September 11th was a day of infamy. A day where the world was scarred by the deaths of over 3000 innocent Americans on live television. What more can be said about the subject? It was a topic of conversation for years. Everyday it seemed it was at the top of the news.
Audiences across the world including Americans huddled by the television screens that morning in aghast horror. Most couldn’t believe it was happening and in a state of denial. Americans wondered what was coming next. Not only that morning but for mornings after for years. Certainly someone might want to attack America in the same matter, but with even greater magnitude. This was the era of the war on terror.
The terrorist attacks have often been compared to Pearl Harbor. The Japanese attack on a military base in the Pacific Ocean was supposed to be met with no response by America. Not entering the Second World War was a bet that Japan was willing to take with the United States. Certainly dovish voices would be heeded, the Japanese thought of the Americans.
Instead Pearl Harbor ignited America to a stage of complete war footing. Manufacturers across the country began to convert their factories into producing war materials in a full mobilization. Americans began volunteering for the global cause. There are towns in America where every man of military age volunteered. Those who were rejected for military service even committed suicide given that they might be considered a coward for the rest of their lives.
So why wasn’t September 11th a new Pearl Harbor? Certainly this was a massive attack on American soil. What’s more it was an attack on the heart of New York City, not a Navy base in Hawaii. There are some differences and similarities as with these historic events. First the differences.
The attack on Pearl Harbor was in light of a government’s military attacking another government’s military. This was not the case with September 11th. This was a terrorist strike by a seemingly small network of individuals who wanted to wage holy war on the United States. This was their set goal, the cause of crusade that they dreamed of with a twisted logic of displaced Islam.
Therefore, there wasn’t another country or true enemy in the form of a sovereign government. Only the Afghan government could be considered at fault, a nation that never really stood a chance against the American military. These were the facts that were detailed by the 9/11 commission report. There was no help from a foreign government. This is well established in the published report that is over 400 pages in length that was shortened from a massive body of intelligence and information.
There are similarities on the other hand. Most of those deal with the court of public opinion. The approval rating of George W Bush reached levels beyond even FDR after Pearl Harbor in the wake of the attack. There were also many Americans who were willing to volunteer and fight the fight in any further action that might be required by the American government. This was the atmosphere following the attack.
Saying anything about the war footing was almost sacrilegious. It was deemed that the care for what happened on that dark day didn’t matter to you in popular opinion. That you were with us or you were with the terrorists according to the Bush administration. The us being the American military machine that was probably preparing to mobilize across the entire Middle East.
Of course, this changed with time. Iraq was supposed to be the next domino to fall with a somewhat limited force being needed to topple the Saddam regime and an easy victory given the brutality of his rule. It turns out an easy victory in Iraq is not quite what happened. Things also changed quickly on the home front.
What that break in loyalty leading up to and during the Iraq invasion was supposed to mean was that this type of war didn’t belong in the world today. This is exactly what happened to the American war machine during the Vietnam War. Protesters fought against the failed mission in an effort to end the practice of what seemed to be playing out again. Furthermore, this was a possibility of global conflict. Something the victorious powers of the Second World War agreed also should never happen again.
However, the Bush administration had its reasons for conflict that can’t be completely dismissed. Saddam was said to have weapons of mass destruction he could unleash on America. Iran was pursuing nuclear weapons, a development that still resonates in Israel, especially for the sake of its survival. There was also the case of North Korea to round out the “Axis of Evil”.
Looking back a couple of decades later things have changed for the three nations. Iraq is still an unstable country despite the amount of blood and treasure America spent. Iran still doesn’t have nuclear weapons, but continues to pester Israel through its proxies and even threatens Red Sea cargo traffic in the form of the Houthis in Yemen.
Then there is the case of North Korea. The country that President Trump tried to engage in peace talks. Unfortunately, his efforts were stalled and then ignored. North Korea now supplies Russia with weapons and has increased its own weapons capabilities. All three of these nations would be considered situations less than to be desired in the eyes of the Bush administration when he made his “Axis of Evil” speech.
It is well noted that President George W Bush’s first phone call was to Vladimir Putin in the wake of the attacks. A phone call meant to calm fears of all out global conflict. A conflict that might have even drawn in Russia. The legacy of no further attack of great magnitude 23 years later on American soil is also a victory for the Bush administration. This is how the history played out so many years later.
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” was the most memorable passage of FDR in his March 1933 inaugural address. A message that should also resonate when it comes to terrorism. Terrorism is a tactic to cause fear in a group of individuals hoping they respond or not respond depending on the nature of the attack. The fact that the United States didn’t respond with all out conflict is probably a welcome development given the high probability that would have been the case had things been a little different.
So what can be done on Patriot Day? Perhaps watching a movie dealing with the subject. Hollywood made several movies about that dark day. First and foremost is “World Trade Center” starring Nicholas Cage and directed by Oliver Stone. It tells the tale of two Port Authority police officers and their story of entering the World Trade Center site to save and evacuate civilians that dark Tuesday morning in September. The movie is also hard to watch given the true events of that day in my opinion.
Another movie is “United 93”. This is often considered a better movie than World Trade Center by some affected by the attack because the passengers of the flight took the fight to the terrorists that were hijacking the flight. It is a story of heroism of the passengers that prevented another unspeakable loss on the ground with the plane heading towards the Capital Building, the White House, or another target with high casualties being possible. It is also the more watchable of than World Trade Center from my perspective given it is also a tale of victory in light of the gruesome losses in New York and Washington.
There are also several other several movies dealing with the subject including “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” that was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars and “Zero Dark Thirty” which focuses on the hunt for Bin Laden. Of course, this is always a difficult topic so some might just want to participate in a service project or something else meaningful on Patriot Day.
Patriot Day will probably be a sacred day in American history for a long time. It comes back in all its horror every year and most know where they were that day. When friends and neighbors told their friends and neighbors to turn on the television. When entertainment stations began updating their broadcasts to bring the news of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. This is true even 23 years later.
The response and topic of September 11th are difficult to discuss given the carnage and shock that day represents. In my opinion dealing with the subject is probably the best thing to do and not ignore it. Americans will be reminded of the terrorists again as Americans do every year. That and the fact that there is no answer to why such a senseless killing was deemed necessary.
The fact is that war and discord lead to things like New York and Washington on September 11th everyday. Some of those in places like Ukraine wonder the same thing as the victims of the senseless attack on September 11th. They wonder why? Sometimes there is a why. Usually there is not. The question of “why” should be the inquiry we make in light of how did this happens to so many innocent people in warzones like it did to America that day. “Why?” should also be a question for all of us when dealing with others and hopefully bettering ourselves. We can also be better people. On Patriot Day and everyday.