“BOOM” was the noise that thundered across New York City on the morning of September 11th, 2001. A noise that would forever change the lives of many people. Terrorists associated with Al Qaeda, a group that was founded by Osama Bin Laden, hijacked four airplanes and flew two of them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. The third plane collided with the side of the Pentagon, the country’s military headquarters, coming in close contact with Washington D.C. The last plane, United Airlines flight 93, was crash landed in an open field in the middle of Pennsylvania. Such a devastating act of terrorism led to public outrage across the nation. It came as no surprise that the government had to respond to its people's distress …show more content…
The Middle East lies above some of the largest oil deposits in the world, ones in which America had to have. Unfortunately, the United States gets into things they do not need to because of money. Money is a very strong contributor to the decisions of the country. This oil brought new wealth into those countries, wealth that was very quickly stolen from them. The concept of having something taken from the people did not go over well with the citizens of the Middle Eastern countries The United States has had a long history of involvement in the Middle East because of its oil resources and due to that, U.S. soldiers were stationed in the Persian Gulf in order to protect the oil fields from being attacked by other countries. The United States was secretly helping Iraqi rebel groups to oust Hussein, the fifth president of Iraq.The Iraqi rebels asked the U.S. to send American jets due to the fact that the Hussein found out and sent in helicopters to kill the rebels. For instance, in the book titled Understanding September 11th by Mitch Frank it states, “When people throughout the Middle East saw the Americans abandon the rebels, it confirmed America was willing to fight to liberate Kuwait, an oil-rich monarchy and ally but not to help the Iraqi people, who had little to offer America.” This influenced the Middle Eastern to question America’s loyalty due to its foreign …show more content…
After World War II the Soviet Union and the United States rivaled to gain more allies. The United States believed democracy was the best hope for the world. The Soviet Union believed in a rigid communist form of government. Once the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan implementing the Carter Doctrine. The article, Carter Doctrine by Elizabeth Matthews states,“It was acknowledgment that the security of the United States was interdependent with that of the Persian Gulf. The invasion of Afghanistan raised the fear that it was only the first step in a Soviet plan to cut off access of the Western powers to the oil from that region.” Meaning the United States protected Afghanistan from the Soviet Union in order to protect the soil. The United States believed that if they did not prevent countries from forming an alliance with the Soviet Union then they would be outnumbered later on causing communist to rule take over the world. Once many countries in the Middle East started receiving large amounts of financial and military aid for more than fifty years, the Middle East soon began to perceive that the Americans believed in freedom for themselves but helped dictators deny freedom to their citizens. For instance, in the book Understanding September 11th by Mitch Frank it states, “The United States government was so focused on keeping the Soviets out of the Middle East that it often ignored the needs
For the United States, the Gulf region remains one of the most geo-strategically important locations in the world for diplomatic, intelligence cooperation, and business opportunities such as hydrocarbons and arms. This strategic cooperation has provided the region some stability, particularly with the rise of Iran and the Shi’a crescent and the chaotic outcome of the war in Iraq. The council members have also relied on the United State to fend off some of the domestic challenges to the existing regimes that are both internally and regionally rooted.
On September 11, 2001, there was a terrorist attack against the United States. Hijackers flew a jetliner into each of New York’s World Trade Center towers. Simultaneously, a third jetliner crashed into the Pentagon in Virginia. Due to these horrific events, thousands of people were killed. In response to the attacks, the United States declared a “War on Terror.” However, the actions of the U.S. did not come without criticisms from the people of the nation.
The role of the Middle East has been very crucial to the United States, especially after WWII. The U.S. had three strategic goals in the Middle East and consistently followed them throughout various events that unfolded in the region. First, with the emergence of the cold war between the Soviet Union and the U.S., policymakers began to recognize the importance of the Middle East as a strategic area in containing Soviet influence. This also coincides with the U.S. becoming increasingly wary of Arab nationalism and the threat it posed to U.S. influence. Secondly, the emergence of the new Israeli state in 1948 further deepened U.S. policy and involvement in the region while also creating friction between the U.S. and Arab states which were
On September 11, 2001, four commercial aircraft were hijacked by terrorists who led an attack on America by crashing the planes into buildings. This attack created destruction, trauma, death, and fear. There had not been an act of war of this magnitude since the bombings of Pearl Harbor, and it shook the foundation of American exceptionalism. Americans exceptionalism is sometimes taken too far and it can create the idea that the United States is invincible. Therefore, when something of this scale takes place, a backlash is formed and the question of, ‘how did this happen’ is brought up. This new fear of airplanes becoming missiles brought the citizens of our county to bring a call to action to our government.
On the morning of September 11, 2001, an Islamic terrorist group known as al-Qaeda carried out a series of four attacks on the United States. The most well-known attack is when two commercial airline planes crashed into the Twin Towers in New York City. Many innocent lives were lost and families were torn apart. While many Americans were determined to show their resilience towards the attacks, this is a day many Americans will never forget. Although the attacks happened sixteen years ago, Americans are still dealing with the impacts these attacks have had on life in America. The 9/11 attacks have had several long-lasting effects on everyday life in America, some of which include an increase in airport security, a change in national security, and an increase the fear of terrorism.
On September 11th, 2001, the worst terror attack on US soil took place. 19 people associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaeda took 4 airplanes and carried out suicide to kill people in the United States. Two of the planes hit the World Trade Center, another plan hit the pentagon just outside Washington, D.C, and the fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. These attacks caused massive destruction, forcing the U.S to combat terrorism and “defining the presidency of George W. Bush” (History). 9/11 is one of the most tragic events in the history of America, minute by minute people feared and this fear brought the country together in a way that it never did
After World War 2, the United States took over Britain’s job of overseeing the Middle East. The United States tried to avoid conflict while preventing the spread of communism. They successfully stopped the spread of communism, but couldn’t have done much worse trying to prevent conflict and stabilize the Middle East. The United States policy destabilized the Middle East, Iraq in particular, by overthrowing the Hussein regime at a poor time and deepening the anti-Western attitude in the Middle East.
The Middle East is very important to the US. Many events have happened since our involvement with the Middle East such as the Cold War, the OPEC oil embargo, the Camp David Accords, the Persian Gulf War, and the 9/11 attacks. Over time, the US has went from focusing on containment to natural resources and then defense and safety in the Middle East and America.
“The United States recognizes the provisional Government as the de facto authority of the new State of Israel.” These are the words of President Harry Truman from a speech he gave shortly after Israel became a recognized nation in 1948. Consequently, the political leaders of the United States have brought America on a rough journey to the current state of foreign policy and relationship with Israel. Since 1948, the United States’ active position in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has seen very little change or progress towards achieving settlement between these two nationalistic states. In the last 65 years, the majority of U.S. presidents repeated mistakes made by their predecessors in office, and this in turn has had little
It is true that resources such as oil are maybe being exploited by our ever growing need for gas and fuel in the United States, but those eastern countries are still being paid. United States presence in these countries is often unwelcome by the unofficial governments like the faction controlling Somalia in Black Hawk Down but much of the rest of the world recognizes America’s efforts and successes in maintaining human rights and suppressing hostile or otherwise corrupt governments in less than welcoming states. Without the assistance of the United States, many countries would fall to power hungry autocrats and terrorist organizations would grow unchecked. What the United States has begun in its endeavors to keep the world in balance, must continue and “the U.S. cannot shrug off the burden of global leadership” (In Modern
On September 11 2001, an attack was made on United States. Four systematic terrorist attacks were pulled off by the group al-Qaeda simultaneously bringing down the World Trade Centre in New York and damaging the Pentagon in Washington D.C. As extensive and in depth as the cause for the attack may have been, September 11 is an event that has undoubtedly left its mark in American history. A turning point, as some would call it, of the political, social, and economic systems of the United States. Quickly following the terrorist attack on 9/11, President George W. Bush called for a “war against terrorism.” Instead, what truly occurred was an act of counter terrorism. After 9/11, the political system of America took a turn for the worst;
The United States has been involved in the affairs of the Middle East for decades and they’ve had various reasons for being there, whether it was to wage war or to prevent outside influence that would undermine their own influence in the region, it always seemed to revolve around one thing: oil. As we all know, oil is a very profitable resource and it’s a huge part of many nations’ economies and because this is the case many wars are fought over this black liquid. The U.S. is no different in that they did just about anything to maintain their access to Middle East oil. As a result, United States actions in the Middle East today has been formed through the decades long desire for their oil.
On September 11, 2001, 19 terrorists who were members of the Islamic terrorist organization named al-Qaeda, hijacked four commercial airplanes and committed suicide attacks against the United States. Two of the planes were ran into the towers of the World Trade Center (Twin Towers) in New York City, a third plane hit the Pentagon just outside of Washington, D.C. The fourth plane crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. The attacks resulted in mass death and destruction, triggering the United States initiatives to fight terrorism and defend our country. Over 3,000 people were killed during the attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., among these people were more than 400 police officers and 300 firefighters, these heros lost their lives
“One of the good things about the way the Gulf War ended in 1991 is, you 'd see the Vietnam veterans marching with the Gulf War veterans” (George H. W. Bush). President Bush stated that the Persian Gulf War was not fully supported by the soldiers who fought in the war. Gulf War veterans marched like Vietnam veterans because they also viewed the war as unjustified. Persian Gulf War veterans would say, “American soldiers lost their lives’ for oil.” The first Persian Gulf War started from August 2, 1990 and ended on February 28, 1991. This war began by the invasion of Kuwait by Iraq. During this invasion some of the oil fields of Kuwait were set on fire and some of the oil spilled to the Persian Gulf. The Persian Gulf was the oil supplier for western countries. So anything happened to the Persian Gulf, the western countries will naturally react. The factors that led to The United States’ involvement in the first Persian Gulf War included Saddam Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait, his control over a sizable share of the world’s oil reserves and his power over the economies of the world. Many Americans believe that the first Persian Gulf War was not necessary for the United States.
On September 11, 2001 the World Trade Center buildings one and two were attacked. However, who we were attacked by and even if we were attacked is a hard decision to make. There have been many different claims about how everything on that fateful day happened. There are facts that we know are true, though; Flight 11 flew into the North Tower at eight forty- six in the morning. Soon after, Flight 175 attacked the South Tower. By the end of the day, both towers had collapsed and other hijacked flights had caused damage. The amount of lives lost on September 11 was substantial; 2,749 people from eighty-three different countries died from the attacks (Facts about the attacks…, n.d.). All in all, America was changed forever.