Twenty three years ago, the United States was attacked by terrorists. These attacks would lead to the deaths of 2,977 innocent people and affect the lives of millions more.
On Sept. 11, 2001, 19 Al-Qaida hijackers took over four commercial flights where they flew two of the planes into World Trade Center towers in New York City, one plane was flown into the Pentagon and the final plane crashed into a Pennsylvania field because of the passengers retaking control of the plane.
9/11 was one of the most influential events within recent history. Anyone who was alive during the attacks has a story of where they were when they heard about these attacks. Outside of the direct casualties of thousands of people as well as their families, every American was affected by these attacks.
Americans across the nation started showing support for their country in a wave of patriotism never before seen on this scale. It didn’t matter what the beliefs of each person was, everyone felt attacked.
Our nation may have been attacked, but we were more united then we ever had been before.
In response to these attacks, the government decided to declare war on terror. Our nation launched attacks into Afghanistan to try and destroy Al-Qaida camps and territory. The spread of the war on terror didn’t just stop there. From 2002 to 2003, the government invaded Iraq and overthrew Saddaam Hussein in the process of trying to eradicate terrorism.
Ten years after the attacks, Osama Bin Laden, leader of Al-Qaida and mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, was assassinated by American troops in his compound.
The war on terror continued to rage on even after the assassination of Osama Bin Laden. New terrorist organizations are starting to emerge in the area including ISIS.
America’s presence within these countries would stay prevalent until our troops would withdraw from the country in 2021. Under President Biden, America withdrew all of their troops out of Afghanistan, which officially ended America’s involvement in Afghanistan.
Looking back at everything that happened, many Americans do not agree with the country’s response to the war on terror as of today. The war on terror has been a controversial topic and a major point within politics for the last few election cycles, but the original response to it was well supported by most Americans right after 9/11.
Outside of the government’s response, changes were made in our country that affects every American every day. Some of these changes are things like the TSA, The PATRIOT Act, immigration restrictions, homeland security and many more changes and issues that we all face today.
Many of the effects of 9/11 can still be felt even 23 years after it happened. Millions of us weren’t even alive during the time of these attacks but we continue to remember the tragedy that happened that day. Our lives were forever changed after these events.
