Terrorist Attack on America

Descriptive Essay

By Bobby Curtis

            Recently the United States of America was shaken to its very foundation by a series of terrorist attacks.  This has been the subject of continuous media coverage.  This terrorist attack destroyed the twin towers of the World Trade Center and a wall of the Pentagon, caused a huge recovery effort and a burst of patriotism in the United States, and pushed the U.S. government to declare “war on terrorism.”

            On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, onlookers were stunned to see a jet plane crash into the North Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City.  Unbeknownst to New Yorkers, a matter of minutes later a plane crashed into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.  While citizens of New York were wondering how such a horrible accident could happen, another plane crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.  This proved to be the worst disaster the United States has faced since the bombing of Pearl Harbor, which “awakened the sleeping giant” and brought the United States into World War II.  The Islamic terrorists, armed with knives and box cutters, hijacked four airplanes from around the country in order to use them as weapons of mass destruction.  One of the planes, however, crashed in rural Pennsylvania when a group of men overpowered the terrorists so that they couldn’t fulfill what they thought of as a divine command.  The loss of one plane, though, did not stop them from committing the most devastating act of war against civilians in American history.

            The attack on America, as the media has dubbed it, brought a unity to Americans unknown in decades.  The mayor of New York, Rudolph Giuliani, began immediately to engage in rescue efforts to save those trapped in the rubble of the now-collapsed towers of the World Trade Center.  Across the country, Americans united to give blood, show their patriotism, and simply pray for those affected most by this tragedy- the victims and their families.  People united around recently elected President Bush and he has proven his leadership through the way he has handled this crisis.  We can rest assured that the government will attempt to protect us from any further attacks by clamping down on security in airports and conducting a broad investigation of all possible accomplices in this horrific deed.

            The United States immediately condemned the participants of this terrorist act.  The day of the attack, President Bush declared that the attacks were acts of war, and that the U.S. would vent its wrath on not only the terrorist organizations, but also on “Those who would harbor them.”  Backed by almost every country in the world (with the exception of the Arab nations), the United States proceeded to launch a worldwide investigation on the whereabouts of Osama bin Ladin, the terrorist suspected of masterminding these heinous acts.  The U.S. military was put on the fullest peacetime alert it has ever been.  Talks of bombing those who harbor terrorist cells, mainly the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan, have filled the airways of international media.  The people of America edge inexorably toward war with those who would launch an attack on the very American way of life.

            The terrorist attacks have been an unprecedented attempt to destroy the underlying foundation of America.  Terrorism, by definition, is a violent act designed to inspire terror.  Islamic radicals, fearing the freedom that America symbolizes, would see the citizens of America paralyzed by fear for their lives.  The only way these radicals could defeat America would be from within, by causing Americans to distrust their own neighbors.  Hopefully, these terrorist acts will have been in vain, because American citizens will have united into a bond that goes beyond race, sex, religion, or nationality.  We will have unified into a nation capable of putting terrorism on its knees.