Each generation has a defining moment, one that prompts individuals to ask, "Where were you when . . .?" Usually such moments are national; rarely does a single event touch lives across the world. Sept. 11 was one of those international tragedies. A year ago today, the world watched transfixed as hijacked airliners crashed into targets in the United States (one, thanks to the heroism of its crew and passengers who overcame the terrorists, plunged to earth in a Pennsylvania field). The crashes killed more than 3,000 people, heralding the arrival of a grim, new era. The events of Sept. 11 have had a profound effect on governments and individuals worldwide. Yet it is unclear whether we have truly absorbed the lessons of that day.
The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks ushered in a new era of insecurity in the U.S. As only the third foreign attack on U.S. soil during the country's history, they shattered the myth of American invulnerability. For two centuries, the U.S. had been confident that two oceans insulated it from the turmoil and tumult of other parts of the world. Sept. 11 ended that false sense of security.
In response, the U.S. took military action against the government in Afghanistan, a country that most Americans could not find on a map and whose grievances they could not understand. President George W. Bush spoke openly of the presence of evil in the world and of his country's mission to terminate the threat posed to peace and security. For him, the choice was simple: Nations are either "with us or against us." After defeating the Taliban and taking on "the second front" in Southeast Asia, the war drums are beating louder as the U.S. administration lays the groundwork for an assault on Iraq, another regime that speaks the language of the Sept. 11 terrorists.