws were established due to the attack.
Lastly, the most impacted difference from the 9/11 attack was the security at airports.

Ever since 9/11, congress passed the Aviation and Transportation Security Act which created the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). TSA made airports stricter, involving screening of luggages and passengers. Today, only passengers who are flying will be able to pass the screening section. TSA has banned an excessive amount of liquid and requires you to take off shoes and to take out electronics when passing through security. This supports the thesis by showing how America’s airports have greatly changed within less than twenty years, proving that America has responded reasonably by being cautious of airports. Prior to the attack, airports were much more lenient with what people could carry onto airplanes. Before 9/11, anyone could basically bring a weapon that seems like a common day tool such as a pocket knife, a lighter, or even liquids. Later on, it was discovered that an explosive can be created using liquids. It was also revealed that “some airport security teams even allowed passengers to take box cutters aboard (the supposed weapon used by the 9/11 hijackers)” (Green). Now that the airports have been stricter with what to bring onto planes, flying has a much safer environment and there are now lower chances of having an explosive on board, having a normal utensil that can be used as a weapon, or even flying with a person who could possibly be a

terrorist.
America has drastically changed ever since the terrorist attacks on 9/11 such as having a tighter self-defense system, a safer country, and a greater bond with the Americans and other countries that oppose of terrorism. Some great end products to the attack was a strengthened country when it came to self-defense and firmer policies at airports. On the other hand, America faced domestic spying from the government, racial profiling amidst Muslim Americans, and George W. Bush sending troops into war. Overall, America had both positive and negative outcomes from the 9/11 terrorist attack, however, if 9/11 didn’t happened, it would still be inevitable that an event like that would occur.