Evidence+Ignored-+911

=** toc Evidence Ignored **=

Overview
On September 11th, 2001, 20 al Qaeda members boarded U.S. airlines and proceeded to strike the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and attempt to bomb the White House. On this day, over 2,000 American citizens died. The attacks inspired fear and grief nationwide, and ultimately resulted in the invasion of four Middle Eastern countries. Years later, White House staff testimony and intelligence prove that these attacks could have been prevented.

Al Qaeda and the U.S. Government
It wasn’t until midway through the 1990s that the United States government knew anything about a certain militant group, known as al Qaeda. This organization of extreme jihadists (Muslims who violently engage in ‘holy war’ or war against different religious ideologies) operates primarily in the Middle East, as well as in South American and some Southeast Asian countries. The wealthy, Saudi Arabian Osama bin Laden was responsible for the organization of Al Qaeda in the 1980s. The United States only discovered the existence of al Qaeda in 1996; despite the organizations many terrorist attacks and bombings throughout the world, including attacks on the U.S., like the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and an assassination attempt on President Clinton. The United States began to make attempts at capturing Osama Bin Laden and defeating al Qaeda as early as 1997. Throughout the Clinton administration, the National Security Counsel (NSC) and the Counterterrorism Security Group (CSG) made plans to locate and destroy al Qaeda training camps, locate al Qaeda terrorists, prevent future terroristic attacks and create emergency protocol in preparation for possible terrorist attacks. After the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya, as well the 2000 Millennium attacks plot, the U.S. greatly revised their foreign, as well as domestic policies regarding terrorism.

New Administration, New Focus
In 2001, when President Bill Clinton left office, George W. Bush took office and did so with all new administration. With new staff, it was job of White House officials that had carried over from the Clinton administration to brief new staff, especially regarding policies on terrorism. Richard Clark, who continued to serve on the NSC as well as be a counterterrorism advisor, began in January speaking to White House officials. Clarke received marginal reactions from both Vice President Cheney as well as Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice when explaining both the history of (Rice was unfamiliar with the militant group) as well as the urgency of defeating al Qaeda. In fact, a few short weeks after President Bush’s inauguration, Rice informed the NSC that she thought the council shouldn’t be handling such a wide range of topics, and believed they should only handle foreign terror issues, as opposed both foreign and domestic terror issues. In addition to decreasing the responsibility of the NSC, the Bush administration also decided that the NSC as well as the CSG would not longer report to the heads of departments (Principals), but instead would report to council of Deputy Secretaries.



Changes in council responsibilities were not the only roadblocks for the NSC and CSG in combating terrorism. Counterterrorism staff in the White House found that scheduling meetings and briefings became increasingly difficult. As the NSC tried to schedule an urgent briefing on al Qaeda in January, Condoleezza Rice and Deputy Secretary of State, Steve Hadley postponed the meeting to April. At the briefing, the NSC encountered the Bush administration’s confusion about the concepts of al Qaeda and the role of Osama bin Laden. Paul Wolfowitz, then Deputy Secretary of Defense was especially concerned about linking al Qaeda to Iraqi terrorist operations. However, as CIA intelligence shows, in 2001, the United States had no evidence of Iraqi-sponsored terrorism. This however would not deter Deputy Secretary of Defense, Wolfowitz, nor Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense, who believed that Iraq was sponsoring terrorism, despite intelligence that proved otherwise. In addition to providing alternate theories as to the source of American terrorism, Wolfowitz also removed the U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia, Robert Gelbard, because of his warnings of al Qaeda terrorist attacks in Indonesia. Shortly after Gelbard’s removal, al Qaeda attacked nightclubs in Bali as well as the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta.

The Summer Before 9/11
In the early summer of 2001, intelligence of al Qaeda changed. Reports from the CIA and FBI were coming into the White House more frequently about terrorist plots around the world. As intelligence increased, it became necessary for NSC to brief the President on the increasing threat levels. Despite NSC and CIA’s requests to meet with the President, members of the administration, such as Rice, postponed the meetings, and would not agree on specific counterterrorism policy. Time passed, and by July 1st the CIA and FBI were convinced that al Qaeda was planning something big for the coming months. Immediately an alert was sent out to all law enforcement and intelligence agencies, encouraging vigilance and support. Among the intelligence being received by the FBI, was that two known terrorists had entered the country, as well as reports of strange activity in flight schools around the country. Between June and August of 2001, the Federal Aviation Administration received 52 reports on threats relating to al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. However, mysteriously these reports never reached the White House or NSC staff. The reports allegedly never even reached Dale Watson, the Executive Assistant Director, in charge of counterterrorism, at the FBI. Then, after nine months of waiting, the National Security Council was able to brief the head of departments at a Principals meeting in the White House on September 4th, 2001. The meeting was centered on al Qaeda and threat of attacks inside the U.S., and was originally planned for January 25th, to urgently discuss counterterrorism tactics. At the meeting, Richard Clarke and George Tenet (Director of CIA) stressed the urgency of defeating al Qaeda. Again Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz pushed to move the discussion to Iraqi funded terrorism. With obvious disagreements in policy ideas, the members of meeting left without a concrete plan to counter terrorism. Seven days later, al Qaeda carried out their plan to bomb the World Trade Center and Pentagon and attempt to bomb the White House, killing a total of 2,977 people. Two years later, the United States invaded Iraq.



**ANALYSIS **
September 11th, 2001 was a day that shook the world socially, economically and politically. On that day, an entire government shifted its focus. I inactions of an administration lead to devastating results, which drastically effected life in 2001, and continued to do so in the following decade. The inability of a government not only lead to a terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, it lead to one of the stock market’s biggest overall plunges and subsequent job and capital loss in one of the United States’ core economic markets. The attacks also had a large impact on the Bush administration’s counterterrorism and homeland security policies. Finally, the terror attacks and the administration’s subsequent lack of accurate information on the men held responsible, lead to nation-wide, unfounded prejudice towards Muslim and Middle Eastern Americans. It took nine months for an administration to ignore repetitive warnings, but only on day for an entire nation to be irrevocably altered.

The Economy
On September 11th 2001, the twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsed after two hijacked planes crashed into them, the same week the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 1,369.7 points or 14.3%, the then-largest one-week decline, until the 2008 global financial crisis. In many ways, the 9/11 terrorist attacks and ensuing fear exacerbated the economic decline in 2001. However, by the early months of 2001, the economy was already facing a standstill, and was threatening to reverse some of the gradual growth it had experienced through the 1990’s till early 2000. At the time of the September 11th bombings, the economy was in it’s 3rd quarter of contraction was in obvious decline. An example of the decline in the United States economy (represented through its productivity) subsequent to 9/11 was the shift from resources inside the government used to increase the productive capacity of the U.S., to resources used in the development of security that thus slowed the growth in national productivity. Another indicator of the September 11th terrorist attack’s negative influence on the national economy was the effect on New York City’s own economy. The 9/11 attacks cost New York City 143,000 jobs a month after the attacks and $2.8 billion in the three months following the bombings.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Policy
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The terrorist attacks on September 11th were also an opportunity for the Bush Administration to implement a wide range of anti-terror policies. Many of these policies extended the executive powers of the president and were questioned by both the public and the courts, resulting in debates over their constitutionality. Among the changes in the government was the implementation of the Department of Homeland Security. The Department of Homeland Security, or DHS, was created in 2002 under the Homeland Security Act of 2002. The department was created to respond during natural disasters and protect U.S. territory from terrorist attacks. Another example of the administration’s anti-terror policy was its use of ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’. The U.S. used techniques such as water boarding on prisoners in Guantanamo Bay when confronted with the issue of how to deal with al Qaeda prisoners. In 2008, Congress banned this form of torture from use by United States personnel. Another technique the Bush administration instated was the use of warrantless wiretapping, which allowed intelligence agency to monitor phone calls, text messages, Internet activity and other forms of communication involving any persons outside of the U.S. This operation was highly controversial in Congress, which received no notification of this executive order, and believed such techniques to be unconstitutional. Today the intelligence operation has been revised to require probable cause, and in most cases a warrant to wiretap. The willingness of the Bush administration, after the 9/11 attacks, to prevent future terrorist attacks was a stark contrast to the same administration’s unwillingness to take action prior to 9/11. However, since 1980, the amount of National Security Legislation has been increasing. In the 2000s, 9x as many acts were passed relating to national security then in the 1980s. Growing numbers of terrorist attacks on government and embassy buildings worldwide contributed to the enforcement of U.S. homeland and national security. The shift in the administration’s focus can be attributed to the opinion of the public and constituency. Prior to the terrorist attacks, the Bush Administration focused on the cutting taxes. After the terrorist attacks there was a large push for quick action and reassurance that the government was operating as efficiently as possible to protect the American people.



<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Anti-Islamic Prejudices
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In World War II, racial profiling was used to collect Japanese American citizens and intern them, to prevent any in-country attacks. After the September 11th terrorist attacks, Muslim Americans faced similar prejudices. As fear of al Qaeda and future terrorist attempts mounted, many people inside the United States, including airlines and government officials, began discriminating against Americans of Middle Eastern or Asian decent. In 2002, five airline passengers of Middle Eastern and Asian decent, filed five different lawsuits against different airlines, claiming they were racial profiled and discriminated against. Such reports following 9/11 are not uncommon. Claims have also been made that shortly after the terrorist attacks, the FBI gathered Muslim and Middle Eastern men to question them concerning the attacks. Such chauvinism in the United States government reflected the feelings of the American public after 9/11. Yet, the September 11th attacks simply exacerbated already formed prejudices in the US. Instances of anti-Islamic violence date back to the 17th century, but more recently took form as far back as 1995, after the Oklahoma City Bombings. Due to inaccurate media coverage, many citizens were led to believe that the Nation of Islam had been credited for the attacks. This misinformation resulted in the harassment of a local Iraqi resident, as well as the destruction of several Muslim homes. In a report following the bombings, the Arab American Institute stated, “more than 200 serious hate crimes were committed against Arab Americans and American Muslims. The same was true in the days following September 11 <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 17px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">.” <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Many Americans unjustly blamed Muslims or all Middle Eastern people terrorist attacks and history has shown they aren’t afraid to let their opinions be heard. These sentiments can still be felt today through actions taken by extremists like Terry Jones. Terry Jones is a Floridian pastor who burned the Quran, the Islamic holy book, in memory of September 11th. These examples of bigotry in the United States subsequent to the terrorist attacks are a result of prejudice towards the Middle East.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In one day, an entire nation was forced to alter nearly every aspect of its infrastructure and life. Due to nine months of inaction, the Bush administration created a ripple effect of disasters and changes in the United States. The results of the US’s inabilities lead to economic, social and political changes in the country. The extent of September 11th’s devastation went beyond the terrorist attacks. The aftermath of 9/11 resulted in a drastic economic decline, changes in homeland security policy as well as a wave of bigotry in the United States towards Muslim and Middle Eastern Americans. In the end, the terrorist attacks on the United States took years to plan, but only one day to devastate.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">WORKS CITED <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Associated Press. "Report Says FAA Got 52 Warnings Before 9/11 (washingtonpost.com)." The Washington Post: National, World & D.C. Area News and Headlines - The Washington Post. Washington Post, 10 Feb. 2005. Web. 25 May 2011. [].

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