Capitol Report
By State Representative, Leon D. Young
Leon D. Young
A lot has happened in the aftermath of the egregious terrorist of 9/11. It’s hard to believe that fifteen years have flown by since that infamous act, ushering in a new world order.
Few of us will ever forget precisely where we were the moment we heard about the events unfolding on September 11, 2001.
However, for those of you who may not have been born or might forgotten the stunning series of events that occurred, here’s a succinct overview: On September 11, 2001, 19 militants associated with the Islamic extremist group al-Qaida hijacked four airliners and carried out suicide attacks against targets in the United States.
Two of the planes were flown into the towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, a third plane hit the Pentagon just outside Washington, D.C., and the fourth plane crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. This tragic series of events is often referred to as 9/11.
The attacks resulted in extensive death and destruction, triggering major U.S. initiatives to combat terrorism and defining the presidency of George W. Bush. Over 3,000 people were killed during the attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., including more than 400 police officers and firefighters. Clearly, the most consequential result of 9/11 was America’s military excursions into two wars.
In 2003, the U.S. launched its military invasion in Iraq. Although Iraq had nothing to do with the terrorist attack on 9/11, the surge in public militancy made it politically possible for the first time for neoconservatives to implement this longstanding item on their agenda.
U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan was another legacy of 9/11, of course. Unlike Iraq, it was related to 9/11 with regard to al-Qaida’s presence in Afghanistan under the Taliban.
But years ago, the intervention morphed from a counter terrorism operation into more of a nation-building operation. And now it has become America’s longest war.
Another consequence of 9/11, but much closer to home, was the Patriot Act. Hastily passed 45 days after 9/11 in the name of national security, the Patriot Act was the first of many changes to surveillance laws that made it easier for the government to spy on ordinary Americans by expanding the authority to monitor phone and email communications, collect bank and credit reporting records, and track the activity of innocent Americans on the Internet.
While most Americans think it was created to catch terrorists, the Patriot Act actually turned the government’s surveillance eye on regular American citizens.
Maybe the best conclusion we can reach as we look back from this anniversary is this: The United States of America is resilient. Our nation weathered the worst attack against civilians on our soil in our history.
We united in ways we never have before, and we fought back. In 15 years, there has not been an attack on our soil that has come close to the severity of 9/11.
We’ve debated issues: We disagree over how to vet immigrants into our country, we’ve disagreed on how to end and recover from two deep recessions, and we’ve fought our enemies overseas for years while debating the validity of those wars.
Now we face an election in which we seem to be more divided than we have been in more than 150 years. But, in the end, our Democracy and way of life still stands.