TWO DECADES LATER THE ENDURING LEGACY OF 9/11

 

 

Americans watched in horror the terrorist attacks of September 11^th 2001, left nearly 3.000 people dead in New York, Washington DC, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.  Nearly 20 years later, they watched in sorrow as the nation’s military in Afghanistan which began less than a month after 9/11 come to a bloody, chaotic conclusion.

 

The enduring power of the September 11^th  attacks is clear:  An overwhelming share of Americans who are old  enough to recall the day they remember where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news.

 

A review of US public opinion are two decades since 9/11 reveals how a badly shaken nation came together in a spirit of sadness and patriotism.  How the public initially rallied behind the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and how the Americans viewed the threat of terrorism at home and the steps the government took to combat it.

 

As the country comes to grips with the exit of the military forces from Afghanistan, the departure has raised long-term questions about the United States foreign policy and America’s place in the world.  Yet the public’s initial judgement, on that mission is clear: a majority endorsers the decision to withdraw from Afghanistan. After a war that cost thousands of lives and trillions of dollars in military spending, a new survey finds that 69% of Americans say that that the USA has mostly failed in its goals in Afghanistan.

 

Shock, sadness, fear, and anger the 9/11 attacks inflicted a devastating emotional toll on Americans.   A first survey following the attacks was published just days after 9/11 from September 13-17, 2001.  A sizable majority of the Americans said they were depressed, nearly half (49%) had difficulty concentrating and a third said they had difficulty sleeping. 

 

It was an era in which television was still the public’s dominant news source 90% said they got the news about the attacks from television, compared with just 5% who got the news online and the televised of death and distraction had a powerful impact.  Americans were enraged by the attacks also.  Three weeks after 9/11, even as the psychological stress began to ease 87% of USA citizens said they were angry about the attacks on their country.  Fear was widespread through 2001 and most Americans said they were very worried about the attacks and how their lives had changed in a major way.  They felt more afraid, more careful, more distrustful and more vulnerable since 9/11.

 

Even after the immediate shocks of 9/11 had subsided, concerns about terrorism remain at high level in the major cities of the USA.   The impacts of the 9/11 attacks were deeply felt and slow to dissipate. 

 

A year after the attacks,80% of Americans said it was the most important event that happened in their lives, to their country. The importance of 9/11 transcended age, gender, geographic and political differences.  The 2016 study noted that seven-in-ten Democrats and Republicans named the attacks as great historical events.   

Let us hope that this will never happen again anywhere in the world because there is nothing worse than terrorism, not even war, and it is due to religious discrimination and hate which are not proclaimed in any religion.  

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