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Nathan Stewart
Professor Jenel Cope
History 1700
Fear
In our day and age, there is a fear that sits in the hearts of many
American people, sometimes apparent, and sometimes subconscious. This is
a fear of terrorism, and sometimes, this fear of certain types of people,
especially Muslims. But where exactly did this fear come from, or at least,
when did it really start to take heart in the American people? After the
terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, America
and the world was shaken up from this horrendous attack. Soon after, then
president George W. Bush gave a speech in his address to the nation that did
a great job of bringing together the people of the nation in that time of
terror, and it brought hope. However, the speech shows fearful ideas about
terrorism and terrorists that still lives in the hearts of Americans today, and
while it is very significant document in our nations history, some parts of the
speech can do more harm than good.
A little bit of backstory is necessary to fully understand the ideas in the
speech George W. Bush gave, and this backstory goes even further back
than just the September 11th attacks themselves. In the years prior to the
attacks, there had been other terrorist attacks committed by men from the
middle east, mainly the 1993 shootings at CIA headquarters, and the 1993
World Trade Center bombings, which killed six and injured over one

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thousand. These attacks started to build fear in the people of the nation, but
nothing too big or widespread. That is, not until 2001. The September 11th
attacks solidified the fears Americans were beginning to have, and spread
across the entire nation. On the night after the attacks, President George
Bush gave his address to the nation, and in that address, certain thoughts
and ideas still resonate in the minds of people today.
First, let me quickly get out of the way the very good things that were
said by President Bush in his address. He spoke very eloquently and boldly,
showing courage and hope in the time of crisis. He states that A great
people has been moved to defend a great nation. Terrorist attacks can shake
the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the
foundation of America This very statement alone gives hope, it shows the
very best of American culture and its people, especially when he mentions
These acts of mass murder were intended to frighten our nation into chaos
and retreat. But they have failed; our country is strong. He made sure to
confirm that the government would continue to function, and that those
responsible for the terrorist attacks would be dealt with. But this is where the
document gets troubling.
However great or inspiring the speech was, and it was good, he
mentions a couple of key thoughts that can cause problems when taken way
too close to heart. One of the first things to mention is his statement that
America was targeted for attack because we're the brightest beacon for
freedom and opportunity in the world. And no one will keep that light from

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shining. At face value, this isnt necessarily a bad or untrue statement. Yes,
there are those who would like to harm us because of our freedoms we
enjoy, especially since we are a nation that regularly speaks about our
freedom. The problem with this line of thinking, however, is that people now
often will blame any kind of negative attack, talk, protest on America as
them hating us just for our freedom. They wont look further into sometimes
very complicated subjects, and would rather just sum it up as They just hate
us because of our freedom or terrorism.
President Bush then goes onto say that We will make no distinction
between the terrorists who committed these acts and those who harbor
them. This is basically stating that there is no difference between terrorists
and the places they would call home. This starts to become part of what is
known as the Bush Doctrine, which many would say is what lead us to go
to war in Afghanistan and Iraq, but it doesnt just do that. The idea that there
is no real difference between terrorists and where they reside starts to form
the idea that people in the places terrorists come from must be terrorists as
well, or at least, have the same ideas. This also ties back into the previous
idea that we were attack because of our freedoms, as people begin to get
the idea that those who live in areas with a high amount of terrorists must
hate our freedom, and because of that, must be terrorists as well. Along with
that, the president mentioned that Today, our nation saw evil, the very
worst of human nature, and while it most likely wasnt meant to connect all
people in the middle east as evil, many people definitely took it that way.

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These ideas over the years have become much more specific, to the point
that a terrorist is regularly associated with the Muslim faith and people. This
idea has spread intensely, to the point that some people are afraid of the
very thought of Muslims immigrating to other countries, since of course, they
must hate our freedom.
A very recent example of this fear would be the decision for the United
Kingdom to withdraw from the European union back in June. While there
were many reasons for this decision, one major factor was that the European
Union was allowing a huge surge of middle eastern immigrant to flow into
the nations as refugees, and that scared and frightened many people.
According to an article on CNN, those who feared those refugees played
up fears of ISIS attacks, of over-burdened schools and hospitals, of moms,
dads, brothers, sisters, children, and grandchildren forced to miss out on
their rightful and paid-for state support, edged out by newly arrived migrants
hungry for handouts and everything for free.
The attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11th is something
the world will never forget. It showed the true destruction and devastation
that mere men can bring upon thousands of people. While the President,
George W. Bush, gave a very empowering and strong speech, we should be
very careful about how close to heart we bring those ideas, since though
some of the ideas President Bush spoke about werent inherently bad, they
can be skewed into something much worse. The ideas have turned people
paranoid and hateful. It has caused people to fear and blame innocent

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people, to the point they wont even question or ponder the idea that they
might not be terrorists, because of course, they must be terrorists. If we all
begin to take these thoughts to heart, if we let the hate and fear build up
inside of us and never think from a different point of view, then some of us
very well might commit an act that is no different from the acts that caused
this fear in the first place. And if we ever reach that point, then we are no
different from what we so despised.

Works Cited
Robertson, Nic. "Brexit: Why Are Brits Thumbing Their Noses?" CNN. Cable
News Network, 24 June 2016. Web. 11 Nov. 2016.
(Primary Source) STATEMENT BY PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH IN HIS
ADDRESS TO THE NATION
(https://www.911memorial.org/sites/default/files/Statement%20by
%20President%20Bush%20in%20His%20Address%20to%20the
%20Nation.pdf)

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