Following the 9/11 attacks, there was a lot of symbolism that was created that was either accurate or inaccurate. However, it played a tremendous response in the way that the US responded to the situation. People tried to looks for terms that summed the complicated events of that day. This led to a broad range of interpretation and emotions that were attached to them. The symbols served to condense and absorb the understandings that were diverse depending on who you asked. The different interpretations of the US 9/11 attacks have shaped government policy prescriptions, and we continue to see the drama unfold.
It is normal for American to come up with names to describe terrorist events such as “Columbine”, “Jonestown” etc. however, this time, the “Twin Towers” was not enough and they coined the term “Ground Zero” which seemed to suffice. Their need for simplification led to the false symbolism that made the situation escalate and affected the response from the government.
Ground zero
After the 9/11 attacks, the first newspapers were already labeling New York city as ground zero. Anyone who is familiar with the term knows that ground zero is used to mean a spot where a nuclear explosion has occurred. As much as 9/11 was deadly, it was not a nuclear attack; the smoke was not a mushroom cloud, and it was neither civilization ending. The attack did not end civilization let alone New York.
War
Many top politicians including George W Bush and John McCain declared that “we are at war.” Three days after the attack, Bush said that it was the first war of the 21st century. As much as they would have wanted us to believe that, AL Qaeda was notGermany, and the attack was not an act of war but rather an act of terrorism. Anyone who dared correct them was derided or insulted. This was the reason America went on a global attack on any country it thought was an immediate threat. These have left us with the Iraq and Afghanistan war that have not made the situation better.
Other Forms of Symbolism
Weapons of Mass Destruction
American were now aware that Terrorist groups could get access to cheaper and hard to deter weapons that could inflict a lot of damage. This was used as a reason for invading other countries that were thought to be producing such aweapon. People were less likely to question the government when it waged war on a country that had a “Weapons of Mass Destruction” label on it.
Transnational organization capabilities of Al Qaeda
Al Qaeda, a less known terrorist organization, was nowon the minds and lips of every American. It was now evident that globalization had made it easy for such groups to facilitate communication and money transfer across borders.
Low cost of power projection
An organization that did not have the means to move an army across the US borders or have any capacity to be conceived as a threat was now an offensive threat just because it could project its power to the US.
Us Prominence as a Target
Another importance symbolism from the 9/11 attack shows that the US, a country with the most powerful military and ability to be a core player in the world was now a key target by terrorist groups.
Works Cited
Bernstein, Richard. 2001. Out of the Blue: A Narrative of September 11, 2001. New York: Times Books.
Mearsheimer, John and Stephen Walt. 2003. “Iraq: an Unnecessary War,” in Foreign Policy, January/February, pp. 50-59.
