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Jenson Hernandez

Dr. Cope

History-1700

10 April 2016

President George W. Bush Address 9/11

The primary source document I have chosen is from former President George W. Bush.

This document is an address after the September 11, 2001 attacks on the twin towers in New

York and the Pentagon in Virginia. A big talking point about this document is the choice of

having to go to war against Al Qaeda over these recent events. They have claimed responsible

for the attacks and now-at the time- they have to decide if going into the middle east to catch

these terrorist would be the right way to bring them to justice. This took the U.S. and

Afghanistan on a 13 year war a little bit later after this address.

President George W. Bush hit a couple of topics during his 9/11 address. One topic is the

amount of support the United States have gotten all over the world. Along with those in our

country mourning the loss of strangers, but because they are part of this country it doesn't matter

if they dont know each other. People form different types of backgrounds come to pray for those

whose lives are lost....the saying of prayers -- in English, Hebrew, and Arabic. We have seen

the decency of a loving and giving people who have made the grief of strangers their own.

Along with the people of our nation, those around the world are also showing support for

us. America will never forget the sounds of our National Anthem playing at Buckingham

Palace, on the streets of Paris, and at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate. These countries are not just
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showing support due to this tragedy, they want to help so much more than that. Later in the

document President Bush mentions at number of countries that have already expressed their

gratitude to help us.

President Bush goes on to tell the American people who was responsible for these

attacks. The terrorist group Al Qaeda and leader Osama Bin-Laden plotted and executed these

terrorist attacks. President Bush then demands the terrorist to come forward and face justice for

what they have done. Deliver to United States authorities all the leaders of al Qaeda who hide in

your land. Release all foreign nationals, including American citizens, you have unjustly

imprisoned. Protect foreign journalists, diplomats and aid workers in your country. Close

immediately and permanently every terrorist training camp in Afghanistan, and hand over every

terrorist, and every person in their support structure, to appropriate authorities. Give the United

States full access to terrorist training camps, so we can make sure they are no longer operating.

These demands are made to stop the growing and distribution of this terrorist group.

The president then talks directly the to Muslim community of the United States. Talking

about the religion and prayers they do are respected and done by millions of people, but letting

the Muslim community know about these terror attacks and how they go against what they

believe in. ...those who commit evil in the name of Allah blaspheme the name of Allah. In

present time there are still issues involving the Muslim community and how the public views

them. Basically implying that these Muslims that committed these attacks under the name of

Allah are committing treason towards their religion and running the name of Allah

President Bush goes on to telling Americans what America will do next when it comes to

fighting terrorism. All the United States can get a hold of, will be used to stop terrorism around
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the world and bring forth those joined with these terrorist groups. Preparing America for a

lengthy campaign against terrorism and not just one battle. President Bush creates a cabinet-level

position known as the Office of Homeland Security that will report to the president, names

pennsylvania's Tom Ridge a military veteran to be the leading force against terrorism in our

country. Not just this cabinet-level position is going to help, Intelligence agencies like the FBI

are also going to investigate and find ways to stop terrorism alongside other intelligence agencies

from their allies.

This terror attack not only impacted the United States, but also sent out a warning to the

whole world. Helping with this fight against terrorism could stop it before it comes to your town

or city. Asking people from all over to help and corporate with the police if asked. To bring in

any information that could lead to stopping these terrorist groups and to support us during these

times of grief and confusion.

President Bush does come up with some events that have happened in the past. He

mentions the war with Iraq a decade before these terrorist attacks happened. This war will not

be like the war against Iraq a decade ago, with a decisive liberation of territory and a swift

conclusion. The Gulf war a decade ago only lasted for about a year. President Bush gives an

idea and explains terrorism like this wont just go away in one year. A lengthy campaign with

resources and determination will put an end to this. President Bush was right about the lengthy

campaign in Afghanistan, it started in 2001 and ended in 2014. 13 years to me is pretty lengthy

especially on the amount of money and resources we spent on this war(4.8 trillion).

President Bush also gave summary of all the past locations of wars the United States has

been a part of. ...for the past 136 years, they have been wars on foreign soil, except for one
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Sunday in 1941. These terrorist attacks were more personal to us because they attacked us in

our own home. Over the 136 years of wars the United States have participated in, this is the

second attack to happen on U.S. soil meaning all the others attacks have been elsewhere. World

War 1, World War 2, and the Vietnam war were all fought on foreign soil and not on U.S.

territory.

Other topics President Bush looked into this address can have multiple meanings

depending on how you understand them. We have seen the unfurling of flags, the lighting of

candles, the giving of blood, the saying of prayers -- in English, Hebrew, and Arabic. The fact

that Hebrew and Arabic prayers are being said could be strange to people since many Muslims

speak these languages. President Bush implying that all communities of different races have their

own ways mourn and express support towards those who lost their lives. Adding in the different

types of languages gets off tension on that certain community. It amazes me how people make a

hasty generalization about a race based on the actions of one person. Not all people of that race

are terrorist or racist, its just those who want to stain the culture of their race. I guess you can

call them the bad apples of the group, and those bad apples are being an example to bash people

of their race is not right. In present day this is still an issue we are trying to solve, but it just

seems to be going nowhere with the path we have taken right now.

Creating a whole new cabinet-level position may have had an even more intense feeling

to catching this terrorist. Creating a whole new force with new people and new methods just for

one cause shows the lengths the President is willing to go to catch these terrorist. Within the

document, creating a new division and appointing a leader for this division so quickly shows the

readiness and comeback ability the U.S. are going to have. At least when I was reading this
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document I was still a little surprised that after a few days of the attack happening, they were

able to write, pass, and put into action a new cabinet-level position.

When talking about this terrorist group Al Qaeda, President Bush brings up some actions

and beliefs they do around in their organization. The terrorists practice a fringe form of Islamic

extremism that has been rejected by Muslim scholars and the vast majority of Muslim clerics -- a

fringe movement that perverts the peaceful teachings of Islam. The terrorists' directive

commands them to kill Christians and Jews, to kill all Americans, and make no distinction

among military and civilians, including women and children". Telling the American community

that Al Qaeda are the worst of the worst and they give their help to defeat this evil force. This

could definitely look like a way to rally up the people around the world to go against this group

and their beliefs, to fight with America to stop these types of groups.

Talking directly to Muslims of this country showed them that this is not their fault. They

shouldnt be at fault due to the actions of a couple of bad apples with the same race. President

Bush then says ...those who commit evil in the name of Allah blaspheme the name of Allah.

Form this sentence I also get the feeling that he wants to rally the Muslim community as well as

the world to not be like them, to not help them in another way because these terrorist are giving

your religion a bad name. Going directly towards a person's religion can be considered a risky

move done by President Bush. Although this could offend people because he is going directly

towards religion, it's a strong statement to get let everyone know what is happening.

President Bush then goes on to talk about the effect these attacks will have on the rest of

the world. They understand that if this terror goes unpunished, their own cities, their own

citizens may be next. Terror, unanswered, can not only bring down buildings, it can threaten the
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stability of legitimate governments. Basically telling the world to help out against this epidemic

and stop it once and for all. If not, these terrorist have the chance to attack your cities and towns

well-knowing that governments will not do anything against them. This is a plea for unity against

terrorism and to put all their efforts to stop this from happening again.

This document was written and address in 2001, now we are in 2017 and mostly

everything that former President Bush predicted has happened so far. The war of Afghanistan

lasted a staggering 13 years, ISIS is now the terrorist group causing chaos around the world, and

the effort against terrorism will only grow while theyre still up. Going to war against terrorism

in my eyes has been semi-successful due to the war in Afghanistan, but there are still significant

amount things going on in the world that breaks down all the support we have put into stopping

terrorism.