Post 9/11 Propaganda
By: Natalie Wong
What Is Propaganda?
Propaganda has been around for centuries. It essentially is biased or misleading information that is used to promote or expose different political views and issues. Many people use it to communicate with an audience to get a point across with more visuals than words. Propaganda encourages the target audience to believe the message the speaker is trying to portray. It can be very manipulative and isn't always the truth. It can appear in the form of posters, cartoons, articles, and artwork.
What Happened on 9/11?
A little under 20 years ago, the world was struck with a horrific terrorist attack known as 9/11. On September 11th, 2001, the Wahhabi terrorist group, Al-Qaeda preplanned 4 coordinated terrorist attacks on the United States. It was the deadliest terrorist attack in history, killing over 2,000 people and injuring over 25,000 innocent people. Hundreds of first responders lost their lives while trying to save the lives of many Americans.
Nineteen Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four different planes the morning of September 11th. Two of the planes crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. In less than two hours, both towers collapsed. Following that attack, the third plane crashed into the Pentagon, which was the headquarters for the U.S. Department of Defense in Virginia. The fourth plane was headed towards the capital, but ended up crashing into a field in Pennsylvania. The attacks were responsible for the death of many innocent lives, the destruction of infrastructure, and set the country's economy back.
After the United States launched the War on Terror and invaded Afghanistan, many automatically pointed fingers at the Al-Qaeda terrorist group and believed they were responsible for the attacks. Their leader Osama Bin-Laden denied all accusations of involvement with 9/11, but he finally came out in 2004 and admitted to being responsible for the attacks. He went into hiding from the U.S. for almost a decade, he was found my U.S. troops and killed in Pakistan in 2011.
What Was Life Like After 9/11?
After the attacks of 9/11, many countries build up and increased their anti-terrorism laws and gave their law enforcement more power in fear of any terrorist attacks. The fear and anxiety that the terrorist attacks caused were compared to the feeling after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Airport security has continually gotten stronger and stricter. The military was expanded and heightened. Surveillance was increased and the way Americans lived changed. The night of the attack, President Bush came out and made a promise to "find those responsible and bring them to justice." Although the attacks created a lot of chaos and harm, it brought the entire country together. September 11th created a huge uproar in anti-muslim violence.
What Was Propaganda Like Prior to 9/11?
Prior to 9/11 many people were against war and didn't want the country to engage in a War on Terror. A lot of propaganda supported isolationism and avoiding war at all cost. People never thought that something so horrible could happen again. They weren't self aware of the possibilities and plans that the terrorists had. The United States wanted to focus on its own country and not involve itself in foreign affairs or any wars. A lot of propaganda focused on the growth of America and promoted the idea of isolation.
How Did Propaganda Change After 9/11?
America's foreign policy changed post 9/11 and rather than continuing their isolationist movement, the country came together and declared a War on Terrorism. The United States shared a common goal of preserving American soil and the lives of its citizens. Many associated all Muslims with the Al-Qaeda terrorist group attack. It created this inner hate towards the religious group. People grew suspicious of them and believed that they all had ties to the terrorists. Propaganda switched from discouraging war to encouraging the War on Terror. They encouraged people to answer "the call" and respond to the terrorist attack by fighting back. They also fed into the anti-muslim violence. The propaganda would tell people to not consider Muslims as Americans and created this divide between America and middle eastern people.
Hate Towards Islam
[https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/911-what-we-can-do/]
War on Terror
[https://www.hstoday.us/subject-matter-areas/cybersecurity/a-virtual-9-11-how-terrors-transformation-complicates-our-long-war/]
Works Cited
“(PDF) The Revival Of The Propaganda State US Propaganda at Home and Abroad since 9/11.” ResearchGate, www.researchgate.net/publication/245518018_The_Revival_Of_The_Propaganda_State_US_Propaganda_at_Home_and_Abroad_since_911.
“19 Years On, Does a Post-9/11 Generation Remember the Attacks?” Voice of America, www.voanews.com/usa/19-years-does-post-911-generation-remember-attacks.
Bernstein, Isabella. “Reality: For Generation Z Teens, Life before 9/11 Is a Mystery.” Bucks County Courier Times, Bucks County Courier Times, 11 Sept. 2020, www.buckscountycouriertimes.com/story/lifestyle/2020/09/11/reality-teens-life-before-sept-11-mystery/5751104002/.
Gerson, Michael. “U.S. Isolation Is Bad Policy, Even If Americans Say They Want It.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 13 Oct. 2014, www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/michael-gerson-us-isolation-is-bad-policy-even-if-americans-say-they-want-it/2014/10/13/651fad6c-5300-11e4-892e-602188e70e9c_story.html.
Roos, Dave. “5 Ways 9/11 Changed America.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 1 Sept. 2020, www.history.com/news/september-11-changes-america.
“World Trade Center and Pentagon Attacked on Sept. 11, 2001.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 12 Sept. 2001, www.latimes.com/travel/la-xpm-2001-sep-12-na-sept-11-attack-201105-01-story.html.
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