Americans lack historical perspective:
Six years after the September 11 attacks on the United States, most Americans view the plane hijackings that killed around 3,000 people as the most significant historical event of their lives, according to a poll released Monday.
I would never downplay the tragedy of September 11, 2001 for a second. But it was not the most significant event in recent U.S. history, much less all of American history. In fact, by exaggerating the signifigance of that day, Americans are doing exactly what Osama bin Laden wants.
Yes, three thousand people died on that day, the United States fell into a moderate recession, and the United States invaded a Middle Eastern country (Afghanistan) that harbored and aided those who were responsible. But those were the only direct effects of the terrorist attacks. Everything that came later — the Patriot Act, the War on Terror, the invasion of Iraq, Guantanamo Bay — were only indirect results. President Bush chose to pursue these actions, rightly or wrongly, in response to the attacks (and possibly with other motivations).
In the scope of recent world history, September 11, 2001, in and of itself, pales in comparison to the signifigance of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union. The direct effects of this event — the former led to the latter — were that the entire world no longer lived under a fear of nuclear annihilation, that hundreds of millions of people were no longer living under an authoritarian regime and now had a chance for democracy and that the United States could now spend less money on its military and invest in itself. I’m sure I’m missing a few other things as well. With all due respect to the victims of September 11, mild economic turmoil and the deaths of 3,000 people cannot compare to the events of 1989 and 1991.
As far as other events in American history, I’d also place World War II and Watergate (both of which are still in living memory) above September 11 in terms of significance. The effect of World War II, which includes the Cold War, the Holocaust and led to the refounding of the State of Israel, should be obvious. Watergate poisoned the U.S. political climate and made an entire generation of young people apathetic, indifferent or even hostile towards politics, as well as untrusting of politicians. More than thirty years later, I’m still not sure we have recovered. This is not a sign of a healthy civil society.
If we exaggerate the importance of September 11, allow our minds to obssess over the attacks and change our lives significantly, then Osama bin Laden can pridefully claim a larger victory than he ever should have been allowed. And that will only inspire him and his ilk.
Earlier: The Causes of 9/11
Elsewhere: The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart gave the best speech I’ve seen following that day: Any fool can blow something up; to rebuild something is extraordinary.
Related posts:
I have been wading through 9–11 posts all day and I must say you have written a stand out post. This was thought provoking, excellently written and a unique perspective. Thank you for the insight!
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I feel that the reason 9–11 is so significant is more so the fact that the nation came together and really showed unity in that time, rather that the attacks themselves.
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Reflections on the 9–11 Attack
The 9/11/2001 attack on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon was a major shock to our country. We have had no external attack on our mainland since the 19th Century. We have had good reason to feel very secure.
We have been attacked before during the last 100 years, but it was an attack on Hawaii, not the mainland. World War II started for us with the Japanese 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. The immediate deaths that resulted from that attack were about the same as those that happened on 9–11. The battles that followed and the results were not.
There is no comparison of the strategic threat between the two. The Japanese were trying to destroy our Pacific fleet stationed in Pearl Harbor. They had already attacked and conquered China and other South East Asian territory. They had allied themselves with Hitler and Nazi Germany in order to dominate the the World. There was no question over the very real threat. They had massive standing armies and powerful industrial resources to support them.
The Al Quiada attack, although horrible to experience, was not a strategic threat to our country’s well being. It is a terrorist dream to be able to create such havoc. That is their goal. Terrorists have no real power to do sustained damage to superior opponents. Their objective is to provoke the power they attack into reacting in a way that damages itself.
Al Quiada manpower, at that time, totaled no more than a few thousand mostly scattered over the Arab world. Their strategy was simple. Devise a plan that involved as few participants as possible to invoke as much shock and damage as possible. Unfortunately for us, their plan worked even better than they could have hoped. Unfortunately for them, it was plan that was difficult to repeat as demonstrated by the passenger rebellion that thwarted the fourth plane from reaching it’s target. They have not been able to conceive and mount a proportionate follow-up attack.
President Bush did mount a plan to go after bin Laden in Afghanistan that made effective use of resources but did not secure the gains made. Unfortunately, he ignored the strong international support growing out of the 9–11 attack. Ideally we would have mounted a joint political effort to erode the sources of terrorist support. This combination of military and political power is the only way to defeat terrorists.
Instead, Mr. Bush chose to seek power and oil in the middle east by misleading the American people into backing an attack on Iraq. This was a major strategic mistake. Al Quiada recruiting increased. Our country’s strategic losses have mounted since that decision was made.
Our loyal citizenry has suffered enormously. Many have lost husbands and wives. All of us have been burdened by nearly a trillion dollars in added national debt. Regrettably, the United States no longer has a strong moral leadership position in the World.
The September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the United States was shocking. It should not have been a strategic threat to the United States. It only did long term damage to our country because we failed to follow our announced strategy of defeating Al Quiada terrorism. Our leadership allowed it to happen.
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9/11 WAS AN INSIDE JOB
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As the discussion revolves around the historical significance of 9/11 and one of the commentators above goes to great lengths to explain that the USA has never had an attack on the mainland since the 1900’s — I’d just like to keep the historical record straight by pointing out that the mainland was indeed attacked by the Japanese on the 23rd of Feb 1942. The ‘Ellwood Shelling’ saw the Japanese try to destroy an oil production facility at Santa Barbara Ca by firing upon it from a Submarine.
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And just to keep my own historical record straight, I should point out that I gave the wrong e-mail address
it shoudl be bengoodwin@y7mail.com
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Good point, Ben. People forget that.
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