September 11 attacks, also called the 9/11 attacks, were a series of airline hijackings and suicide attacks committed by 19 militants associated with the terrorist group Al-Qaeda against targets in the United States.
With 2,977 people losing their lives, most of them in New York, these attacks are regarded as the deadliest terrorist attacks on American soil in its history. All 246 passengers and crew aboard the four planes were killed. At the Twin Towers, 2,606 people died - then or later of injuries. At the Pentagon, 125 people were killed.
The US and its NATO allies then raided Afghanistan in October 2001 to overthrow the Taliban, considered as "war on terror", spent billions but the end resulted in the formation of the Taliban's "Islamic Emirate" in Afghanistan recently. Also, the inclusion of hardliners in the caretaker government shows that the US is back to square one regarding the war on terror.
After US President Joe Biden ended the "forever war" by withdrawing all the troops from Afghanistan, this will be for the first time in 20 years that the anniversary of 9/11 will be marked without US troops in the war-torn country, where the terrorist attacks were planned.
While the 9/11 attacks have transformed the world completely, let us look at how it changed air travel, technology, cinema and journalism.
Air travel:
The worst terror attack on American soil led to increased and sometimes tension-filled security measures in airports across the world, aimed at preventing a repeat of that awful day. The cataclysm also contributed to other changes large and small that have reshaped the airline industry — and, for consumers both commoners and dignitaries, made air travel more stressful than ever. Security measures evolved with new threats, and so travellers were asked to take off belts and remove items from bags for scanning. Full-body scanners also were introduced at airports. Documentation of US visas became more elaborate. Meanwhile, travelling to US for Muslims became difficult merely because they "looked suspicious".
Technology:
Many "hard and soft" security strategies have been introduced to enable more intensive surveillance and control of the movement of "suspect populations" since the 9/11 attacks. Video surveillance increased as cameras were linked to computers to recognize suspicious behaviour in airports and elsewhere. Supercomputers began surveying data posted in multiple languages on social media websites and blogs only to find if they represent security threats.
Cinema:
After the 9/11 attacks, representations of the World Trade Center in films became a taboo. "The original teaser trailer for Spider-Man (2001) showing the Twin Towers was withdrawn, while the climactic final scene of Men in Black II (2002) had to be reshot. For various other releases, the Twin Towers were erased in post-production," an article said. Besides, not just in the US, the depiction of terrorists in films around the world became strictly restricted to Muslim stereotypes.
Journalism:
According to data from ADT Research’s Tyndall Report, which monitors those newscasts, the September 11 attacks led to increased coverage of foreign policy and global conflict on the evening news. However, the coverage of domestic issues went down in the US. Global terrorism became the new jargon in newspapers and on TV news. Reportedly, TV networks promised more serious news coverage after the attacks. However, the commitment faded over time.
(With inputs from agencies)
