From 9/11 to Post 9/11 America

“There was a before 9/11, and there is an after 9/11.” -- Cofer Black, former Head of the CIA Counter-Terrorism Center

“The world has changed so much that it is hard to remember what our lives were like before that day.” -- Condoleeza Rice, former National Security Advisor to President Bush, January 2001 to 2004 (later Secretary of State)

(1)What changed? (2) How radical are these changes? (3) How long have these changes lasted?

9/11 America, Part 1

I.On teaching 9/11: Everything changed?

II. What happened? Official government explanation

III. What happened? Unofficial explanations

IV. Creation of a 9/11 commission

V.Government Agencies and “The Wall”

VI. Post-9/11 Domestic and Foreign Policy from the Bush Administration to the Obama Administration

Name Nationality Age on 9/11/01 Social Class Role

KSM Kuwait 36 Middle Mastermind

Hamalbi Indonesia ? ? Coordinator

Abd Al Rahim Nashiri

Saudi Arabia ? ? Coordinator

Ramzi binalshibh Yemen 29 ? “20th hijacker”

Mohammad Atta Egypt 33 Middle Pilot

Marwan al Shehhi

UAE 23 Middle Pilot

Ziad Jarrah Lebanon 26 Middle Pilot

Hani Hanjour Saudi Arabia ? Middle Pilot

14 of the muscle hijackers

Saudi Arabia 20-28 From Lower to Upper

Muscle

Fayez Banehammad

UAE 20-28 ? Muscle

Source: 9/11 Commission Report. For muscle hijackers, see CIA Analytic Report “The Plot and the Plotters” June 1, 2003 pp. 34-52, but I can not find this report on the internet.

Unofficial explanations

Popularity in the US of unofficial explanations, sometimes referred to as conspiracy theories ,is difficult to estimate/

9/11 Truth is the centermost organization in the 9/11 conspiracy movement. There is suspected bias in the poll. Their mission:

TO EXPOSE the official lies and cover-up surrounding the events of September 11th, 2001 in a way that inspires the people to overcome denial and understand the truth; namely, that elements within the US government and covert policy apparatus must have orchestrated or participated in the execution of the attacks for these to have happened in the way that they did.

Some main points of contention:

-- There was advanced knowledge of the attacks, and some public figures were warned not to travel on 9/11, and Jews were told not to go to work that day.

-- The planes that hit World Trade Center 1 and 2 were, variously, unmarked planes or remote-controlled guided planes or were guided in following a homing-beacon.

-- American Airlines Flight 77 did not hit the Pentagon, which was hit by either a missile or a small drone aircraft. Strangely, the only footage released of this from Pentagon security cameras shows no plane and is dated 12 September.

-- The collapse of the Twin Towers was due to reasons beyond the impact of the planes and the ensuing fire. Some have suggested that charges were planted in the buildings. This explains the demolition-style collapse of the buildings and numerous reports of people saying they heard explosions prior to the collapse.

-- Cell phones do not work well at an altitude of 33,000 ft (10,000m), raising the question of how passengers called relatives.

-- Hijacker Satam Sugami’s passport was found undamaged in the street in downtown Manhattan; in contrast, the black box flight recorders for American Airlines Flight 11 and United Flight 175 were never found.

-- Some of the named 19 hijackers are allegedly still alive in the Middle East.

What is a conspiracy?

It is planning, conducted in secret, to effect an outcome that is a surprise to everyone but the conspirators. It requires the ability to organize disparate entities, people and organizations, and mobilize resources all without the knowledge of key actors who would be hostile to the outcome and could prevent it from happening.

The 9/11 Commission

Congress conducted the first investigation in 2002.

9/11 Commission was brought about through pressure headed by the Family Steering Committee, comprised and headed by relatives of the victims of 9/11.

On November 27, 2002, President Bush signed a bill creating the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, a.k.a. The 9/11 Commission.

The 9/11 commission learned from the experience of the investigations after Pearl Harbor… The 9/11 Commission wanted to blame systems, not people.

The 9/11 commission became political theatre.

9/11 Commission recommendations “called for clarifying the FBI’s authority to investigate terrorist groups, eliminating CIA regulations that hindered use of informants linked to terrorist organizations, placing terrorism high on the agendas of officials at the CIA, FBI and NSA, and establishing new reporting procedures to quickly disseminate terrorism-related information to all interested officials” (56).

Post-9/11 Domestic and Foreign Policy from the Bush Administration to the Obama Administration

Ideology(a)This is not a crime: this is war War on Terror

(b)U.S. strength (and values) in the face of

adversity U.S. as the force of democracy in the world

(c)Unity and Unilateralism

(d) Us versus Them „You are with us, or you are with the terrorists”

Post-9/11 Domestic and Foreign Policy from the Bush Administration to the Obama Administration

Action

(1) War on Terror (domestic)(2) Expansion of power of the Executive Branch of U.S. government(3) The 9/11 Commission(4) Government Reorganization “With bureaucracy there is birth but never death.”(5) Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (and Pakistan)

[bold = likely most durable impact of 9/11]

-- National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, AKA „9/11 Commission”

Government Responses to 9/11

-- Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

-- Office of the Director of National Intelligence, or O.D.N.I.

-- Transportation Security Administration (TSA)

Government Responses to 9/11

-- Homeland Security Advisory System

-- Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)

Government Responses to 9/11

1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan; slow start of U.S.’s covert proxy war1981 Ronald Reagan administration begins; increase in U.S. support for covert proxy war1985 Support by U.S. of mujahedin and Afghan rebels reaching its height1989 George H. W. Bush administration begins; Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, UBL creates al Qaeda1990 Iraq invades Kuwait; Persian Gulf War or “Gulf War I” begins.1991 Operation Desert Storm/Persian Gulf War ends.1992 UBL in Sudan1993 Clinton administration begins; Terrorism in WTC via truck bomb; U.S. led military operation in Somalia1995 Oklahoma City bombing by domestic terrorists1996 Taliban takes over key parts of Afghanistan; UBL expelled from Sudan; Atlanta Olympics bombing by domestic terrorist1998 U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania bombed 2000 USS Cole, docked in Yemen, attacked by explosives loaded on a skiff2001 George W. Bush administration begins; September 11, 2001 attacks

I believe the United States is the beacon for freedom in the world. And I believe we have a responsibility to promote freedom that is as solemn as the responsibility is to protecting the American people, because the two go hand-in-hand. Freedom is not America’s gift to the world. Freedom is G-d’s gift to everybody in the world… we have a duty to free people. -- President Bush, Interviewed by Bob Woodward in 2002

States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world. By seeking weapons of mass destruction, these regimes pose a grave and growing danger. They could provide these arms to terrorists, giving them the means to match their hatred. They could attack our allies or attempt to blackmail the United States. In any of these cases, the price of indifference would be catastrophic.-- President Bush, SOTU January 2002

We have experienced the horror of September 11. We have seen that those who hate America are willing to crash airplanes into buildings full of innocent people. Our enemies would be no less willing -- in fact they would be eager -- to use a biological, or chemical, or a nuclear weapon. Knowing these realities, America must not ignore the threat gathering against us. Facing clear evidence of peril, we cannot wait for the final proof -- the smoking gun -- that could come in the form of a mushroom cloud.”-- President Bush, October 2002, on why America might go to war with Iraq

9/11 and the Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq

What were the official reasons for going to war in Afghanistan and Iraq?

What was the role of the “pro-war movement” in the United States?

What are the major criticisms of the official reasons for war and of the pro-war movement arguments, especially with regard to the connection between 9/11 and the Iraq War?

What is neoconservatism? What is the Bush Doctrine?

Military Hegemony

Pre-emption

Unilateralism

America is Ascendant

Moral Duty to Promote Democracy Abroad (America as a Force for Good in the World)

Democracy is Contagious

Reluctance to Enter into International Agreements

Privatization and the Free Market

also: idealism, „big picture,” and optimism

A psychological portrait of President George W. Bush:

-- CEO presidency. The president is like a CEO of a major corporation, and tasks are not to be micromanaged. He selects personnel and leaves them to sort out the problems.-- Clear, simple ideas without nuance.-- Best to follow one’s “instinct.” Bush is a “gut player.”-- Once decision is made, decision will be defended as the correct choice and enforced.-- Core values are forever—they do not change, no matter the circumstance.-- Strength projected through certainty and stability.-- Loyalty to subordinates, and demands loyalty from subordinates.-- Personal relationships with subordinates is good for management: it limits conflicts that slow decision making and builds consensus.-- U.S. Presidency is position of morality. The president should be a moral role model.-- World contains good and evil.-- Be big and ambitious.

What were the official reasons for going to war in Afghanistan and Iraq?In addition to the neoconservative worldview…

Afghanistan:Taliban accused of harboring UBL and sponsoring terrorism against the U.S. and its allies.

Iraq:-- Saddam Hussein non-compliant with UN resolutions. Sanctions considered a failed policy. -- Iraq probably has WMD and is likely to use them against the U.S. -- Hussein is an evil dictator who is hurting his people. The Iraqis need to be liberated.-- Support for Palestinian terrorists in the past.

What are the major criticisms of the official reasons for war and of the pro-war movement arguments, especially with regard to the connection between 9/11 and the Iraq War?

A. Over-hyping the Iraq threatB. Not enough evidence that Iraq has WMD or poses

an imminent threatC. Reasons for war unclearD.No credible evidence that Iraq had anything to do

with the planning or execution of 9/11E. War in Iraq is mainly about exerting American

control over Iraq’s oil supply (and other economic incentives)