GLOBALIZATION AND COORDINATED ATTACKS OF THE UNITED STATES 9/11
Terrorism is a complicated phenomenon in its own right and defies simple characterization. The September 11th incident marked a new era in world politics so much as the case of “business as usual. Globalization and terrorism are somehow interrelated but complicated terms in today’s politics. Globalization has taken a central stage in international arena. The technologies associated with globalization include commercially available handheld radios and phones that have paved way for terrorist cell members and groups to operate freely and independently at substantial distances from one another and network together. The global system for mobile communication standard ensures that any compliant phone will work anywhere in the world where GSM network has been established.
The 9/11 hijackers utilized cheap and readily available pre-paid phone cards to communicate between cell leaders and senior leadership and according to at least one press account, coordinated final attacks authorization prior to the jets taking off from different locations (Baylis et al,2008).The events of September 11th changed global security dramatically. The definition of security was narrowed down. The incident shattered along with it was a series of cosy assumptions about the world within which we happen to live-one of the most influential of which was that under conditions of globalization the propensity of international conflict would likely diminish than increase. The terrorist attacks on the New York and Washington revealed only too graphically, globalization not only appeared to have many determined enemies as well –meaning friends but enemies of a quite novel character.
The World Trade Center was destroyed by coordinated attacks using civilian aircraft with aviation fuel as the method of destruction. The crisis has emerged within an hour or two this morning in New York City, Washington, DC, and in a field of Pennsylvania. The destruction not only produced mass casualities, it also changed the assumption about terrorist use of hi tech technologies. The attacks on the pentagon in Washington were perceived as attacks on a military target and on the other hand the attacks on the World Trade Center were a civilian target and those who lost their lives were truly innocent victims. On the morning of that day, the first pictures of the burning World Trade Center surprised most Americans. The fall of the towers of the Trade Centre marked the beginning of the real of the 21st century in the same way the real 20th century began with the guns of August 1914.Scoring the significance of this attacks is not easy perhaps the answer is to begin with those actors involved and the act itself. It is true to say that in attacking the America especially the world trade centre which is the heart of global capitalism, the terrorists were trying to fight to what they see and perceive as the belly of the beast, the centre of the United States empire (Brown $Ainley,2005).
The movement and actions of top leaders in government on September 11th revealed some insight information. President Bush was in his daily briefing that morning and it appeared to have some reference of the heightened terrorist risk reported throughout the summer. When the briefing was still on the planes that were to be hijacked began taking off. Then after when it was clear that the United States was under terrorism attacks, President Bush went and sat down in a classroom and began a pre-planned photo session. The attacks received condemnation from world leaders, other political and religious entities and other international communities and media.
In conclusion the September 11th event took place in one country, United States but was witnessed and observed throughout the world. The television pictures of the second plane crashing into the world trade centre were probably the most widely seen pictures in the television history. This was a world event which had many implications than the just represented deaths. The attacks were carried out by 19 individuals from Al Qaeda group a shadowy organization. The reactions to the event throughout the world were intense, instantaneous, and very mixed. Although there were some jubilation by some Arab and Muslim countries that the west generally and the United States had been hit; in many other countries there profound shock and disbelief and there was an immediate empathy with the United States. Although the attacks were not carried on just ordinary buildings of the United States; the pentagon is the symbol of the United States military power, the world trade centre was an iconic symbol of the world financial network. Many individuals of approximately 90 nationalities were killed in the attacks on the World Trade Center (Baylis et al 2008).
