9/11 Terrorism Research Paper

On September 11, 2001 the world trade center and the pentagon were attacked by the terrorist group Al Qaeda. Those terrorist hijacked four airliners and flew them into the buildings that they targeted. One of the airliners did not make it to its target and crashed in an open field in Pennsylvania. 2,996 lives were lost and those include the lives lost at the world trade center, on the four airliners, and the pentagon (Miller 11). 9/11 is the worst terrorist attack to date. By looking at what terrorism is and it’s history, we can see its causes and effects in today’s society.

What is terrorism? What is it used for, and why does it occur? As Meierrieks and Krieger state in their article, “Since the attacks on the US on September 11, 2001,

politicians and the public have tried to bring to light the factors that incite terror” (Meirerrieks and Krieger). There is no widely known definition of terrorism because many people look at it in different ways. Although there is no widely known definition of terrorism, “It is commonly defined as the deliberate use of violence and intimidation directed at a large audience to coerce a community (government) into conceding politically or ideologically motivated demands” (Meirerrieks and Krieger).
A lot of the terrorism that goes on in today’s world is motivated by religion. The majority of terrorism that happens is done by muslim terrorist groups that want to get rid of western beliefs. The main western belief that they want to abolish is how we treat women equally in our society. We allow them to have the same jobs and pay as men and muslims do not believe in treating women equally to men. Their religion also states that there should be no other religion. Therefore, muslims that are terrorists are considered radicals that believe everything that their religion stands for and follow it word for word. That is one way in which they are trying to get rid of western beliefs.
What is terrorism used for? Terrorism is used to promote causes, satisfy inner feelings, and for personal drives. The terrorists that use violence, revenge, anger, disappointment, fear, and personal inadequacy are trying to satisfy their inner feelings and emotions (Kennedy and Arnold 9). An example of a terrorist satisfying inner feelings and emotions would be Al Qaeda’s attack on the World Trade Center in New York City on 9/11. There are also terrorists that use terrorism “to pursue personal drives - greed, power, desire for professional success or recognition, and security” (Kennedy and Arnold 9). Of course, though, there are terrorists that use terrorism to achieve both their personal drives and inner feeling and emotions. Timothy McVeigh, known for committing the Oklahoma City Bombing, was upset with the United States government because in his eyes, they were inhumane against citizens of the United States. The Oklahoma City Bombing is seen as a terrorist attack motivated by both personal drive and satisfying inner feelings and emotions. Lastly, Miller states that there are acts of terrorism most likely being used against a larger audience to cause fear. The sniper attack at a concert in Las Vegas on October 1, 2017, killed 59 and injured 527 people. They do not know the terrorist’s motivation for the attack, therefore, it could have been to cause fear.
When did terrorism begin? Terrorism is nothing new, with terrorist organizations that formed in ancient times. Terrorism dates clear back to 66 A.D. with an ancient Jewish Section known as The Zealots (Miller 18). The first recorded terrorist attack in the United States, was when President Lincoln was assassinated on April 14, 1865. It was considered a terrorist attack due to differences in political views. As of March 6, 2018, the last terrorist attack on record in the United States was on January 31, 2018, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Islamic terrorist was killed while attempting to drive a vehicle into a crowd of people. This attack injured an off-duty police officer and a civilian (Johnston). There are a number of terrorist organizations including multiple ISIS groups (Foreign Terrorist Organizations). ISIS stands for Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. This is one of the largest and the latest terrorist organizations formed. As of February 27, 2018, ISIS has branches known as ISIS-Bangladesh, ISIS-Philippines, and ISIS-West Africa.
So what is the issue with terrorism in today’s world? Terrorism is engulfing our everyday lives, especially with how the news and media cover it. Terrorism is literally affecting everyone’s lives because it is happening almost everywhere. There have been terrorist attacks at movie theaters, schools, concerts, churches, and in shopping malls. Almost everyone is connected to the internet somehow so they have instant access to the news. When a terrorist attack takes place, it becomes Breaking News and takes over news headlines. The internet reaches people all over the world.
As stated before, in the Middle East, Muslim terrorists use terrorism to try and get rid of western belief. This is stated as one cause of terrorism. “Terrorism occurs both in the context of violent resistance to the state as well as in the service of state interests” (Crenshaw). One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.
Although terrorism has been around for many years, the effects of terrorism can be devastating.

After 9/11, when Al Qaeda hijacked United States airliners and flew into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, President Bush declared war on terrorism. As a result, the United States Armed Forces began bombing different Middle Eastern countries. Terrorists in the Middle East responded by attacking diplomats and embassies. The most well known terrorist attack that occurred because of President Bush’s decision to start a war on terror is the attacks on the United States Embassy in Benghazi, Libya on September 11 and 12 of 2012. On this date the terrorist organization known as Ansar al-sharià of Benghazi attacked the United States embassy that resulted in the death of Ambassador Chris Stevens, Information Officer Sean Smith, and two CIA operatives, Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods.

Some of the other effects of terrorism include, President Bush creating the Department of Homeland Security, citizens thinking that every little thing that happened around them was a result of terrorism, people getting mad that children are getting targeted and Americans overseas are having to operate with tight security. There are also more effects in our everyday lives. We have to have more proof of identification to do simple everyday tasks. We are also engulfed with terrorism to the point that “Almost everyday we read or hear about a terrorist attack somewhere” (Kennedy and Arnold

1).
There are also economic effects that are noticeable in today’s society due to terrorism. Terrorism effects larger and smaller countries differently. Attacks have a chance to gravely impact economic markets , especially if the countries main income is tourism and the attacks are directed towards the people. As Moreau stated in her article, Hotels in Belgium saw 40% of reservations canceled in one weekend. Travelers also cancel their flights following attacks. Also countries that have wars against terror on their soil are also affected because of inflation and high unemployment.
The effects on larger countries with strong economies is not a large. Short term impact on large countries, like the United States and some countries in Europe, is very minimal. “In London after the 2005 suicide attacks UK markets bounced back within days and British GDP rose .8% that quarter”, and “After the Paris attacks, France’s CAC-40 index ended just .1% lower for the day” (Moreau). As stated countries with strong economies are hardly affected if not affected at all by terrorism. Developed nations also have less repercussions on their long term effects. So overall terrorism does not affect the economy long-term unless a country is riddled by war with terrorism on its soil or its main income is tourism.
We can see the causes and effects in today’s society of terrorism by looking at what it is and its history. Now that we understand what terrorism is we now know why they do the things they do and how they are important to today’s society. It is good to know these things because we as people in today’s world need to understand how to prevent terrorism from spreading. Terrorism is nothing new and will probably stick around for many more years to come.