9/11 AS TIPPING POINT HOW AMERICANS VIEW TERRORISM POST 2001

THE WAR ON TERROR “Whether we bring our enemies to justice or bring justice to our enemies, justice will be done.” – President George W. Bush, 2001

AFTER 9/11 THE UNITED STATES SAW TERRORISM AS … “Acts of war” against the United States This means that the United States would wage a war against global terrorism and “pursue nations that provide aid or safe haven to terrorism. Every nation in every region now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists.” – President George W. Bush How did the Bush Administration decide to fight a war with an enemy that does not have “home?”

AFTER 9/11 THE UNITED STATES SAW TERRORISM AS … A violent outlet of “radical” Islam Also called political Islam or Islamic fundamentalism, many terrorist groups which justify their actions through their identity as Muslims fall into the category of “Islamic fundamentalists.” Even though President George W. Bush stated that, “The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam. That's not what Islam is all about. Islam is peace. These terrorists don't represent peace. They represent evil and war.” Many Americans have questioned the religion of Islam and if there is justification for war and terrorism, or if Islam is a violent and fanatical faith.

On May 10th, 2010 a middle-aged man carried a can of gasoline and a pipe bomb into the Jacksonville Islamic Center of Northeast Florida during evening prayers and detonated it. Fortunately, there were no injuries to people, though the bomb did damage property. “We should profile Muslims, or anyone who looks like he or she could conceivably be Muslim, and we should be honest about it.“ – Sam Harris, prominent atheist activist ISLAMOPHOBIC ACTIONS BY AMERICANS

WHAT DOES A MUSLIM LOOK LIKE? "What does a Muslim look like? The 9/11 hijackers didn't have beards and 'dressed Western.' The shoe bomber wasn't Arab or South Asian. Sikhs wear turbans. The majority of American Muslim women don't wear hijab. The majority of Arab Americans are Christian--though they often share the same names as their Muslim counterparts. Perhaps Harris would support an initiative that required all Muslims to sew a crescent and star onto our clothes. It would make his airport security time a more pleasant experience. (Though, I suppose, it wouldn't have stopped [Timothy] McVeigh or [Anders] Breivik.)“ - Hind Makki, American Muslim and writer

TERRORISM HAS BECOME LINKED TO ISLAM Since 9/11 a majority of discussion, worry, and debate regarding terrorism, and its threat to the US has been based on terrorists being Islamic fundamentalists