Abstract
The United States experienced a series of airplane hijackings and suicide attacks that militants undertook. On September 11, 2001, about 19 militants belonging to a renowned Islamic extremist group, Al-Qaeda, started bombing the US cities of New York City and Washington, D.C. (Marouf and Nicholas, p. 23). More than 2,700 people were killed, including all the militants, in an attack orchestrated by an airline hijacking where the attackers had boarded four domestic aircraft at three East Coast airports (Ali 2021, p.239). The militants turned off the communication between the crew and took complete control of the aircraft. Reliving the memories of the September 11 attacks triggers the US to adopt effective mechanisms to combat terror attacks through a foreign policy that does not alter diplomatic relations or abuse the human rights system.
Exploring the 9/11 attacks is worthwhile because it enables readers to understand the intelligence warnings about the security gaps that the country had and might have, which makes the population’s well-being a threat. Additionally, reviving the topic shows the importance of exploiting history and noticing the security risks associated with geopolitical tensions between the US and other groups that have resorted to religious extremist wars. The 9/11 memory challenges the US security system’s preparedness and capacity to handle unforeseen threats. The role of journalism and media in shaping those stories is that they help readers revisit the event and recall the dire straits the country was in, instilling clear information about the 9/11 attacks in the country. Thus, readers can understand US history better and have a chance to vividly reflect on security and security intelligence capability, as well as the evil world where inhumanity can be exercised with subsequent financing by extremist powers.
This report aims to interview a veteran firefighter who witnessed the event on that fateful day before embarking on a life-saving mission at New York’s Ground Zero. The interview will take place in his rural home in Ohio on July 15, 2023, where a series of questions will be administered orally. The veteran would be asked three types of questions for specific knowledge. First, questions that trigger his personal outcome from the event, where he will note how the attack shaped him as a firefighting agent in the military. Secondly, the questions would also be affixed to the reflection of the aftermath of the attack on American citizens and foreigners living in the US. Lastly, he will be asked questions relating to the changes the US made and lessons learned from the unfortunate event.
Annotated Bibliography
Fathollah-Nejad, Ali. 2021. “Iran’s International Relations in the Face of U.S. Imperial Hubris: From ‘9/11’ to the Iraq War.” Studies in Iranian Politics 4 (8): 235–269. Web.
This scholarly work has been written and published in an academic journal, and it has been peer-reviewed by relevant groups to ensure its authenticity. The source is significant because it contributes to reliving the 9/11 attacks and their impact on US geopolitics. It mentions the US’ regime change’ that saw momentous changes in addressing security using a foreign policy that may challenge countries such as Iran. The author notes, “Addressing our theoretical query on outside–inside dynamics, it shall be asked how US post-9/11 policies and postures have affected Iranian security and foreign-policy debates, and ultimately the state–society complex” (Ali 2021, p. 235). The statement means the US installed specific international relations elements intended to counter similar happenings in the near future.
Galston, William. 2022. “How America’s Response to 9/11 Contributed to Our National Decline.” Brookings. Web.
The source is not a scholarly item since it has not yet been published in a formal journal or book, but it is available on a website for readers to access and read. The source is significant to the thesis because the author has established that the US military focuses excessively on the Middle East. That raises ideological differences in its foreign policy, making geopolitical forces disadvantage the world due to heated rivalry for supremacy and a lack of bravery in handling national and international affairs. The writer says, “Since 2001, the United States has spent about $2 trillion in direct warfighting costs in Iraq and Afghanistan. One estimate places the total cost at $4 trillion, not counting the long tail’s outlays for treating the physical and mental damage…” (Galston 2023 para. 9). It means the US has had enormous policy choices from the 9/11 attacks, where the money would have been used in domestic public policy instead of fiscal restraints that inflict rivalry with these countries.
Gunaratna, Rohan. 2021. “The 9/11 Effect and the Transformation of Global Security.” Council on Foreign Relations. Web.
The work is non-scholarly since it is a website written and uploaded for readers’ access. The source is significant because it shows the US, its allies, and adversaries’ all-encompassing changes in the utilization of state machinery and expertise to respond to terror. Additionally, it helps show the weakening of international human rights systems due to the war on terror. The article notes, “This new kind of armed conflict—geographically and temporally unlimited—is fought between terrorists and counterterrorists, violating human rights” (Gunaratna 2021 para. 15). That means the US geopolitics has led to brutal occasions due to arbitrary detentions, and enforced disappearances through extraordinary rendition.
Marouf, Hasian A., and Nicholas S. Paliewicz. 2020. “The Fortification of New York City: Post-9/11 Memorialization and the Localization of the War on Terror.” Memory and Monument Wars in American Cities 3 (6): 21–57. Web.
This scholarly article has been uploaded to an official academic journal. The source is helpful in the essay since it emphasizes woundedness, resilience, and arrogance that have shaped the country’s domestic and foreign policy. The memories of the attack wounded the victims and put the country into powerful organizational security arms. The authors have noted “In the wake of the terrorist attacks, our analysis shows how New York went through three stages—woundedness, resilience, and arrogance—that have shaped its personality in powerful ways” (Marouf and Nicholas, 2020, p. 21). That shows that reliving the memories continues to open ways in which similar attacks could be prevented.
Kamarck, Elaine. 2021. “9/11 and the Reinvention of the US Intelligence Community.” Brookings. Web.
This is a non-scholarly source that suggests the attack was a failure of the government to ‘connect the dots’ in anticipation of what was coming. The source is significant to this thesis because it informs readers about the US’s lack of action, as revealed through data collected from satellites. The writer says, “The lead up to 9/11, the government collected vast amounts of data but failed to make sense of it. The US government collected vast amounts of information daily via its satellites…” (Kamarck 2021 para. 3). That means the US intelligence community’s failure to follow the Soviet monolith has been a critical element behind the pressure to change the policy and create federalized security at the airport since then.
Steiner, Tobias. 2018. “What Would Jack Bauer Do? Negotiating Trauma, Vengeance, and Justice in the Cultural Forum of Post-9/11 TV Drama, from 24 to Battlestar Galactica and Person of Interest.” European Journal of American Studies 13 (4): 12–17. Web.
This scholarly source helps the reader see how reliving memories is characterized by trauma and the need for revenge for the affected groups. The source is essential because it provides insight into how the media facilitated the trauma due to explicit footage that was live on air regarding the matter. However, the media also play a vital role in reflecting the attack. The author writes, “I consider television capable of providing a shared social space in which a transfer of the witnessed, traumatic chaos of the event into a narrativized, more structured and explainable form might be achieved to reestablish meaning, and thus stability, for its audiences” (Steiner 2018, p. 14). That shows that the media can be a crucial contributor to reliving memories and can cause emotional falls for the affected individuals or groups.