The effects of the 9-11 attacks on America

The changes that have occurred in this nation over the past 9 years should seem frightening to any freedom loving Americans. We went from one of the most free nations on Earth to being one of the most spied upon peoples by our own government which sees each and every one of us as a potential terrorist.

9/11 Terror Attacks & Their Effect on America

Silent leges enim inter arma (“In times of war the laws fall silent”) is the celebrated Ciceronian epigram that has betokened the end of free states for more than two millennia. America has fought a number of wars already in which our leaders have seen fit, for one reason or another, to curtail the liberties of our citizenry by changing the laws of the land, undermining the U.S. Constitution, the rights protected in the Bill of Rights, and common law protections of individual sovereignty.

It is certainly not coincidental that the militarization of American society has encouraged the militarization of law enforcement at every level, from federal agencies that now routinely spy on American citizens the way opposing armies engage in espionage and surveillance to ever-more heavily armed and aggressive police forces that often behave like occupying soldiers.

The changes since 9/11 have been dismaying to those of us old enough to remember an America without police checkpoints, a Department of Homeland Security, and airports that did not regard every passenger as a potential terrorist. It’s hard now to recollect what it was like to drive up to Canada on vacation without passports or having to endure a gauntlet of suspicious border personnel, or to open a bank account without multiple proofs of residency, or to use a word like “terrorism” in a phone conversation or email without wondering momentarily how many eyes and ears might be listening or reading.

We therefore ought to reflect as Americans on the potential long-term cost, both in lives and in laws, of the War on Terrorism. As we remember the fallen on 9/11 and all those who have since given their lives to combat Islamic extremists, we should determine not to allow the power of such events to utterly overwhelm our heritage and our liberties. We should decide to give voice once again to that portion of our laws that we have permitted to fall silent.

The New American


To think, if you believe the OS, this was all brought on us by just 19 men with a few boxcutters. Shows how easy it is to screw up a whole nation. Unfortunately, it takes a whole lot more work to begin to fix things, if it even is possible to fix what has been done to us.

I wish to contribute but it looks like you said it all.
Star flag and Thanks for the fine points.

apathy and instilled or perceived fear within a given populace works wonders with regards effecting changes which would have otherwise been seen as near impossible to achieve without.

Apathy & Fear == the New black ... well, not so New but the Jones's are trying to keep up.

The big turning point could be the November election if enough emcombants get voted out the remaining will fall inline toward cooperating.
Please don't be a foolish voter, your children lives and the American republic are counting on your judgement.

Originally posted by Granite
The big turning point could be the November election if enough emcombants get voted out the remaining will fall inline toward cooperating.
Please don't be a foolish voter, your children lives and the American republic are counting on your judgement.

What are emcombants ?

Probably more of an event staged to bring about a situation on a populace that was already primed for these kinds of changes . It wouldn't be the case with the French for example . They would be out in the streets in another storming of the bastille if they tried that the same thing on them . But the Amercans were already primed , dumbed downed from years of media lies and bull# , it was just the next natural stage .

I know this has most likely been said before. By someone far more knowledgeable then myself. But to me all this war in the middle east, 9/11, terror.... the list goes on and on. Is just a rehash and renaming of the crusades.

It's like someone just said Ok, we need a war, but were to lazy to come up with something new. So let's rehash the crusades, and add some terrifying event to avenge. That way everyone is with us and it will be easier. To get what we all want out of it. Because the excuses we have been using are beginning to wear kinda thin. Not to mention we can win one for our own personal religious/(add whatever other reason you wish) here.

Now of course I know the "We want all the oil" argument, and all the other conspiracy's As we all do, but this one just kinda stuck. Nuff said.

Well we wouldn't want the prosperity which defined the period between the end of the cold war and the beginning of the war on terror to continue would we?

I was born into a world where I was assured that sooner or later, the Russians would launch their entire nuclear arsenal at us and that we'd retalliate with ours, thus wiping out every single living thing on the planet. At school I can remember having "nuclear war" drills where we were instructed to curl up into fetal balls under our desks. I recall a made for television movie called "The Day After" that gave me such horrible nightmares I was actually put into counseling my my schoolteacher when I discussed it with her.

Then the cold war suddenly and abruptly ended. Russia caved in. (Even then, as Reagan basked in the death of communism and the communist threat, my first thought was "What about China?" - but that's a whole other subject.)

And, wow, what a time that was! A few years passed and I was making great money! I had a really, really nice house and a brand new SUV. In fact just about every working person I knew was living the life. We were having one Hell of a party.

But we started caring about local politics. We started watching C-Span and writing to our Senators and Congressmen about American issues. We began to pay attention to our own house, as it were.

Then came 9/11. And with it a brand new boogeyman. Gone was the visage of a bad man in a grey coat and a fur hat - replaced by the specter of an angry Arab, ululating and brandishing an AK-47. A brand new cold war for a brand new generation. A new thing to fear.

Now the big houses are all in foreclosure, the SUV's are all repossessed or traded in for tiny, overpriced "green" tin cans. And we aren't asking as many questions about local politics. We're fixated on wars in sandboxes and six foot tall Arabs who may or may not even be alive.

Yup, the powers that be learned their lessons about letting us live without an enemy to hate.

Id also like to point out it has woken up many millions of people all over the world who, before, maybe were more or less ignorant to history and politics to the fact America is one of the most insidiously corrupt and abhorent regimes on the planet. Every negative has a positive i suppose.

reply to post by Johnze


I just hope they keep in mind that it is our government and their corporate masters who made the US so corrupt and evil, not the American people.

The American people have failed in their duty to elect honest and just representatives but, they did not intentionally vote in people who were wicked and evil. Often they were tricked into voting for the lesser of two evils because the system prevented any real, decent men to enter into the competition.